The Meontology of Nothing
mbasaran@gsu.edu.tr
Content
Objective
In this course, we will examine the ontological status of the One and the Multiple. We will treat Alain Badiou’s Hegelian dialectic and Gilles Deleuze’s philosophy of “the event” and “the multiple” together, passing through non-ontological traditions of negative theology.
Course Content
The One which does not exist (“something” – Etwas – does not exist without determination outside of time and space) gives way to a scission which determines itself either in contradictory opposition or in strong difference (difference in historical time, in positional mediations). Or, the One rests weak and indeterminate (structural or minimal difference where this weak force stems from or hoped for).
Course Learning Outcomes
Learning the concepts like ontology, meontology, deontology, dialectic, negative theology, determination, difference and repetition, event, One and Multiple, the eternal return.
Teaching and Learning Methods
Reading and interpretation of textes for synthesis
References
Kant, Critique de la Raison Pure
Hegel, "Science de la Logique"
Alain Badiou, "Théorie du Sujet"; "Etre et l'événement"
Gilles Deleuze, "Différence et Répétition", "Nietzsche et la Philosophie"
Walter Benjamin, "Sur le Concept de l'Histoire"
Weekly Contents
| Week | Weekly Contents |
|---|---|
| 1 | The main problems of ontology |
| 2 | Parmenides and unity |
| 3 | Heidegger's comments on Parmenides and Heraclitus |
| 4 | Pre-Kantian ontology: Leibnitz and multiplicity, the problem of composability |
| 5 | The missing ontology of Kant: the sphere of being and noumenon |
| 6 | Transcendental schematism and the problem of multiplicity |
| 7 | Reduction of multiplicity to the category of quantitative |
| 8 | Diversity in the nature and Kant's theory of teleological judgment |
| 9 | The multiplicity of ideas |
| 10 | From incongruent knowledge to dialectic |
| 11 | The multiplicity as amorphous and indefinable |
| 12 | Has dialectic got closed branches? (A. Badiou) |
| 13 | Deleuze and Nietzsche: affirmation of becoming |
| 14 | The "lean difference" and the idea of "weak messianic power" in Benjamin |
Assessment System
| Activities | Number | Contribution |
|---|---|---|
| Contribution of in-term studies to overall grade | 0 | 50 |
| Contribution of final exam to overall grade | 0 | 50 |
| Total | 0 | 100 |
| Activities | Number | Contribution |
|---|---|---|
| Assignments | 0 | 0 |
| Presentation | 0 | 50 |
| Midterm Examinations (including preparation) | 0 | 0 |
| Project | 0 | 0 |
| Laboratory | 0 | 0 |
| Other Applications | 0 | 0 |
| Quiz | 0 | 0 |
| Term Paper/ Project | 0 | 50 |
| Portfolio Study | 0 | 0 |
| Reports | 0 | 0 |
| Learning Diary | 0 | 0 |
| Thesis/ Project | 0 | 0 |
| Seminar | 0 | 0 |
| Other | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 0 | 100 |
Relation of Proficiency
| No | Program Learning Outcomes | Contribution | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 1 | Teach in philosophy programs in various areas of philosophy. | X | ||||
| 2 | Engage with both primary and secondary texts to make a thoughtful contribution to given themes and problematics. | X | ||||
| 3 | Discuss some major topics in contemporary philosophy. | X | ||||
| 4 | Communicate effectively in writing to a specialised audience. | X | ||||
| 5 | • Use other resources, such as libraries and ICT resources, to improve his/her own learning. | X | ||||
ECTS
| Activities | Number | Period | Total Workload |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class Hours | 14 | 3 | 42 |
| Working Hours out of Class | 13 | 6 | 78 |
| Midterm Examinations (including preparation) | 1 | 10 | 10 |
| Final Examinations (including preparation) | 1 | 30 | 30 |
| Term Paper/ Project | 1 | 15 | 15 |
| Total Workload | 175 | ||
| Total Workload / 25 | 7.00 | ||
| Credits ECTS | 7 | ||