Course Syllabus

The Good Life: Philosophy of Happiness

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Semester & Location:

Summer 2019 - DIS Copenhagen

Type & Credits:

Elective Course - 4 credits

Major Disciplines:

Philosophy, Sociology

Minor Disciplines:

Religious Studies, Literature

Study Tour:

The French Riviera/Provence

Faculty Member:

Nan Gerdes - nge@dis.dk

Office hours:

By appointment
Program Coordinator:

Sanne Rasmussen - sra@dis.dk

Time & Place:

Time: 9:30–12:30 daily, unless otherwise indicated
Room: 10-D14

Description of Course

Scandinavian nations are famously ranked the happiest countries in the world, but what is the secret to their happiness? In this course, we reach into philosophical and sociological depths to examine the foundations of the good life. We explore Copenhagen and surrounding areas to get a taste of human thriving in public and private spheres, as well as in political and personal affairs. How do social cohesiveness, the Scandinavian welfare model, and the valuing of life balance promote human flourishing?

Meanwhile, Scandinavians, like all modern humans, also experience loneliness, alienation, and anxiety. Our course takes us into the minds of nineteenth- and twentieth-century European thinkers, writers, and artists who were deeply troubled by the existential conditions of suffering, loss, and meaningless, but who also saw them as fundamental occasions to examine how we live. With them, we inquire into our relationships, activities, and commitments. We wonder about the importance of personal responsibility and active engagement. And we ask whether freedom is key to happiness, and, if so, freedom to do what? We may not discover the secret to happiness in this course, but we do continue an age-old pilgrimage in search of the good life for us, our fellow beings, and future generations.

Learning Objectives

Together, we will be aiming to: (1) engage proficiently with European philosophical, literary, and artistic traditions that have grappled with the profound question of the good life; (2) acquire academic competencies in navigating and interpreting philosophical works, novels, autobiographies, and artworks; (3) improve our skills in clear and nuanced communication by articulating our own views and positions in dialogue with those of others; (4) relate our particular lived experience of the search for the good life in and outside the classroom to universal philosophical concepts that elucidate the human condition; (5) practice sociological engagement with our host cultures as we explore paths towards the good life across national boundaries; and (6), through the course at large, sharpen our understanding of the ethical repercussions connected to the question of the good life. Thereby we (7) strengthen our abilities, professionally and personally, to take into account and answer responsibly to ethical repercussions of our doings and decisions in today and the future’s world of risks and possibilities.

Faculty

Nan Gerdes, Ph.D. (Comparative Literature, University of Copenhagen, 2017). Postdoc (w. diploma in educational theory and practice) and lecturer, University of Copenhagen, 2010-2018. Research stay at UC Berkeley, 2011-2012. Emphasis in research on relations – past and present – between literature, philosophy, politics, gender, and the making of identity and community. With DIS since 2018.

Readings

  • Camus, Albert. The First Man. London: Penguin Books, 2001 (selections)
  • Camus, Albert. The Myth of Sisyphus. London: Penguin Books, 2005. ISBN 978-0-14-102399-1
  • Camus, Albert. The Stranger. New York: Vintage, 1981. ISBN 0-679-72020-0
  • De Beauvoir, Simone. The Ethics of Ambiguity. New York: Citadel Press, 1976. ISBN 0-8065-0160-X
  • De Beauvoir, Simone. The Prime of Life. London: Penguin Books, 1965 (selections)
  • Kaag, John. Hiking with Nietzsche: On Becoming Who You Are. New York: Farrar, Straus and Grioux, 2018 (selections)
  • Kierkegaard, Søren. The Concept of Anxiety. London: W.W. Norton, 2015. ISBN: 978-1-63149-004-0
  • Kierkegaard, Søren. The Lily of the Field and the Bird of the Air. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016. ISBN 978-0-691-17047-3
  • Lanier, Jaron. "Social Media is Making You Unhappy". In Ten Arguments For Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Rigth Now. London: Penguin Random House, 2018 (selections)
  • Nietzsche, Friedrich. Thus Spoke Zarathustra. New York: Penguin Books, 2003 (selections)
  • Young, Julian. "A Life Worth Living." In A Companion to Phenomenology and Existentialism. Oxford: Blackwell, 2008 (on Canvas)
  • Wicks, Robert. "French Existentialism." In A Companion to Phenomenology and Existentialism. Oxford: Blackwell, 2008 (on Canvas)
  • Witt, Emily. "A Six-Day Walk Through the Alps, Inspired by Simone de Beauvoir." The New York Times Style Magazine, October, 13 2013 (on Canvas)

Artists 

  • Marc Chagall
  • Jesper Just

Course Sections

Section 1

The Good Life as Conceived in Danish Existentialism (Kierkegaard)

Section 2

Pilgrimages in Search of the Good Life in Existential Thought, including Academic Tour to Southern France (Nietzsche, Beauvoir, Camus)

Section 3

Perspectives: Shaping The Good Life Today (Svanholm Collective (field study), Lanier) 

Study Tour to the French Riviera/Provence

On this week-long study tour, our classroom now moves to the French Riviera and Provence along the southern coast of France, as we follow this course’s authors, thinkers, and artists in search of the good life. People drawn to the Mediterranean are, like their “Nordic” counterparts, known for cultivating the art of living, though in contrasting ways. Some writers saw northern Europe as the land of the cold "philosopher kings," while Mediterranean civilization embodied for them the pursuit of well-being. While modern humans can seem out of touch with lived life, bound up in representational modes of thinking and instrumental ways of engaging the world, southern France inspires a rare ability to capture a raw and genuine experience of bodily encounter with the world.

Our pilgrimage takes us to the beautiful Alpes-Maritimes city of Nice, originally founded by the Greeks, and refuge to artists and thinkers since the nineteenth century. Excursions to the east and west, including idyllic coastal towns and secluded mountain villages, permit us to visit the sites where nineteenth- and twentieth-century philosophers, writers, and artists sought solitude and rejuvenation, where they lived and wrote, and, not least, where they loved and died.

Field Studies

Kierkegaard's Copenhagen. On this afternoon city walking tour, we trace Kierkegaard's life and thinking by foot. We visit sites around Copenhagen that were key to his  life. We get a chance to find out for ourselves why, for Kierkegaard, daily "people baths," or life lived in common with others, is so essential to a life well lived.

Biking & Outdoor Culture in Copenhagen. On this biking tour of Copenhagen, we become acquainted with the city's cycling infrastructure, also making stops at key outdoor sites designed to invite and engage people.  Our focus on the tour is on the public spaces of the Nørrebro neighbourhood. As we move through these spaces using all our senses to experience the city and its movement, we gain familiarity first hand with a Scandinavian model for promoting the good life through the use of public space.

Svanholm Collective. Our concluding field study to Svanholm Collective offers a local – and alternative – perspective to add to our discussions of what the good life consists in and builds on. Svanholm Collective is Denmark's largest intentional community located near the village of Skibby, 60km from Copenhagen. The collective was founded in 1978 when 130 new inhabitants transformed an estate into a, still thriving, working and living community.

Moreover, we visit other sites in Copenhagen, among those the Danish Parliament and Kunsthal Charlottenburg, exhibition space for contemporary art.

 

Approach to Learning

We use the Socratic method in this course, which includes a close study of texts and persistent exploration of concrete life, always with a goal of raising everyday experience to a reflective level. We will employ an array of short lectures, student presentations, dialogue between partners, small group activities, full-class discussions, and assignments out and about in the city and nature. Our approach involves working together to mutually question assumptions, clarify positions, and help each other give birth to new thoughts and ideas. The focus is not so much on final answers as on good questions that open up further possibilities for inquiry.

Expectations of Participants

Active participation in all activities is essential for the success of the course. In each meeting, whether in the classroom or on tour, you are asked to raise questions in relation to the assigned texts or other material and to respond to your peers’ contributions. Therefore, full preparation before meetings includes close textual readings and note-taking, close observation of the world around you, and reflection on possible directions for our dialogue once we are together.

Classroom Etiquette

Dialogue involves candid questioning. Thus, the feedback we give one another may be penetrating and challenging, but it will truly thrive only where it also achieves respect and charity. A helpful measuring bar is to consider our procedure as tending toward questioning rather than asserting.

No use of phones, surfing or chatting during class. During all course-related activities outside of class, please keep use of phones to a minimum. 

Evaluation

No previous experience in the discipline of philosophy is required, and you will be receiving substantial guidance in the learning process. Nevertheless, you will be challenged (whatever your starting point) to apply yourself in developing your fluency in the genre, both as a thinker and a writer. The purpose of the course assignments is to deepen and nuance your understanding of particular topics that deeply interest you, while acquiring tools for philosophical thinking useful across life.

Reflection Papers

Over the four-week course, you are required to submit four reflection papers, totaling 4-6 pages. Reflection paper # 1 is ungraded. You will work on the reflections throughout the course in response to course materials, class discussions and field trips. For each paper choose a specific topic to critically examine some aspect of contemporary Danish society that relates to happiness and the good life (e.g. social cohesiveness, the Scandinavian welfare model, the prioritizing of work-life balance, the use of public spaces, education, outdoor culture, national self-perception). In each reflection, make explicit connections between your chosen topic and material we have covered in class. You are also urged to reflect on your own process of learning. What were your prior ideas on the topic in question and how and why are they changing as you learn more? You should aim overall towards a thoughtful and personal analysis of how life in Denmark today responds to the universally human inquiry on how to lead a good life.

Research Paper

The research paper (7-9 pages) will investigate in detail a specific philosophical problem or question inspired from class material and discussions (you will choose your own topic, in consultation with your faculty member). The paper will focus mainly on one or two works from class materials, consult secondary literature, and provide a specific thesis that helps you examine a topic you find important. In the course, you will receive guidance on doing written critical analysis of ideas and texts.

Grading Breakdown

Assignment

Percent

Attendance & Participation:

25%

Reflection Papers:

30%

Research Paper:

45%

Academic Regulations  

Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on:

 

DIS - Study Abroad in Scandinavia - www.DISabroad.org

 

Course Summary:

Date Details Due