Course Syllabus

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The Good Life: Philosophy of Happiness

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Semester & Location:

Summer 2020 - DIS Copenhagen
Type & Credits:

Elective Course - 4 credits

Major Disciplines:

 Philosophy, Literature

Minor Disciplines:

 Religious Studies, Sociology

Study Tour:

 The French Riviera/Provence

Faculty Member:

 Stine Zink Kaasgaard

Office hours:

 By appointment in V10-B12: anna.soederquist@dis.dk
Program Coordinator:

Katrine Trolle - ktr@dis.dk
Time & Place:

Time: 12:00–3:00 PM daily, unless otherwise indicated
Room: TBA

Description of Course

In this course, we examine the foundations of the good life as they surface in Danish and French philosophy, with particular focus on human freedom and the search for meaning, fulfilment, and happiness. While external conditions may bring satisfaction, as in a well-functioning state like Denmark, we quickly turn our attention deeper, to internal measures of human flourishing. 
 
Our course takes us into the minds of nineteenth- and twentieth-century European thinkers, writers, and artists, like Kierkegaard, Beauvoir, Camus, and Chagall, who were deeply troubled by the existential conditions of despair, anxiety, and meaningless, but who also saw these trials as 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, the freedom to do what? We may not discover the secret to happiness in this course, but we do partake in an age-old pilgrimage in search of the good life.
 

Learning Objectives

Together, we will be aiming to: (1) enter into dialogue with European philosophical, literary, and artistic traditions that have grappled with the question of the good life; (2) acquire academic skills in navigating and interpreting philosophical works, novels, autobiographies, and artworks; (3) develop abilities in nuancing and articulating our own views and positions in dialogue with those of others; and (4) relate our particular lived experience of the search for the good life to universal philosophical concepts that elucidate the human condition.

Faculty

Stine Zink Kaasgaard, Ph.D. in Philosophy, Søren Kierkegaard Research Centre, University of Copenhagen, 2014.  M.A. in Philosophy, Aarhus University, Denmark, 2009. B.S. in Philosophy, Aarhus University,  minor in Anthropology and History from Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain, 2006. Visiting scholar, University of Oxford, UK, winter 2011-2012. Visiting Professor, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium, fall-winter 2016-2017. Co-founder of Eksistensfilosofisk Akademi, Copenhagen, 2016-present.   

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 Fall. London: Penguin Books, 2006. ISBN 978-0-141-18794-5
  • 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
  • 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

Course Sections

Section 1

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

Section 2

The Good Life as Conceived in Danish Existentialism (Kierkegaard) 

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

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. 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.

Kierkegaard's Copenhagen. On this afternoon city walking tour, we visit sites around Copenhagen that were key to Kierkegaard's life, including his final resting place in Assistens Cemetery. We read revealing passages from his writings and 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.

Kierkegaard in Jægersborg Deerpark.  Details TBA.

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 computers or phones in the classroom. Please keep use of phones to a minimum during all course-related activities outside of class. 

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 4-5 pages. Choose a specific topic for each one examining some aspect of contemporary Danish society (e.g., social cohesiveness, the Scandinavian welfare model, the prioritizing of work-life balance, family structures, the use of public spaces, education, political awareness, volunteerism, cycling culture). In each reflection, make explicit connections between your chosen topic and material we have covered in class. You should aim overall towards a thoughtful 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 (8-10 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 work (two maximum) from class materials, consult secondary literature, and provide a specific thesis that helps you examine a topic you find important. Throughout 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