| CODE | PHI3053 | |||||||||
| TITLE | Structuralism and Post-Structuralism | |||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 03 - Years 2, 3, 4 in Modular Undergraduate Course | |||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 6 | |||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | |||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Philosophy | |||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit presents an overview of structuralism and post-structuralism, these being crucial strands of 20th century contemporary philosophical thought. The study-unit considers the roots of these philosophical strands of thought, the key thinkers in each strand, as well as contemporary thinkers greatly influenced by these philosophical movements. Themes that this study-unit will engage with include structure and agency; ethics and politics; discourse and language; critique and power; gender and identity. The study-unit explores the roots of structuralist thought by contextualising this school of thought within 19th and 20th century European philosophy. It engages with the work of Ferdinand de Saussure, Claude Lévi-Strauss, and Roland Barthes, particularly on how they sought to replace the conception of subjectivity with a de-centred impersonal structure. The study-unit will then consider how post-structuralism differs from structuralism in denying that there are fixed, deep lying structures and that the reflective subject itself is a product of language, discourse, and history. In this regard, this study-unit will explore a number of the following: the thought of Jacques Derrida on deconstruction and ethics; Michel Foucault’s genealogical approach to discourse, power relations and ethics; Judith Butler’s account of gender performativity, precariousness and ethics; as well as applications of psychoanalytic (ex: Jacques Lacan) and poststructuralist thought in political theory in the work of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe. Study-Unit Aims: - To equip students with the basic principles of 19th and 20th century European thought from which structuralism emerged, and the key problematics in this philosophical approach; - To lead to an appreciation of why language matters to philosophy especially in considering its emancipatory potential and its entanglement with power relations; - To engage with the philosophical ideas of key theorists in the traditions of structuralism and poststructuralism; - To compare and contrast some of the most important strengths and weaknesses of structuralism and poststructuralism with regard to key philosophical notions such as agency, language, power and ethics. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Comprehend the importance of questioning assumptions which one commonly takes for granted, especially as they relate to our everyday lives within socio-political and cultural contexts; - Critically assess the major theories and theorists in the tradition of structuralism and poststructuralism, with regard to questions on discourse, power, ethics and critique; - Appreciate the historical, philosophical lineage of the meaning of subjectivity. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Apply acquired skills to careful reading and comprehension of textual material related to structuralism and poststructuralism; - Apply clear thinking, sound argumentation and the clear and conceptually well-organised expression of ideas related to 20th century continental philosophy; - Relate philosophical thought to other disciplines and matters of public interest, social, practical and economic and cultural forms of life; - Apply analytical and critical thought to the everyday production of knowledge. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Althusser, Louis. Ideology and Ideological State Apparatus (Notes Towards an Investigation). In Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays, trans. Ben Brewster. New York: Monthly Review Press, 2001. [available at library] - Butler, Judith. “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory,” Theatre Journal, Vol. 40, No. 4 (Dec 1988): 519-531. [available at library] - Butler, Judith. “Violence, Mourning, Politics,” in Precarious Life: The Powers of Mourning and Violence. New York: Verso, 2004, 19-49. [available at library] - Derrida, Jacques. “Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences,” in Writing and Difference, trans. Alan Bass. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978 [1967], 278-293. [available at library] - Foucault, Michel. The History of Sexuality, Volume 1: The Will to Knowledge, trans. Robert Hurley. London: Penguin Books, 1998 [1976], 77-131. [available at library] - Lacan, Jacques. The mirror stage as formative of the function of the I as revealed in psychoanalytic experience. In Écrits: a selection, trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Routledge, 2001, 1-7. [available at library] - Mouffe, Chantal. “Deliberative Democracy or Agonistic Pluralism?” Social Research, Vol. 66, No. 3 (1999): 745-758. [available at library] Supplementary Readings: - Belsey, Catherine. Poststructuralism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. [available at library] - Bernstein, Richard. “Serious Play: The Ethical-Political Horizon of Jacques Derrida,” The Journal of Speculative Philosophy Vol. 1 No. 2 (1987): 93-117. - Best, Steven and Douglas Kellner. Postmodern Theory: Critical Interrogations. London: Macmillan, 1991. [available at library] - Derrida, Jacques. Margins of Philosophy, trans. Alan Bass. Sussex: Harvester Press, 1982. - Direk, Zeynep and Leonard Lawlor. A Companion to Derrida. Malden: Blackwell, 2014. [available at library] - Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, trans. Alan Sheridan. New York: Vintage Books, 1977. [available at library] - Glendinning, Simon. The Edinburgh Encyclopedia of Continental Philosophy. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1999. [available at library] - Gutting, Gary (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Foucault, 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. [available at library] - Howarth, David. Discourse. Buckingham: Open University Press, 2000. [available at library] - Ingram, David, ed. The History of Continental Philosophy Volume 5: Critical Theory to Structuralism: Philosophy, Politics, and the Human Sciences. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2010. - Moya Lloyd, Judith Butler: From Norms to Politics Cambridge: Polity Press, 2007. [available at library] - McNay, Lois. Foucault and Feminism: Power, Gender and the Self. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1992. - McNay, Lois. Foucault: A Critical Introduction. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1994. [available at library] - Salih, Sara. Judith Butler. London and New York: Routledge, 2002. - Sarup, Madan. An Introductory Guide to Post-Structuralism and Postmodernism 2nd ed. Hertfordshire: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1993. [available at library] - Schrift, Alan D. Twentieth-Century French Philosophy: Key Themes and Thinkers. Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2006. [available at library] - Schrift, Alan D. The History of Continental Philosophy Volume 6: Poststructuralism and Critical Theory’s Second Generation. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2010. - Sturrock, John. Structuralism 2nd ed. Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2003. [available at library] |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Seminar | |||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Kurt Borg |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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