Working together as a community of inquiry, everyone on the module will critically analyse some classic works of Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, Frantz Fanon, and Jean-Paul Sartre. Our focus will be on theoretical texts, but we will study some fiction. We will be concerned with exactly how these texts are to be understood as well as with considering some of their potential contributions to current philosophy. 

• demonstrate knowledge of the central arguments of French existentialist thought 

• identify and engage with issues of textual interpretation 

• interpret and engage with critical evaluations of complex texts 

• communicate and justify independent interpretations and evaluations of complex texts 

The module will be taught through a blend of synchronous and asynchronous learning classes and activities, designed to fulfil the learning outcomes. These will be delivered remotely, and on-campus if the University deems it safe and practicable.

Students will practise and develop the following skills: 

• Critical thinking: the ability to understand, structure and critically evaluate the key claims and arguments made in complex written texts and discussions – achieved through reading, small-group discussion in seminars, plenary discussions in seminars, reflecting on lecture materials, essay and exam preparation and writing. 

• Oral communication: the ability to formulate and articulate critical thinking orally in a clear and respectful manner that others can grasp and engage with and to contribute to collaborative inquiry through oral discussion – achieved through small group and plenary discussions throughout the module. 

• Writing: the ability to structure a written report that builds a high-level argument on the basis of precise analyses and the ability to write an engaging online-style article – both achieved through explicit training in preparation for the formative and summative written work. 

• Organisation: the ability to organise and coordinate workloads – achieved through balancing reading and note-taking, critical analysis, post-seminar reflection and note writing, and essay and exam answer planning and writing. 

• Collaboration: developing ideas and inquiry collaboratively and responding sensitively to points made by others – achieved through small-group and plenary discussions throughout the module contact and non-contact time. 

A blend of coursework and portfolio assessments.

The syllabus will focus on extracts from central works of mid-twentieth-century French existential philosophy, such as Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex, Albert Camus’s The Outsider, Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks, and Jean-Paul Sartre’s Being and Nothingness. These will be supplemented in the coursepack with recent articles analysing them. The module will comprise our collective critical discussions of these extracts and articles. 

The coursepack will include a list of suggested further reading for each of the extracts of classic works discussed. 

As an example, here is the schedule of the Autumn 2018 iteration of the module: 

Week 1: Introductions 

Monday: Introduction to the module. Lecture: What Is Existentialism? 

Thursday: Beauvoir, ‘Existentialism and Popular Wisdom’ 

Week 2: Emotion and the Instrumental World 

Monday: Sartre, Sketch for a Theory of the Emotions, Chapter 3 

Thursday: Andreas Elpidorou, ‘Horror, Fear, and the Sartrean Account of Emotions’ 

Week 3: Bad Faith 

Monday: Sartre, Being and Nothingness, Part I, Chapter 2, Sect II – ‘Conducts of Bad Faith’ 

Thursday: Jonathan Webber, The Existentialism of Jean-Paul Sartre, ch. 7 

Week 4: The Look 

Monday: Sartre, Being and Nothingness, Part III, Chapter 1, Sect. IV – The Look (pp. 276-89, 299-301, 310-16) 

Thursday: Discussion of Sartre on emotions, bad faith, and the look led by student questions 

Week 5: Huis Clos and Essay Writing 

Monday: Sartre, Huis Clos; Lecture: ‘How To Write An Excellent Essay’ 

Thursday: discussion of students’ essay ideas and structures 

Week 7: The Second Sex  

Monday: Beauvoir, The Second Sex, Introduction 

Thursday: Margaret Simons, ‘Richard Wright, Simone de Beauvoir, and The Second Sex’ 

Week 8: The Second Sex  

Monday: Beauvoir, The Second Sex, Volume 2, Part 2, Chapter 10: Women’s Situation and Character 

Thursday: Judith Butler, ‘Sex and Gender in Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex’ 

Week 9: Black Skin White Masks 

Monday: Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks, Chapter 5 

Thursday: Sonia Kruks, ‘Fanon, Sartre, and Identity Politics’ 

Week 10: The Outsider 

Monday: Camus, The Outsider, Part 1 

Thursday: Robert Solomon, Dark Feelings, Grim Thoughts, chapter 1 

Week 11: Commentary Writing 

Monday: Lecture: ‘How To Write An Excellent Commentary’ 

Thursday: discussion of students’ commentary ideas and structures 

Course readings will be made available on Learning Central.

To prepare for the module, a student could read any of the following (listed only in order of author surname), each of which is in the Arts and Social Science library. 

Beauvoir, S. (de). 2009. The Second Sex. London: Vintage Books. (Especially the chapters ‘Childhood’, ‘Women’s Situation and Character’, and ‘The Independent Woman’.) 

Camus, A. 2012. The Outsider. London: Penguin. 

Fanon, F. 2008. Black Skin, White Masks. New York: Grove Press. (Especially chapters 5 and 6.) 

Sartre, J.-P. 2013. Sketch for a Theory of the Emotions. London and New York: Routledge. (Especially Part III.)