300076 To think sociology: Heidegger and the phenomenology (ontology) of the social (Theory Class BGHS / 1SWS!) (S) (SoSe 2018)

Description of the seminar

The aim of the seminar is that participants will be equipped with tools to develop sociology.
This research seminar takes the following distinction as its point of departure: to think sociology and to think sociologically. To think sociologically is to think with the current tradition and by its means develop this tradition. To think sociology is to think of the foundation (Grund) of the social, which is also the foundation of the sociological tradition as we know it. To think sociology, hence, is more fundamental and means to think about what is presumed in sociology. To think about the foundations of sociology we will look at the notion of ontology and being. The bulk of the course consists of an analysis of the phenomenologist Martin Heidegger’s ontology, zooming in on Being (Dasein) and its “social” constitution, though other approaches too will be discussed. The course attempts to open up the discussion of ontology and will discuss concrete tools and ways of thinking that enables theoretical and empirical development of the social sciences. We will, for example, address problems of assumptions of actors in sociology and analyze the meaning of “ontology” in sociological works.

The seminar will be conducted in a way that enables those who speak German and those who Speak English to gain the most out of the class.

Requirements for participation, required level

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Bibliography

The main text of the seminar is Heidegger’s Sein und Zeit (1927). This book is translated into English.

There are plenty of books introducing Heidegger. But read Heidegger. I suggest that you spend 90% of the reading time with S&Z. My recommendation is that you spend much time with the text. Avoid to read secondary texts, and various texts on Heidegger, his life and doings as much as possible. I recommend the short commentary by Andreas Luckner (Luckner 2000), which follows the paragraphs in S&Z closely. A good text that gives you a short overview of the arguments, again by following the chapters of S&Z, is the introductory text in the Cambridge Companion to Heidegger’s Being and Time by Mark Wrathall and Max Murphey. You may also like to watch, for example, Professor Hubert Dreyfus sitting in a sofa talking about Husserl and Heidegger on Youtube. There are also lectures recorded by Dreyfus, who is quite sociologically oriented. You can also listen to some recordings of lectures by Heidegger online. In addition you can consult his Marburg Sommersemester 1927 in Gesamtausgabe Volume 24 (GA 24), Die Grundprobleme der Phänomenologie that offers in many ways a more easy entry to read Sein and Zeit, and it could be used to complement the reading of S&Z.

Suggested readings for the classes will be announced well before the class starts will be announced.

Luckner, Andreas
2000 Martin Heidegger: "Sein und Zeit", Ein einführender Kommentar. Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh.