Existentialism: living with the wonderful burden of freedom

A 10 week online course in partnership with Free University Brighton

 

Existentialism argues that we are so free that we must choose not only what we do, but who we are.

This course will explain:

  • how to live with the burden of choosing what to make of our lives,

  • the harms that come from mainstream worldviews that deny human freedom (worldviews like laissez-faire capitalism, social conservatism, and “scientism”),

  • and why it’s still important to fight oppression.

 

This course:

  • will explain some of the most interesting and powerful ideas of contemporary philosophy clearly and simply, and more importantly, demonstrate their significance to our everyday lives,

  • embeds philosophy in our everyday reality to make it accessible and relevant to learners with all levels of familiarity,

  • includes optional exercises and activities,

  • is delivered through video “lectures” and weekly live discussion seminars.

 

Course schedule:

  • The course will run from 22nd of January to 25th of March 2024.

  • You can do the videos and activities any time during the week.

  • One-hour weekly seminars will be held on Mondays at 6 PM (London time).

Week 1: Condemned to be free

Week 2: Phenomenology: the objective truth of experience

Week 3: Science and scientism—a phenomenological critique

Week 4: Hermeneutics: the truth is open to interpretation

Week 5: Mid-course open discussion

Week 6: Values: how we make good and bad

Week 7: Becoming ourselves by living with others

Week 8: Emancipation

Week 9: Death

Week 10: Wrap discussion

Philosophers discussed include: Simone de Beauvoir; Frantz Fanon; Michel Foucault; Hans Georg Gadamer; Donna Haraway; G.W.F. Hegel; Martin Heidegger; Edmund Husserl; Friedrich Nietzsche; Jean-Paul Sartre; Anthony Steinbock; Alison Stone

 

Testimonials:

"Gabriel is a wonderful teacher – clear, accommodating and pleasant."


"Gabriel made these seminars extremely enjoyable."


"He teaches the course the way every philosophy course should be taught: by encouraging discussion and trying to learn from the students just as much as they learn from him."


"Gabriel has a real knack for simplifying complex concepts without being glib or reductive.”