Hamlet and Philosophy
Spring 2022
Taught By: Simon Critchley
Section: A
CRN: 10691
Credits: 3
The objective of this seminar is deceptively simple: to read Shakespeare's 'Hamlet'. Yet how are we to approach Shakespeare's longest, densest and most philosophically self-conscious drama? In addition to reading the play together slowly, collectively and line by line, we will look at the play in the company of a number of readers, notably Carl Schmitt, Walter Benjamin, Hegel, Schelling, Nietzsche, Freud, Lacan, James Joyce and Heiner Mueller. A number of problematics will be encountered: the political stakes of Hamlet both in the context of Elizabethan England and our own, the nature of male and female sexuality in the play, the problem of nihilism, the theological background of Hamlet and the way in which it characterizes our so-called 'modernity', tragedy and the production of shame. It is hoped that our reading will add up to a kind of hamlet doctrine that might tell us something about why this play continues to fascinate us and to shape what we think of as our present. All the problems of philosophy are anticipated and exceeded in Shakespeare. If there is time, we will read other tragedies, like Macbeth and King Lear.
College: New School for Social Research (GF)
Department: Philosophy (GPHI)
Campus: New York City (GV)
Course Format: Seminar (R)
Max Enrollment: 18
Add/Drop Deadline: February 6, 2022 (Sunday)
Online Withdrawal Deadline: April 17, 2022 (Sunday)
Seats Available: No
Status: Closed*
* Status information is updated every five minutes. The status of this course may have changed since the last update. Open seats may have restrictions that will prevent some students from registering. Updated: 6:37am 5/17/2022 EDT