HFIK04081U FILO Phenomenology and Philosophy of Mind - Philosophy of sociality: core concepts and contemporary challenges

MA course Phenomenology and Philosophy of Mind

Spring 2022

Teachers: Felipe León, Julia Zaenker, Lucy Osler, Patricia Meindl

Philosophy of sociality: core concepts and contemporary challenges

The philosophy of sociality is concerned with foundational questions about our understanding of other people, our capacity to share mental states with them, and our belonging to social groups. Phenomenology and philosophy of mind are two influential philosophical traditions that have made seminal contributions to the philosophy of sociality, by providing detailed investigations of topics such as empathy, collective intentionality, and communal experiences. Recent work in the philosophy of sociality has also addressed topics of increasing societal relevance, such as social interactions via the internet, social oppression and social (in)visibility. The main purpose of this course is to analyse and discuss core concepts of the philosophy of sociality, by focusing on contributions from (classical and contemporary) phenomenology and philosophy of mind. Topics to be discussed include empathy, collective intentionality, varieties of groups, varieties of being together, online sociality and social (in)visibility.

Week 1: Introduction

Week 2: Fellow-feeling and groups

Week 3:Empathy, direct social perception, and simulation

Week 4:Affective sharing and joint ownership

Week 5:Empathy, community, and personhood

Week 6: Being together

Week 7:Collective intentionality and the plural subject

Week 8:Collective affective intentionality

Week 9:Situatedness

Week 10: Being gendered and social collectivities

Week 11:Phenomenology of Race

Week 12:Political Phenomenology

Week 13: A crisis in online sociality

Week 14:Encountering the other online