Nietzsche, Foucault and the Genealogical Approach to the History of Philosophy

This seminar examines that philosophical approach to the history of philosophy that travels under the name of genealogy. It does so in terms of close readings of selected texts of the tradition's two major figures: Friederich Nietzsche and Michel Foucault against the backdrop of a number of ancient and medieval examples of protreptic rhetoric. It thereby attests the thesis that contemporary genealogy is the latest manifestation of the protreptic tradition in the history of philosophy, i.e., a deliberative rhetoric designed to exhort recipients to turn ( convertere )from harm to health, from falsehood to truth, from the base to the noble. The course will run as a seminar in which students will be asked to produce weekly papers of 400 to 600 words on the weekly readings to prime class room discussion. In addition, each student will be required to prepare a seminar on one required text which involves written material of between 1200 and 1800 words. Finally, each student will be required to submit a course paper on a topic mutually agreed upon with the class instructor. The course paper should be 4500 to 7500 words in the case of a Master's level student and 6000 to 9000 words in the case of a ThD/ PhD level student. The grade will be the result of weekly papers (25%), seminar presentation (15%) and course paper (60%).