Studies in Literary Theory

The seminar will consider how different versions of critique are developed within some major figures in Critical Theory. We will consider how Kant formulates the notion of critique in some of his essays and in sections of the Critique of Pure Reason, especially as it seeks to delimit the phenomenal world in which certain kinds of knowledge are restricted. We will then ask in what forms critique reemerges within Hegel’s writings, focusing on the opening chapters of The Phenomenology of Spirit and some of his early essays on sensuous understanding and property. The course will end with a consideration of the early Marx, focusing on his own critique of German Idealism, abstraction, and the importance of sensuous and embodied action and thought. One task of the course will be to understand the grounds and objects of critique in these thinkers, underscoring points of convergence and divergence.

This course is instructor approval only. The application process is as follows: please provide Professor Butler with a brief one page letter explaining your background and why you are interested in taking the course (including whether the course counts as a requirement for your major or emphasis).

Letters are due by email (jpbutler@berkeley.edu) by May 10th.