This course is an encounter with the philosophical tradition known as phenomenology by way of an extended examination of two of its main proponents—Martin Heidegger and Maurice Merleau-Ponty—for whom being is best understood as “being-in-the-world.” From Heidegger’s rethinking of being in relation to time to Merleau-Ponty’s appreciation of significance of the body as neither subject nor object, we will explore their debates about being, self, knowledge, experience, care, and death, among other important questions.
