Academic Catalog

PHIL212 PHILOSOPHY AND LITERATURE

Course Code: 2410212
METU Credit (Theoretical-Laboratory hours/week): 3(3-0)
ECTS Credit: 5.0
Department: Philosophy
Language of Instruction: English
Level of Study: Undergraduate
Course Coordinator: Prof.Dr. ÞEREF HALÝL TURAN
Offered Semester: Fall or Spring Semesters.

Course Content

This course is an introduction to the philosophy of literature. The fundamental question discussed in this course is how philosophy, ordinary life and literature are related. How can we draw boundary line between philosophy and literature? How are literary works structured? With these questions the course addresses the philosophical question about the role of art in human life. The continuity of everyday life and the coherence of artistic literature are distinct though closely related. In ancient Greece, Literature was crucial for philosophy´ s own self definition. Subsequent philosophy of literature has been denoted to overcoming Plato´s condemnatory theory. The vast majorities of theories follow Plato in treating literature as a distinct domain, separate from and subordinate to philosophy. But since Romanticism, some have argued for the essential unity of these two enterprises. The course studies the relation between life, literature and philosophy within historical context as well as in contemporary culture.