Introduction to Phenomenology: 10 Week Online Course for Beginners

Angelos Sofocleous

Can we ever truly understand another person’s experience?
What can anxiety and boredom reveal about human existence?
Why does time sometimes fly and sometimes drag?

This 10 week online course offers an accessible introduction to phenomenology, one of the most influential philosophical traditions of the twentieth and twenty first centuries.

Beginning with foundational ideas in the work of thinkers such as Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger, we will explore how phenomenology can help us think about the structure of human experience. Across the course, we will consider themes including selfhood, our relationships with others, embodiment, spatiality, temporality, mood, and the contribution phenomenology can make to understanding experiences of mental health.

The course is designed for beginners, so no previous knowledge of phenomenology or philosophy is required. Sessions will combine accessible introductions to key ideas and thinkers with discussion of philosophical questions and examples from everyday experience.