Information Package / Course Catalogue
Philosophy and Literary Texts
Course Code: EFS176
Course Type: Non Departmental Elective
Couse Group: First Cycle (Bachelor's Degree)
Education Language: Turkish
Work Placement: N/A
Theory: 2
Prt.: 0
Credit: 2
Lab: 0
ECTS: 3
Objectives of the Course

To be able to understand, elaborate and discuss the main concepts and problematics of Western philosophy within the historical perspective of literature. Also, to be able to discuss the philosophical problems which literature concretizes throughout history.

Course Content

The General Terms used in both philosophy and literature

Name of Lecturer(s)
Prof. Faruk KALAY
Learning Outcomes
1.the student is expected to be able to learn why and how the philosophers of Western tradition needed to conceptualize the notions like the subject, the object, the nature, the knowledge, the transcendence, the body, the freedom etc. by different approaches along the history;
2.the student is expected to be able to read the main texts of Western philosophy thoroughly;
3.the student is expected to be able to be acquainted with the profound relation between philosophy and literature;
4.the student is expected to be able to be familiar with how philosophical transformations shaped the literature by altering its narrative forms, styles, subjects
5.the student is expected to be able to discuss the possibility of the literature’s pre-domination of the philosophical approaches even before the philosophy concretizes them.
Recommended or Required Reading
1.Russell, B. A History of Western Philosophy,
2.Descartes Principles of Philosophy,
Weekly Detailed Course Contents
Week 1 - Theoretical
Basic concepts in literature and philosophy
Week 2 - Theoretical
On main problems of philosophy: Antiquity and literature
Week 3 - Theoretical
On main problems of philosophy: Middle Ages and Renaissance
Week 4 - Theoretical
Pre-modernism and enlightenment: Human centered philosophy and literature
Week 5 - Theoretical
Modern philosophy: Kant and Hegel, and literary transformations
Week 6 - Theoretical
German idealism and German Romantics: Schiller, Nietzsche ve Schopenhauer
Week 7 - Theoretical
Marxism and literature: From Marx to Lukacs and Frankfurt School
Week 8 - Theoretical
Marxism and literature: From Marx to Lukacs and Frankfurt School (Midterm exam)
Week 9 - Theoretical
Phenomenology and its opposition to classical philosophy: Heidegger and Husserl, from transcendence to perception
Week 10 - Theoretical
Contemporary philosophy: Bergson and Merleau-Ponty, around the concepts of time, body and memory
Week 11 - Theoretical
Existentialism and “engaged” literature: Sartre and literature’s philosophical mission
Week 12 - Theoretical
Propositions of Contemporary Philosophy: Between language and object the literary act
Week 13 - Theoretical
Propositions of Contemporary Philosophy: Structuralism and post-structuralism
Week 14 - Theoretical
Do philosophy guides literature or vice-versa? / How do literature “reason”?
Assessment Methods and Criteria
Type of AssessmentCountPercent
Midterm Examination1%40
Final Examination1%60
Workload Calculation
ActivitiesCountPreparationTimeTotal Work Load (hours)
Lecture - Theory142370
Midterm Examination1112
Final Examination1123
TOTAL WORKLOAD (hours)75
Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes