UoP logo

Department of Philosophy

University of Peradeniya

PHY 401 - Post Modern Philosophy

The purpose of the course is to expose Fourth year honors students in Philosophy to the latest and controversial new system of thought known as Post-Modernism.

Course content:

  • Overview of modern western thought (from 16th Century to mid 19th century); Enlightenment. The shaping of an Individual and the Construction of Grand theories and systems. Structuralism and Post Structuralism, Ferdinand Saussure, Levi-Strauss and Michael Foucault.
  • What is Post-Modernism; Main themes and concepts- Difference, Discourse, Simulacrum, Deconstruction; Chief Exponents of Post-Modern Thought e.g. Lyotard, Derrida, Barthes, Baudrillard ; Critics of Post Modern Philosophy e.g. Habermas, Callinicos

Reading List
1. Barthes, R.1977. "The Death of the Author" In Images, music and Text (ed) R. Barthes, New York Hill and Wang, 1977.
2. Docherty, T. (ed) Post- Modernism: A Reader. New York. Columbia University press.
3. Eagleton, T.1996. The Illusions of Post-Modernism. Oxford, Basil & Blackwell.
4. Habermas, J.1983. "Modernity: Au Incomplete project." in The Auti-Aesthetic: Essays on post-modern culture. (ed) Hal Foster. Townsend, wash. Bay press.
5. Horkheimer, M. & Adorno, T.1972. The Dialectic of Enlightenment. New York, Herder & Herder.
6. Lefebvre, H.1995. Introduction to Modernity. New York, Verso.
7. Lyotard, F. The post modern condition. (tr) G. Bennington / B. Manouri, Minneapolis; University of Minnesota press.
8. Sim, S.1998. (ed) Post-Modern Thought. Cambridge, Icon Book.
9. Stauth, G. & Turner, B.S.1988. Nietzsche's Dance. Oxford, Basil & Blackwell, 1988.

Top