Syllabus Spring 2014

PHIL 607 ~ Žižek Professor: Peter Warnek (warnek@uoregon.edu)

MW 1600-1750 (SCH 250C) Office hours: Thursdays 1330-1530 (and by appointment)

Course Description:
Seminar treatment of key texts by controversial and provocative Slovenian philosopher, Slavoj Žižek. The
course is reading intensive, with the aim of gaining an overview of Žižek’s considerable body of work as a
whole. The general concern is threefold: (1) to understand Žižek’s interpretation of the history of philosophical
thought; (2) to account for the development of his work since the publication of The Sublime Object of
Ideology (1989); and (3) to establish an interpretive basis for reading Žižek’s work from out of the methods
and claims of that work itself. Special attention will be given to how Žižek’s project situates itself by referring
to the thought of French psychoanalyst, Jacques Lacan, and the 19th century philosophical movement initiated
by Hegel and Schelling. Consideration will be given to other authors that figure prominently in Žižek’s work,
such as Marx and Freud. On occasion it will prove helpful to also consider Žižek’s interpretations of cinema,
popular culture and current events.

Required Texts, all by Žižek:

1. The Sublime Object of Ideology (Verso)
2. Tarrying with the Negative (Duke University Press)
3. The Indivisible Remainder (Verso)
4. The Parallax View (MIT Press)

Course Requirements:
1. The completion of a final paper on an approved topic of research relating to Žižek’s texts.
2. The submission of a prospectus for this final paper no later than the beginning of the sixth week of the
term.
3. Students will also be responsible for beginning each seminar with a brief review of the topics of discussion
of the previous meeting.
4. Participation in seminar.

Learning Outcomes:
1. An understanding of the critical philosophical project of the Slovenian philosopher, Slavoj Žižek,
beginning with his early work, The Sublime Object of Ideology.
2. An ability to account for how this project relates to other historically significant philosophical movements
and paradigms, such a psychoanalysis, German idealism, neo-Marxism and Critical Theory,
deconstruction, phenomenology, feminism, deep ecolology and Christian theology.

Schedule of Readings:
WEEK DATE READING
I 3.31 The Sublime Object of Ideology, iii-xxxi
4.2 SOI, 3-92
II 4.7 SOI, 95-167
4.9 SOI, 171-263
III 4.14 Tarrying With the Negative, 1-80
4.16 TWN, 83-124
IV 4.21 TWN, 125-161
4.23 TWN, 165-237
V 4.28 The Indivisible Remainder, 1-62
4.30 IR, 63-91
VI 5.5 IR, 92-136
5.7 IR, 136-186
Syllabus Spring 2014

VII 5.12 IR, 189-231

5.14 The Parallax View, 3-67
VIII 5.19 PV, 69-123
5.21 PV, 125-199
IX 5.26 PV, 201-250
5.28 PV, 253-327
X 6.2 PV, 331-385
6.4 Conclusion
6.11 Final Paper Due

Select Bibliography:
Gabriel,  Markus,  and  Slavoj  Žižek.  Mythology,  Madness,  and  Laughter  Subjectivity  in  German  Idealism.  
Continuum,  2009.  
Kay,  Sarah.  Zizek:  A  Critical  Introduction.  Polity,  2003.  
Lacan,  Jacques.  Ecrits:  the  first  complete  edition  in  English.  W.W.  Norton  &  Co.,  2006.  
Robbins,  Jeffrey  W.  et  al.  The  Sleeping  Giant  Has  Awoken.  Continuum,  2008.  
Wood,  Kelsey.  Zizek:  A  Reader’s  Guide.  Wiley-­‐Blackwell,  2012.  
Wright,  Elizabeth,  and  Edmond  Wright.  The  Zizek  Reader  (Blackwell  Readers).  Wiley-­‐Blackwell,  1999.  
Žižek,  Slavoj.  The  Sublime  Object  of  Ideology.  Verso,  1989.  
-­‐-­‐-­‐.    For  They  Know  Not  What  They  Do:  Enjoyment  as  a  Political  Factor.  Verso,  1991.  
-­‐-­‐-­‐.  Looking  Awry:  An  Introduction  to  Jacques  Lacan  through  Popular  Culture.  MIT  Press,  1991.    
-­‐-­‐-­‐.  Enjoy  Your  Symptom!:  Jacques  Lacan  in  Hollywood  and  Out.  Routledge,  1992.    
-­‐-­‐-­‐.  Tarrying  with  the  Negative:  Kant,  Hegel,  and  the  Critique  of  Ideology.  Duke  University  Press,  1993.    
-­‐-­‐-­‐.  The  Metastases  of  Enjoyment:  On  Women  and  Causality.  Verso,  1994.    
-­‐-­‐-­‐.  The  Invisible  Remainder:  On  Schelling  and  Related  Matters.  London:  Verso,  1996.    
-­‐-­‐-­‐.  The  Plague  of  Fantasies.  Verso,  1997.    
-­‐-­‐-­‐.  The  Ticklish  Subject:  The  Absent  Centre  of  Political  Ontology.  Verso,  1999.    
-­‐-­‐-­‐.  The  Art  of  the  Ridiculous  Sublime:  On  David  Lynch’s  Lost  Highway.  Walter  Chapin  Simpson  Center  for  
the  Humanities,  University  of  Washington,  2000.  
-­‐-­‐-­‐.  The  Fragile  Absolute,  Or,  Why  Is  the  Christian  Legacy  Worth  Fighting  For?  Verso,  2000.    
-­‐-­‐-­‐.  Did  Somebody  Say  Totalitarianism?:  Five  Interventions  in  the  (Mis)use  of  a  Notion.  Verso,  2001.  
-­‐-­‐-­‐.  On  Belief.  Routledge,  2001.  
-­‐-­‐-­‐.  The  Fright  of  Real  Tears.  British  Film  Institute,  2001.  
-­‐-­‐-­‐.  The  Puppet  and  the  Dwarf:  The  Perverse  Core  of  Christianity.  MIT  Press,  2003.  
-­‐-­‐-­‐.  Welcome  to  the  Desert  of  the  Real:  Five  Essays  on  September  11  and  Related  Dates.  Verso,  2002.    
-­‐-­‐-­‐.  Organs  without  Bodies:  On  Deleuze  and  Consequences.  Routledge,  2004.  
-­‐-­‐-­‐.  Iraq:  The  Borrowed  Kettle.  Verso,  2004.    
-­‐-­‐-­‐.  How  to  Read  Lacan.  W.W.  Norton  &  Co.,  2006.    
-­‐-­‐-­‐.  The  Parallax  View.  MIT,  2006.    
-­‐-­‐-­‐.  Violence:  Six  Sideways  Reflections.  Picador,  2008.    
-­‐-­‐-­‐.  In  Defense  of  Lost  Causes.  Verso,  2008.    
-­‐-­‐-­‐.  First  as  Tragedy,  Then  as  Farce.  Verso,  2009.    
-­‐-­‐-­‐.  Living  in  the  End  Times.  Verso,  2010.    
Žižek,  Slavoj,  Rex  Butler,  and  Scott  Stephens.  Interrogating  the  Real  [selected  Writings].  Continuum,  2006.    
Žižek,  Slavoj,  and  Glyn  Daly.  Conversations  with  Žižek.  Polity,  2004.  
Žižek,  Slavoj  and  Sina  Najafi.  Cogito  and  the  Unconscious.  Duke  University  Press,  1998.    
Žižek,  Slavoj,  and  Audun  Mortensen.  Žižek’s  Jokes:  (did  You  Hear  the  One  about  Hegel  and  Negation?).  MIT  
Press,  2014.