Phenomenology of the Pathological Experience

Course Leader: Pablo Andreu (Atlantic Technological University [ATU], Ireland)
Dates: Details to come for June 2025
Time: TBC
Location: Online (Zoom)

Registration for this course will open later in the year

Summary and outline may be subject to change until registration opens

Course Summary:

This course introduces participants to an interpretation of illness as a disrupted articulation of the meaning structure of Dasein’s being-in-the-world. This interpretation builds on two pivotal concepts: Rodríguez Suárez’s understanding of Rede as “Meaningful Articulation” (articulación signicativa) and Paul-Louis Landsberg’s notion of “Ontological Indelity.” Through this lens, the course examines illness as a “pathological experience,” denned as the disruption of Dasein’s meaning structure caused by confronting the certainty of mortality, which illness itself reveals. Participants will engage with foundational concepts of phenomenology and hermeneutics, examine key figures in the phenomenology of illness, and explore a novel approach to illness and death grounded in the interplay of meaning and being, helping participants engage with the deep existential and ontological questions these phenomena raise.

By the end of this course, participants will: 1) Gain an understanding of the phenomenology of illness and its significance in philosophical discourse. 2) Analyse the contributions of key thinkers such as Hans-Georg Gadamer, Fredrik Svenaeus, and Havi Carel to the phenomenology of illness. 3) Apply concepts such as “Meaningful Articulation” and “Ontological Indelity” to interpret illness as a pathological experience.

Course Outline:

Week 1. Introduction and Foundations Topic: Death and Illness in Modern Medical Discourse

Week 2. Core Concepts and Initial Application Topic: The Origin of the Qualitative Nature of Illness

Week 3. Advanced Application and Hermeneutical Perspectives Topic: Phenomenological Accounts of Illness

Week 4. Synthesis Topic: Death and Illness in Daily Life Objectives

More details nearer the time of the course opening for registration