Continental Philosophy
The European tradition from Kierkegaard through Postmodernism — Existentialism, Phenomenology, Hermeneutics, Critical Theory, and Deconstruction.
Sub-topics
The philosophy of radical freedom and individual existence (19th-20th century). Existence precedes essence. Authenticity, anxiety, absurdity, and the burden of choice. From Kierkegaard to Sartre and Camus.
The study of structures of experience as they appear to consciousness. Founded by Husserl's 'to the things themselves!' Intentionality — consciousness is always consciousness of something.
Philosophy of historical materialism, class struggle, and revolutionary praxis. Marx inverted Hegel — material conditions, not ideas, drive history. Alienation, ideology, and the critique of capitalism.
Late 20th-century critique of grand narratives, objective truth, and Enlightenment reason. Everything is text, power shapes knowledge, meaning is unstable. Foucault, Derrida, Lyotard, Baudrillard.