P317 – 19TH CENTURY PHILOSOPHY – SPRING 2008 Section 26151 12:00P-01:15P MW LD 137 Instructor: Chris Kraatz
Office: Cavanaugh Hall 333B
Hours: MTWR 9:15-10:15, and by appointment.
Phone: 317-274-5344
E-mail: ckraatz@iupui.edu
Internet: http://www.iupui.edu/~philosop/ckraatz.htm
Required Texts: Karl Marx: Selected Writings, Edited by Lawrence Simon. Hackett Publishing, 1994. A Kierkegaard Anthology, Edited by Robert Bretall. Princeton University Press, 1946. A Nietzsche Reader, Edited and translated by R.J. Hollingdale. Penguin Books, 1977.
Course Objectives: This course will be an in depth investigation of four of the 19th Century’s most influential thinkers; Hegel, Marx, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche. During the course of our investigation, we will pay particular attention to the form and content of each thinker’s work, as well as the similarities and differences between them. Although there are a multitude of diverse subjects addressed by these thinkers, our primary focus will be on their ideas concerning the following: (A) the nature and structure of ultimate reality (B) the structure and development of consciousness (C) the relationship between (A) and (B) (D) the relationship between (A) and (B) and religion.
Learning
Differences and Other Health Impairments:
AES:
http://www.life.iupui.edu/aes/ CAPS:
http://www.life.iupui.edu/caps/index.asp Respect for all
the people in this class is essential. We shall, therefore, observe
these principles: Plagiarism and other forms of cheating are serious
offenses that may result in a grade of zero for an assignment and a
report to the dean of students. Cell phones, CD players, and other
potential disruptions must be deactivated during class time.
Disagreements are highly encouraged, but they must remain free of
insulting or offensive language. Clothing which displays a logo or
message declared to be “disparaging” by the US Civil Rights
Commission or cited as racially hostile and abusive by the NCAA
should not be worn in this class.
Course
Requirements:
Attendance
25% Students must have their research topics approved by the instructor. Due dates for all assignments are listed on the class schedule. See below for more information about these assignments and grade criteria.
Attendance: The
success of this class is built largely on class discussions and
mutual sharing of ideas. It is, therefore, vital to this course
that students attend. If you do not attend class, the whole class
will suffer the loss of your ideas and participation. We have 30
class meetings during the semester, and attendance counts 25% of
your final grade. So, you are permitted 5 absences without penalty
(that’s 2 ½ weeks!). After that, each absence will cost you 1% your
final grade. Since you are permitted so many unexcused absences,
make-up assignments will not be made available and late papers will
not be accepted. Honestly, this is an easy 25%, here is good. If
you plan on missing an excessive number of classes or are aware of
future conflicts that will prevent you from attending class
regularly, you should seriously consider dropping this class. Book review:
Choose any book that is relevant to the subjects or philosophers
under consideration in this class, get your book approved by me
before beginning the assignment, and write a critical review (5-7
pages). These assignments need not demonstrate a mastery of the
material being covered. A critical review is not a summary. While
you’ll need to do some summarizing of the book you’re reviewing
(main topics, arguments, or position), you’ll need to be critical as
well. This means evaluating the book: Is the author convincing?
Does the author use/document appropriate resources? Are there
problems or gaps in the authors reasoning or arguments? Are there
reasonable objections to the author’s position that need to be
addressed? etc.
This paper should be 15-20 pages in length. You may do your research and writing on a topic of your choosing, but the topic must be approved by me. Requirements for choosing a topic are simple; it has to be relevant to the subjects or philosophers under consideration in this class. Choose a topic that interests you.
The paper must be a philosophy paper, and that means a few things in particular. Although it will be very helpful for you to present and summarize some of the ideas of other thinkers in your work, you have to do more than this to write philosophy, you have to be critical. In essence, this means that your paper must ultimately be an attempt to convince. Draw on the work of others as much as you like (and always indicate when you do so), and somewhere in the paper you must say what you think about your topic/issue and try to present good reasons for thinking that.
Your grade on this assignment will not be based on how much I agree with you, but rather on (a) how clearly your ideas are presented, (b) how thorough you are in constructing your arguments and considering pertinent ideas of other writers, and (c) to what extent you demonstrate an understanding of your chosen material/topic.
When writing a paper of this sort, it is often helpful to get feedback on one's ideas. I will certainly read as many rough drafts as you want to give me, and will (to the best of my ability) provide you with suggestions, etc. for making the paper better. At the very least, you need to turn in one outline and bibliography to me (10% of final grade) and one rough draft (10% of final grade) according to the due dates listed on the class schedule. CLASS SCHEDULE ANED READING ASSIGNMENTS(* denotes that the assignment is a handout)
1/7 - Introductory remarks about this class.
1/9 - Introductory remarks about 19th Century Philosophy.
1/14 - *Read: Stace, The Philosophy of Hegel, pp. 42-55:
“The Onward March from Kant,” 1/16 - *Read: Stace, pp. 55-69: “Reason as the Universal,” “Reason as Self-Determined” and “Pure Thought,” and pp. 78-84: “Monism and the Deduction of the Categories.”
1/23 - *Read: Stace, pp. 84-119: “Which is the First Category?” “The Dialectic Method,” “The Dialectic Method (continued)” and “Divisions of the System.”
1/28 - *Read: Stace, pp. 134-153: “Chapter 1: Quality.”
1/30 - *Read: Hegel, Phenomenology of Spirit, pp. 105-119.
2/4 - *Read: Hegel, Phenomenology of Spirit, pp. 119-138.
2/6 - *Read: Hegel, 1827 Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion (Intro.) **** OUTLINE FOR PAPER DUE TODAY ****
2/11 - Read: Marx, “The German Ideology” pp.102-132.
2/13 - Read: Marx, “The German Ideology” pp.132-156.
2/18 - Read: Marx, “Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts” pp. 54-81.
2/20 - Read: Marx, “The Communist Manifesto” pp. 157-186.
2/25 - *Read: Henry, “Marx: A Philosophy of Human Reality” pp. 287-306.
2/27 - *Read: Firestone, The Dialectic of Sex (excerpts).
3/3 - *Read: Russell Means, “For America to Live, Europe Must Die”
3/5 - Read: Kierkegaard, “Concluding Unscientific Postscript” pp. 190-210. ****CRITICAL BOOK REVIEW DUE TODAY ****
3/17 - Read: Kierkegaard, “Concluding Unscientific Postscript” pp. 210-231.
3/19 - Read: Kierkegaard, “Concluding Unscientific Postscript” pp. 231-258.
3/24 - Read: Kierkegaard, “Fear and Trembling” pp. 116-134.
3/26 - Read: Kierkegaard, “The Sickness Unto Death” pp. 339-354.
3/31 - Read: Kierkegaard, “The Sickness Unto Death” pp. 354-371.
4/2 - *Read: Heidegger, The Basic Problems of Phenomenology (Intro.) **** ROUGH DRAFT OF RESEARCH PAPER DUE TODAY ****
4/7 - *Read: Schrag, Existence and Freedom, Ch. 7 – “Decision and Integrity”
4/9 - Read: Nietzsche, “Eternal Recurrence” pp. 249-262.
4/14 - Read: Nietzsche, “Superman” pp. 232-248.
4/16 - Read: Nietzsche, “Morality” pp. 71-79, 99-119.
4/21 - Read: Nietzsche, “Religion” pp. 167-193.
4/23 - Read: Nietzsche, “Will to Power” pp. 215-231.
4/28 - *Read: Nietzsche, “Interpretation” **** RESEARCH PAPER DUE TODAY ****
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