PHIL 280: 19th Century Philosophy
Fall-12 2002
Time: TR 1:30-3:30 Professor: Dr. Lee Braver
Room: H121 Office: 123 Hinsdale
Office Hours: M 9-11, 12-2, W 9-11, TH 11:20-12 Phone: X5146, 330-995-5670 (home- no
e-mail: braverlj@hiram.edu; I read my email most days calls after 8:30, please)
Texts
Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals Kant
Hegel: Essential Writings ed. Weiss
The Portable Karl Marx ed. Kamenka
Concluding Unscientific Postscript Vol. 1 Kierkegaard
The Gay Science Nietzsche
Notes
Any missed deadline or make-up work will require an excellent excuse such as serious illness or death in the family along with appropriate documentation. Any unexcused late assignments will be penalized one letter grade per day. Work not turned in during class must be signed and dated by Missie Mallinak in H138 in order to count as being turned in on that day.
You are strongly encouraged to talk to or email me outside of class. If you cannot come to my office hours, we can set up an alternate time. If you are having difficulties understanding the material or want to pursue a topic in greater depth, I would be happy to do so. Feel free to call me at home, but not after 9:00 P.M.
Grade
Your grade for the class breaks down as follows:
Class Participation- 10%. Discussing ideas is an essential part of understanding them. I expect you to participate in civil debate with your classmates on a regular basis. Attendance will not be taken, though it will affect your grade. Egregious absence or lack of participation can reduce your grade by more than 10%. You are responsible for all ideas and terms discussed in class, including those not in the reading.
Two short papers- 25% each. Two short (4-7 pages) essays on a topic you will choose from a set I will hand out will be due in class on 9-26 & 10-24. You must rewrite the first paper and turn it in one week after I return it to you. You will have the option to rewrite the second.
Final paper- 40%. A longer paper (10-15 pages) on a topic you will choose in collaboration with me will be due on 11-19. You must have your topic approved by me by 10-29.
This class will explore five of the major European thinkers of the nineteenth century. This was an extremely exciting and dynamic period which produced some of the greatest thinkers of all time. We will eavesdrop on their conversations with and criticisms of each other as well as actively participating. One of the dominant questions of this period is how to infuse our lives with significance, especially in relation to history. We will examine and assess each of these philosophers’ responses to this question.
Obviously, your reading and writing skills should greatly improve from this class. Also, your ability to analyze and critically evaluate various systems of ideas and play them against each other will get a workout. This class satisfies the humanities distribution requirement as well as the historical requirement for the philosophy major.
Reading Schedule
I am assigning the readings by week rather than by day to allow for greater flexibility. You should have all of the reading done twice on each Tuesday so that you can completely reread the material for Thursday. These texts require and repay repeated readings. I reserve the right to make any changes to this schedule, including adding or subtracting sections and changing due dates of assignments, to accommodate the flow of the class. Any such changes will be announced in class ahead of time.
Week I Kant pp. 5-6, 15-19, 26-38, 43-53
8-27 & 29
Week II Kant pp. 57-64, 66-81
9-3 & 5
Week III Hegel pp. 1-16, 37-64
9-10 & 12
Week IV Hegel pp. 86-102
9-17 & 19
Week V Hegel pp. 253-5, 262-5, 273-83, 306-13
9-24 & 26 First short paper due 9-26
Week VI Marx pp. 115-124, 158-183, 189-195
10-1 & 3
Week VII Marx pp. 203-228, 241
10-8 (fall weekend on 10-10)
Week VIII Kierkegaard pp. 9-35, 50-57
10-15 & 17
Week IX Kierkegaard pp. 80-6, 106-49, 185-92
10-22 & 24 Second short paper due 10-24
Week X Kierkegaard pp. 199-213, 301-21, 343-56, 400-14, 525-39, 561-79
10-29 & 31
Week XI Nietzsche pp. 32-38, § 1-2, 4-5, 11, 21, 26, 34, 46, 51, 54, 57-9, 107-
11-5 & 7 11, 115-6, 120-1, 124-5, 143
Week XII Nietzsche § 283, 300-1, 307, 324-7, 335, 340-1, 343, 354-6, 370-4,
11-12 & 14 382-3
Final paper due