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English 109/Philosophy 109 Fall 1999 MWF 11:00 to 11:50 a.m. Griffin 7 David L. Smith, English and Steven B. Gerrard, Philosophy BLINDING KNOWLEDGE: THE HUMANITIES RECONSIDERED To know the truth, our tradition teaches, is the basis for freedom; and freedom is intrinsically a good, desirable thing. The benefits of knowledge seem obvious, yet the religious, philosophical, and political traditions of the West have been deeply preoccupied with its costs. The light of truth may blind the eyes. This course will examine how the problem of knowledge has been addressed in some of the great works in the Western tradition. In particular, we will trace how the metaphors of light/darkness and master/slave have been used in philosophical and literary works concerned with knowledge, morality, and power. Beginning with the Bible and various mythological narratives, we will continue with Sophocles, Plato, Descartes, Dostoevsky, Shakespeare, Hume, Hegel, Shelley, Melville, Twain, Nietzsche, Freud, Du Bois, and Ellison. In addition we will explore films, works of art and music. For example, we will investigate the relationship between master and slave in Hegel’s Phenomenology, Shakespeare’s Tempest, and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. We will then compare those works with Boris Karloff’s film version of Frankenstein. We will also study two works of the contemporary artists Tony Oursler: one at MASS MoCA and the other at the Williams College Museum of Art. This course is an introduction to some of the crucial themes, techniques, methods, and attitudes of the humanities, and will provide a basis from which students can pursue the humanities at Williams. David L. Smith Offices: Dean of the Faculty's Office, 3rd floor, Hopkins Hall and Stetson F-10 Office Phone: 597-4351 Office Hours: Mondays, 9-10 a.m. in Hopkins Hall, and by appointment e-mail: David.L.Smith@williams.edu or dlsmith@williams.edu
Steven B. Gerrard Office: President’s office, 3rd floor Hopkins Hall Office Phone: 597-4252 Office Hours: Mondays, 9:15-10:30, and by appointment e-mail: Steven.B.Gerrard@williams.edu or sgerrard@williams.edu
Teaching Assistant: Anselm T. McClain Phone: x2607 Dorm: Chadbourne 8 e-mail: 02atm@williams.edu Readings: The following books should be purchased at Water Street Books: Sophocles, Sophocles I: Three Tragedies Descartes, Selected Philosophical Writings Dostoevsky, Notes from the Underground Shakespeare, The Tempest Shelley, Frankenstein Melville, Billy Budd and Other Tales Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion Twain, Life on the Mississippi Ellison, The Invisible Man A packet of readings should be purchased in Stetson B4 (the same level as the upper parking lot). The contents of the packet are:
Two copies of the Labeltalk series, published by the Williams College Museum of Art, are on reserve in Sawyer Library. Films: We will see five films in this class: Gospel at Colonus, Forbidden Planet, Frankenstein, Blade Runner, and Dr. Strangelove. The films will all be shown in the evening (the schedule is below). Popcorn will be provided. We recognize that sometimes people have other evening commitments, and all the films will also be available on reserve in Sawyer Library. Class Listserver: Everyone should be enrolled in the class listserver: LIGHT-L. When you send an e-mail message to LIGHT-L it will be received by everyone in the class. Assignments: There will be an assignment due each week, with the exception of Week Eleven (Thanksgiving). No late assignments can be accepted. SCHEDULE Overture: "Let there be light" 9/10 Introduction Week One 9/13 Bible, Genesis 1-4 [in the packet] Edith Hamilton, Mythology, selections [in the packet] Plato, the "Meno" [in the packet] 9/15 "Meno", continued Plato, the "Republic", selections [in the packet] 9/17 Plato, continued A. Dark Places and the Natural Light of Reason Week Two 9/20 No Class. Yom Kippur 9/21 Tuesday evening, 8:00, Gospel at Colonus 9/22 Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus [in Sophocles I] 9/24 Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy Descartes, Discourse on the Method (for background reading) Week Three 9/27 Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy, continued 9/29 Field trip to MASS MoCA to see Optics by Tony Oursler 10/1 Descartes, Optics [in Selected Philosophical Writings] Week Four 10/4 Introjection: Tony Oursler mid-career survey, 1976-1999 4:00 p.m. Discussion with Tony Oursler at the Williams College Museum of Art 10/6 Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground 10/8 Dostoevsky, continued Week Five 10/11 Dostoevsky, continued
10/13 Hegel, selections from The Phenomenology of Spirit [in the packet] 10/15 Hegel, continued [Guest lecture by Mark Taylor (tentative)] Week Six 10/18 No class Reading Period 10/20 Shakespeare, The Tempest Montaigne, "Of Cannibals" [in the packet] 8:00 p.m.: Forbidden Planet 10/22 Shakespeare, continued… Forbidden Planet Week Seven 10/25 Shakespeare, continued Forbidden Planet 10/27 Melville "Benito Cereno" [in Billy Budd and Other Tales] 10/29 Melville, continued Du Bois "Of the Coming of John" [in the packet] Week Eight 11/1 Melville and Du Bois, continued 11/3 Shelley, Frankenstein 11/4 Thursday evening, 8:00: Frankenstein 11/5 Shelley, continued Boris Karloff's Frankenstein Guest Lecture by Shawn Rosenheim Week Nine 11/8 Shelley and Frankenstein, continued C. Knowledge, Desire and Limits 11/10 Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion 11/11 Thursday evening, 8:00: Blade Runner 11/12 Hume, continued; Blade Runner Week Ten 11/15 Hume and Blade Runner, continued 11/17 Twain, Life on the Mississippi, Chapters I- XXI (pp. 29-166) 11/19 Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams and other selections [in the packet] (Guest Lecture: Susan Engel) Week Eleven 11/22 Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols, selections [in the packet] Freud, continued 11/23 Tuesday evening, 8:00: Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb 11/24 Freud, Nietzsche and Dr. Strangelove, continued 11/26 No class Thanksgiving Holiday Week Twelve 11/29 Ellison, Invisible Man 12/1 Ellison, continued 12/3 Ellison, continued Week Thirteen 12/6 Ellison, continued 12/8 Last Day of Class: Enlightened Darkness? Back to Steve Gerrard's home page.
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