Spring, 1997 Electives:
Spring, 1997 Electives:
In recent years we have seen a huge outpouring of books on the environment, particularly on threats to the environment, including the land, atmosphere, animal species of every description, and future generations of humans. While this course necessarily makes reference to some of these essays, it focuses on human choices. More specifically, it attempts to answer the question: what are the moral norms that should guide us regarding our physical environment?
Some other issues for possible consideration: Do humans have an obligation to "respect" nature, and if so, why? Does it make sense to speak of animal rights? Do persons alive today have obligations to future generations of human beings? In what sense, if any, are ecological issues linked to gender (ecofeminism)? How do we balance the need to protect the environment with pressures (especially among poor peoples) for economic development (what Denis Goulet has called "the cruel choice")? The course will take advantage of the rich supply of films and videos on the environment that are available.
Metaphysics is the inquiry into the most general and fundamental subject matter of all: the nature of being or reality. To inquire about the nature of being or reality is to inquire about the inevitable presuppositions that are made by any attempt to understand any part or aspect of the world. Metaphysics seeks to make these presuppositions explicit and to explore their implications for human life. By arriving at a knowledge of these presuppositions, we raise our sights above the particularities of everyday life and self-understanding and adopt a new standpoint proper to the most universal and general level of thought. Philosophers have believed that through this knowledge we arrive at a vision of the Totality and Foundation of all that exists.
In this course, we shall study several of the most influential metaphysical works of the Western tradition, including: Aristotle's Metaphysics, Spinoza's Ethics, Kant's Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics, the Preface and Introduction to Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit and several essays from Heidegger's later writings.
Heidegger's reputation as a person and as a moral and political philosopher (to the extent he can be considered as such) has certainly suffered in recent years due to the public debate about the extent of his intellectual and political involvement with German fascism. But nothing in this debate has diminished the prestige of Heidegger's reading of the history of Western metaphysics. Heidegger breathed new life into metaphysical inquiry in the 20th century by focusing above all on the specifically Western experience of metaphysical questioning (as opposed to a focus on the characteristic doctrines of Western metaphysics) and by providing a powerful interpretation of that experience.
This course will focus on Heidegger's reading of the history of Western metaphysics and on the conclusions he drew from that reading. It will focus, therefore, on Heidegger's later writings particularly on the sort of themes developed in essays such as "Plato's Doctrine of Truth," "The Age of the Worldview," "The End of Philosophy and the Task of Thinking," "Letter on Humanism," etc. It is this body of writing that accounts for Heidegger's continuing fame and influence that justifies Heidegger's continuing reputation as the first postmodern philosopher and as perhaps the most important figure in 20th-century Western thought.
An introduction to European philosophy in the 17th and 18th centuries, which defined modern thought. Readings will be from the central works of Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant. The main themes will be the nature of knowledge, reality, and the human mind.
Some of the specific issues to be considered are the following: Is it possible to prove that I really exist, or that the physical world exists? Do these questions even make sense? Is perception the basis of human knowledge, or can we learn things about the physical world just by logical thought (like mathematical deductions in theoretical physics)? Is the world a vast, unified structure in which each event is linked to other events by natural laws? Or is the world instead a miscellaneous collection of unconnected events that we simply think of more usefully in some ways rather than other ways? Can knowledge of the material world be as reliable as the direct knowledge I have of my own thoughts? What mental structures or capacities are needed to make either sort of knowledge possible?
This course will consider some of the major thinkers and ideas that have shaped American thought in the twentieth century. The format is not a detailed survey of movements and fashions, but concentrated study of selected work by a small number of the most influential authors, such as John Dewey, W.V.0. Quine, and John Searle. Among topics to be taken up are the following: the nature of human experience; the character and function of conceptual structures in human thought; the nature of meaning; and the relation of theory to practice.
This course, while it has no prerequisites, was designed as a sequel to Religion and Psychology. It goes deeper than a survey course into selected psychological perspectives on religion, and their recent impact on critical religious thought.
This semester we shall begin by focussing on Erik Erikson's development of the psychoanalytic (Freudian) understanding of religion and Joseph Campbell's use of the analytic (Jungian) tradition. In the second half of the semester we shall study the positive, constructive work of recent Jewish, Catholic and Protestant religious thinkers who build on such approaches. This will include, but not be limited to, the new ways of self-understanding explored by feminist religious thinkers.
This course will focus on original texts by women or, in a few cases, original texts about women. We will emphasize the religious growth and development of such distinctly American movements as Evangelicalism, Mormonism, the westward missionary expansion, slave narratives, hymns, sermons, and exhortations. Emphasis will be two-fold: (1) interpretation of texts and (2) religious text as an acceptable form of public expression for women.
Among the writings studied will be those of Anne Hutchinson, Olympia Brown, Angelina, Sarah, and Charlotte Grimke. Texts from among the following movements will be read and explicated: the development and growth of Evangelicalism in America, the Pentecostalism and exhortations of Aimee Semple McPherson, the Women's Christian Temperance Union (Frances Willard), the women of the Great Awakening in upstate New York, women of sectarian movements such as Emma Smith (Mormonism) Mary Baker Eddy (Christian Science), Catherine Booth (Salvation Army), and Mother Ann Lee (Shakers).
Part of the value in this course lies in the fact that religion served as an acceptable base for training women for the public sphere. While restricted in many areas of religion and theology, texts of inspiration, devotion and children's religious education were written almost entirely by women.
An examination of the indigenous belief systems and ritual practices of the people of sub-Saharan Africa. Concepts of the sacred, demonology, ancestor worship, life after death, and individual and communal morality will be discussed. Specific attention will be paid to the issue of human rights and the role of religion as a tool of oppression or as an instrument of liberation. We will also address the place of traditional religion in the future of African peoples in the 21st Century.
Early Christianity was even more diverse than it is today. The writings of the New Testament reflect both that diversity and the subsequent attempt to impose uniformity of belief. We will examine the Pauline Epistles, the Gospel and Epistles of John, and Luke's Gospel and his Acts of the Apostles, showing how earlier Christian writings were re-edited and rewritten before they were officially added to the Bible. This also means asking who came up with the idea of a New Testament and who decided which writings would be in it.
This selective survey focuses on how Christian and Jewish thinkers have wrestled with baffling theological questions and issues of religious practice. How can a good God allow evil? Should we obey church authorities or think for ourselves? Does a merciful God condemn unbelievers to Hell? Does faith mean you can't doubt? We will read and discuss St. Anselm's "Why God Became Man," Martin Luther's "The Freedom of the Christian," and "The Babylonian Captivity of the Church," Hosea Ballou's "A Treatise on Atonement," Paul Tillich's "Dynamics of Faith," Dostoyevsky's "The Grand Inquisitor," Nietzsche's "Thus Spoke Zarathustra," and Elie Wiesel's "The Trial of God: A Play."
The major living religions of the world express their teachings and ideas in writing. Some of these writings attain the unique status of Scripture. This course will engage in the textual analysis of some of the most important scriptures of Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Confucianism, Taoism and Shinto emphasizing critical analysis and interpretation of textual sources. Priority will be given to (1) primary documents; (2) their traditional interpretations and (3) recent understandings and applications of these texts. The course will include close reading of text for the purposes of interpretation of symbolic codes and historical idiosyncrasies.
Send questions, comments and suggestions to: Tom Bridges
