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Phil 308: The American Philosophical Heritage Fall, 2008
Dr. Jackie KegleyTuesday/Thursday 3:30-5:35pm
Office: Faculty Towers 103-D 654-2249/2291 Fax: 661-665-6904
E-mail:
Website:
Office Hours: Mon. 12-2; Wed.12:30-2:30 & Thurs. 1-2
This syllabus and other class materials can be found on Web CT.
Course Description
The focus of this course is on the American Philosophical Heritage as a symphony of many voices and perspectives, representing cultural, racial, gendered, political, economic, geographical, religious, and philosophical differences. It will explore key issues and ideas such as the nature of the self and self development; the nature and value of knowledge and scientific inquiry; notions of Community and Power, Slavery and Freedom, and Democracy and Cultural Pluralism. Among the philosophers studied will be Jefferson, Franklin, Emerson and Thoreau, Jonathan Edwards, William James, Josiah Royce, John Dewey, W.E.B. Du Bois, Alain Locke, and Jane Addams as well some Native American contributions.
Required Text
Leonard Harris, Scott Pratt & Anne Waters, Editors, American Philosophies (Blackwell, 2002). ISBN: 0-631-21001-6.
A course packet of Selected Readings is available on electronic reserve. It may be purchased in printed form for $9.00from The Reprographics Department located across from the BusinessBuilding and around the corner from the NursingBuilding.
Selected Articles for American Philosophy: This is a packet of materials for the Critical Analysis paper. The list of articles in this packet will be provided you and will also be posted on Web CT. Once you have decided on an article for the Critical Analysis paper, you will be given a copy of that article.
Recommended Secondary Sources:
Native Pragmatism: Rethinking the Roots of American Philosophy by Scott L. Pratt (IndianaUniversity Press, 2002)
Jane Adams, Democracy and Social Values (University of Illinois, 2001)
Black Elk: The Sacred Way of a Lakota (Harper, San Francisco, 1991)
W.E.B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk. (Penguin, 1996)
Course Objectives
By the end of this course,
- You will have developed a better understanding of the historical development of American Philosophical thought.
- You will have a better understanding of various cultural, racial, ethnic, and gendered perspectives within the complex of views called American philosophy.
- You will have a better understanding of the contribution of literature, arts, and religion to the development of American philosophical thought as well as the nature of philosophical reflection on these forms of artistic expression.
- You will have developed the philosophical skills of advanced critical reading, critical writing, critical thinking, and research.
- You will have developed listening and oral communication skills and especially skills in hearing others and responding in sensitive as well as critical ways.
Course Requirements
Summary of Grade Percentages:
20% Class Participation-Includes Answers to Reading Questions
15% Issue Summary
20% Mid Term Essay Exam
20% Final Exam
25% Final Paper- You have a choice of (1) a Critical Analysis paper or (2) a reflective paper on an issue raised in the course as viewed by one or more of thinkers covered.
Your success in this course will be assessed by
- Class Participation (20%)
- Participation and class attendance
This is a class in which we will share our observations, ideas, and critical reflections. In this process, we should gain a wider understanding of the philosophical texts and hopefully will learn much from each other. Attendance and participation are thus mandatory. If you must miss class for a legitimate reason, please contact me ahead of time. Each unexcused absence warrants a five-percent reduction in the final grade. In addition to the necessity of attending class, you need to come prepared. This means that you have to read the entire assignment, have thought about it, and are ready to discuss it.
- Preparation for Class: .
Graded Short Reading Reflection Questions:: To facilitate your understanding and analysis of the reading material, for each class you will be asked to write a brief 1-2 page reflection in answer to a question or questions related to the assigned essays for that class day.. These are due on the day of the assigned readings. Late reflections will not be accepted. Five of these reflections may be dropped.
- Issue Summary- 20%- 5-7 Pages. (Part II of the course)-Due November 6th
- Part I. You will explain in your own words and in at least two paragraphs what you believe were the significant questions raised in this section of the course.
- Part II. You will, in at least several paragraphs, discuss how this (these) questions relates to your own life and interactions with the world. Examples will be very illuminating.
- Part III. This part should be the more substantial section of your summary (4-5) pages and should be your critical evaluation of the different answers provided by the authors read to the questions raised in this section. You will want to compare the strengths and weaknesses of the different answers.
- Part IV. In this section you should take a provisional stand on the one of the major questions and provide a brief justification.
III.Mid-Term Essay Exam- This will be a take-home essay exam covering the material in Part I: Minds and Selves. It will be due Tuesday, October 23rd.
IV.Final Essay Exam- This will be a take-home essay exam which is due on Tuesday,November 25th between 5-7:30 p.m. It will cover all the material in the course but choice will be provided,
V.Critical Analysis Paper or Issue Paper (25%)- Write a six to eight page (typed and double spaced) critical analysis of one of the secondary source articles available in the Notebook of Articles or aneight to ten page on an issue raised in the class as viewed by one or more of the thinkers covered in the course.
This is due on November 18th.
Schedule
Tuesday, September 16Context and Background
King Ferdinand of Aragon, “Letter to the Taino/Arawak Indians, 1493, 9-10,
American Philosophies.
Sa-Go-Ye-Wat-Ha, “Speeches,” American Philosophies, 11-14.
Olaudah Equiano, “The Interesting Native,” American Philosophies, 22-31.
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Part I: Minds and Selves
A. Early Context
Thursday, September 18Puritanism and other Early Contexts
Jonathan Edwards, “Of Being and Original Sin,” 72-87, American
Philosophies.
Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Minister’s Black View,” in course pack.
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Tuesday, September 23The American Enlightenment
Benjamin Franklin, “An Account of My Life, 262-269, American Philosophies.
Thomas Jefferson, Selections in Course pack.
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Thursday, September 25 Transcendentalism
Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Nature, American Philosophies, 43-63.
Henry David Thoreau, “On Walden, or Life in the Woods,” & “Life Without
Principles,” course pack.
B. Classical American Philosophy Context
Tuesday, September 30Evolutionary Thought
Josiah Royce, “Self-Consciousness, Social Consciousness and Nature,”
American Philosophies, 108-121.
Report on: John Fiske, “Miscellaneous Writings,” and John Dewey,
“Darwin’s Influence on Philosophy,” in course pack
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Thursday, October 2A New Empiricism: Pragmatism
William James,“Principles of Psychology,” 88-107,American Philosophies.
Tuesday, October 7Influence of Gender on Concept of Self
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “Our Brains and What Ails Them,” 122-133.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, “The Solitude of the Self.”- course pack
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Thursday, October 9Influence of Race on Concept of Self
W.E.B. Du Bois, “Race,” 134-149, American Philosophies.
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Tuesday, October 14Selves as Social but Individual
George Herbert Mead, “”The Genesis of Self and Social Control,”
150-162, American Philosophies.
Part II: Knowledge and Inquiry
Thursday, October 16Classical Pragmatism
Cadwaller Colden, “An Introduction to the Study of Phylosophy Wrote in
America for the Use of a Young Gentleman, “176-187, American Philosophies.
Charles Sanders Peirce, “What Pragmatism Is,” 188-197, American
Philosophies.
Tuesday, October 21Classical Pragmatism
John Dewey, “The Supremacy of Method,” 198-210, American Philosophies.
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Thursday, October 23Knowledge as Socially Grounded
Josiah Royce, The Social Nature of Knowledge,” course packet.
Mid- Term Exam due.
Tuesday, October 28Knowledge as Power
Frances Wight, “Knowledge,” 165-175, American Philosophies.
Benjamin Franklin, “Two Letters on Useful Knowledge,” handout.
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Part III: Moral and Practical Issues
Thursday, October 30Philosophy as Lived.
William James,” “The Moral Philosopher and the Moral Life,” course pack.
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Tuesday, November 4Values
Josiah Royce, “Loyalty to Loyalty,” course pack.
John Dewey, “Morality is Social,” course pack.
Part IV: Social and Political Issues
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Thursday, November 6Henry David Thoreau, “Civil Disobedience, 325-336, American Philosophies.
Fredrick Douglass, “Oration Delivered in Corinthian Hall, Rochester, July 5,
1852, 337-342, American Philosophies
Issue Summary Due
Tuesday. November 11No Class- Veterans Day
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Thursday, November 13Jane Addams, “Newer Ideals of Peace,” American Philosophies, 389-404.
Tuesday, November 18Josiah Royce, “On Certain Limitations of the Thoughtful Public in America,”
And Josiah Royce, “Provincialism,” Course pack.
Critical Analysis or Issue paper due.
Thursday, November 20Alain C. Locke, “Cultural Pluralism,” 433-445.American Philosophies.
Walt Whitman, “Democratic Vistas,” 374-388, American Philosophies.
Thursday, November 25th- Final Exam Due- 5:30-7:30p.m.
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