Philosophy
336: CONTEMPORARY FRENCH PHILOSOPHY
Spring,
2002
Professor:
Alan Schrift
Office:
Steiner 311
Office Hours:
MW 1:30-3:00
Topic: “Gifts as/and Ethical-Economic
Exchange”
Required
Texts | Course Description | Course
Requirements | Course Outline
Required
Texts
Georges Bataille
The Accursed Share, Vol. One
Jacques Derrida
Given Time
Marcel Mauss
The Gift
Alan Schrift,
ed. The Logic of the Gift
In addition to these texts, a xerox packet of required
readings is available at the Bookstore.
Course Description
This course will be an advanced
interdisciplinary seminar examining recent approaches to libidinal and political
economies of gift exchange. Beginning with Mauss’s Essay on the Gift,
we will examine a number of theoretical reflections prompted directly or indirectly
by Mauss’s work. While questions of gift and exchange will remain central to
our inquiries, we will often have occasion to follow a thinker’s train of thought
well beyond this initial focus, and part of the goal of this course will be
to explore and reflect upon the diverse ways that the “logic of the gift” has
emerged in recent French theorizing in the human sciences.
Course Requirements
This course is organized
as a seminar, which means that active student participation is both expected
and required. There will be a good deal of reading, and students will be expected
to do all of the assigned reading and to come to class ready to discuss and/or
ask questions about what they read. Formal work for the class will include the
following:
1. Two Seminar Presentations (15%/20%):
The seminar presentation
will consist of a 3-5 page written summary of the reading assigned for class.
This summary should be submitted by 5:00pm on the day before class, in time to
be duplicated for the members of the class, and will be read in class. In addition
to summarizing the assigned reading, the written summary can (and should) raise
questions for discussion. These questions can be exegetical (e.g., “what does
Derrida mean when he says that the truth of the gift is its annulment?”), critical
(e.g., “is Cixous’s distinction between masculine and feminine libidinal economies
justifiable?), or associative/comparative (e.g., “is Lévi-Strauss’s structuralist
reading of Mauss justified?”).
2. Term Paper: 18-20 page
research paper, due May 11 (35%). No extensions will be granted except for medical
emergency. The topic for this paper will be determined by the student in consultation
with the instructor. In connection with this final paper, keep in mind the
following requirements/deadlines:
April 4: turn in a one-paragraph description of
topic with annotated bibliography.
April 11: turn in detailed outline.
April 18: turn in 2 copies
(one anonymous) of a 5-page thesis statement that describes your project
in some detail. One copy will be evaluated by the instructor, and one copy
will be evaluated by a fellow student.
April 23: turn in comments
on one another’s thesis statements (xerox final page summary and submit this
to the instructor).
May 9: Paper Due. Please
submit two copies.
3. Seminar Report: a
15-20 minute summary presentation of your final paper (15%).
4. Position Papers/Class Participation: each week that you don’t make a seminar presentation,
submit on Thursday a one-page typed comment on some aspect of the reading
of that week (15%).
5. Web Discussion Board:
once a week, you will be asked to submit a discussion question
by 10:00am to the class “Bulletin Board” on the web. These questions will allow
all seminar participants to get a sense for what topics and sections are drawing
attention and interest from other members of the seminar. Address to be provided.
The final grade will be determined on the basis of these
writing assignments and general performance in class during the course of the
semester.
Tentative Course Outline
|
Date
|
Assignment
|
|
|
|
Jan. 22:
|
Introduction
Olds, “More Blessèd” in Schrift
Emerson, “Gifts” in Schrift
|
|
|
|
Jan. 24:
|
Mauss, The Gift,
Chap. 4
|
|
|
 |
|
Jan. 29:
|
Lévi-Strauss, Introduction
to the Reading of Marcel Mauss in Schrift
|
Jan
29
|
Jan
31
|
|
Jan. 31:
|
Derrida, “Structure, Sign
and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences”
|
|
|
|
|
Feb. 5:
|
Mauss, “Gift-Gift”
in Schrift
|
Feb
5
|
|
| |
Benveniste, “Gift and Exchange
in the Indo-European Vocabulary” in Schrift
|
|
|
|
Feb. 7:
|
Sahlins, “The Spirit of
the Gift” in Schrift
|
|
|
|
|
Feb. 12
|
Gayle Rubin, “The Traffic
in Women” (Xerox)
|
Feb
12
|
|
|
Feb. 14:
|
Bataille, The Accursed
Share, Vol. One, pp. 9-77
|
|
|
|
|
Feb. 19:
|
Bataille, “The Notion of
Expenditure”
|
Feb
19
|
|
|
|
Bataille, The Accursed Share, Vol. One, pp. 81-128
|
|
|
|
Feb. 20:
|
4:15-6:00 or 7:00-9:00:
Bataille, The Accursed Share, Vol. One, pp. 129-190
|
Feb
20
|
|
|
Feb. 21:
|
NO CLASS
|
|
|
|
Feb. 26:
|
Derrida, “From Restricted
to General Economy: A Hegelianism
without Reserve”
|
Feb
26
|
|
|
|
Feb. 28:
|
Derrida, Given Time,
Chapter One
|
Feb
28
|
|
|
Mar. 5:
|
Derrida, Given Time,
Chapter Two
|
|
|
|
|
Mar. 7:
|
Derrida, Given Time,
Chapter Three
|
Mar
7
|
|
|
Mar. 12:
|
Derrida, Given Time,
Chapter Four
|
|
|
|
|
Mar. 14:
|
Guest Seminar Director,
Michael Naas (DePaul): Derrida,
“KhÇra” *
|
|
|
|
Mar.15 - Mar. 30
|
Spring
Vacation
|
|
|
|
Apr. 2:
|
Bourdieu, The Logic
of Practice in Schrift
|
Apr
2
|
Apr
4
|
|
Apr. 4:
|
Bourdieu, The Logic
of Practice in Schrift
|
|
|
| |
Bourdieu, “Marginalia” in Schrift
Description and Bibliography
Due.
|
|
|
|
|
Apr. 9:
|
Cixous, “Sorties” in Schrift
|
Apr
9
|
|
|
Apr. 11:
|
Irigaray, “Women on the Market” in Schrift
|
|
|
|
|
Outline Due.
|
|
|
|
|
Apr. 16:
|
Strathern, “Partners and Consumers: Making Relations
Visible” in Schrift
|
Apr
16
|
|
|
Apr. 18:
|
Stoekl, “Bataille, Gift-Giving,
and the Cold War” in Schrift
|
|
|
|
|
Thesis Statement Due
|
|
|
|
|
Apr. 23:
|
Bernasconi, “What Goes
Around Comes Around”
Two Student Seminar Presentations
|
Apr
23
|
|
|
Apr. 25:
|
NO CLASS
|
|
|
|
|
Apr. 30:
|
Three Student Seminar Presentations
|
|
|
|
May 2:
|
Three Student Seminar Presentations
|
|
|
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May 7:
|
Three Student Seminar Presentations
|
|
|
|
May 9:
|
Three Student Seminar Presentations
|
|
|
| |
Final Paper Due
|
|
|
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