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Philosophy 135/General Literary Studies
135: PHILOSOPHY AND LITERATURE
In addition to these texts, a packet of copied material is available from the bookstore. Course Objectives: During the course of the semester, we will examine several philosophical themes as they are expressed in literary texts. While reading drama, short stories, and novels from antiquity through the present, we will examine questions concerning freedom and responsibility, the nature of the self, the relationship between the individual and society, the meaning of justice, gender equality, and the role of technology and religion in society. In addition to these questions, we will also discuss questions of style in terms of the propriety of literature as a medium for expressing philosophical ideas. While these will be the main objectives of the course, a question to which we will continually return is: What are we doing when we interpret a text? In other words, how can one text result in many different, and often contradictory, interpretations, and is there such a thing as "The correct interpretation"? If not, then should we formulate rules to guide our various interpretive practices and how should we distinguish better from worse interpretations? Course Requirements: Final grades will be determined based upon the following requirements: Short Papers: There will be 2 short essays (3-4 pages) spread evenly throughout the semester. Each will count 20% toward final grade. Final Exam/Term Paper: Students will have the option of a take-home final, consisting of 2-3 questions (total length: 5-8 pages) or a term paper on a topic of their choice. Paper or exam will be due on the second day of exam week. 35% of final grade. Oral presentation: Each student will be asked to summarize and offer an interpretation of one of the texts read (probably choices will be restricted to Kafka's or Borges's short stories). 10% of final grade. Active class participation: One of the underlying themes of this class will be: how do we interpret a text? It will be very important for class members to offer alternative interpretations to those of the instructor. As you will shortly discover, it is a central theme in my approach to literary interpretations that there is no such thing as "The correct interpretation." To facilitate participation, each student will be assigned to a 4-person group. For every class marked with an * on the schedule, one group will be responsible for either providing questions and leading the discussion for that day or for leading the discussion in response to questions provided by the instructor. Individual and group participation will count 15% toward the final grade. In addition to the above assignments there will be two additional requirements: Discussion questions: Each Monday or Wednesday of a week in which you will not be doing an oral presentation, you will be asked to send to me via e-mail one discussion question for the reading assignment of the following day. These questions must be submitted to me by 4:30, and they will be circulated to all members of the class by 5:00 pm. These questions will then be available for the entire class to think about in anticipation of the discussion of the following day. Keeping a journal: At least once a week, I'd like you to take some time and write down your reactions to what you've read and heard in class discussions that week, and through the course to date. There will be topics brought up that should be relevant to some or all of your lives, and in this journal, I'd like you to reflect upon how what you've read/heard relates to your own life. These journals will not be graded, but they will be submitted in the middle and again at the end of the semester. I think that if you take this journal seriously, you will find it to be a very valuable and rewarding exercise. ATTENDANCE: You are expected to attend class prepared to discuss the assigned texts. Although attendance normally will not be taken, excessive unexcused absences will result in a lowering of your grade for the class participation component. More than SIX unexcused absences will result in failure of the course. LATE POLICY: Written assignments which are submitted late will be penalized one letter grade for each 24 hours late. Papers submitted more than 48 hours late will NOT be accepted. Exceptions to this policy will be made only for medical reasons.
Appendix to Syllabus UNACCEPTABLE GRAMMATICAL MISTAKES What follows is a list of extremely basic grammatical mistakes which should no longer be made by any person who has completed high school. To insure that you do not make these mistakes, I am instituting the following course requirement: for any piece of writing submitted for this course, your grade will be lowered one-half grade for every two of these mistakes. This penalty is severe, but so is the problem it seeks to address. 1. It's: "It's" cannot be used to indicate possession. "It's" is the contraction for "It is". 2. To - Too - Two: You should know the difference between these words. 3. There - Their - They're: You should know the difference between these words. 4. Would've - Should've -- Could've: These are contractions for "Would have," "Should have," and "Could have," respectively. They are much more appropriate in oral than in written communication, but if you do use any of these expressions, make sure that you do not phonetically spell them as "Would of," "Should of," or "Could of." 5. Than - Then: Than is a conjunction used in comparison; then is an adverb indicating time. |
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