You are on page 1of 5

Enlightenment Creations of the Self, Society, and Institutions

Culture and Belief 55


Professor James Engell
Spring Term 2013
The Enlightenment, a vital intellectual and cultural movement transforming Europe and
North America during more than a century, continues to inform the entire modern globe.
We daily live with and draw upon its legacy, the values it articulated, the institutions it
created, and the ideas it fostered.
Enlightenment Creations of the Self, Society, and Institutions comprises six interrelated
units central to the lasting achievements of the Enlightenment.
SB = from the Sourceoo!" #ll readings should e done prior to the date gi$en"
%ee!s &ne and T'o (Januar) 2* through +eruar) *,
1. The spirit of critiue. !ierarchies and older institutions, such as established churches
and monarchical forms of government, are uestioned and even re"ected# received
$nowledge is tested. %ersonal experience&or experimental results&rather than rote
learning becomes more the touchstone for truth. The statement from the 'oman writer
!orace is often repeated( ta$e nothing on authority. )ur modern version( *uestion
authority.+
,mmanuel -ant, *What ,s Enlightenment.+ /10123 4SB Jan" 2-5
Alexander %ope, from An Essay on Man, 6oo$s , and ,, /10773 4SB Jan" 2-5
8oltaire, Candide /109:3 4Jan" 2-. 315
Edward ;ibbon, <hapter =8, on <hristianity, from The Decline and Fall of the
Roman Empire /100># 100>?113, and ;eneral )bservations on the @all of
the 'oman Empire in the West.+ 4SB +e" 55
Aontesuieu, from The Spirit of the a!s /10213, on 'oman Becline 4SB +e" 55
-ant, from Criti"ue of #ure Reason /10113 and Religion $ithin the imits of
Reason Alone /10:73 4SB +e" /5
%ee! Three (+eruar) 11 through +eruar) 15,
C. A desire to increase and spread general $nowledge or general education, to ma$e
verified $nowledge a public possession. The Encyclop%die is the uintessential example,
but national academies, philosophical and scientific societies, Damuel EohnsonFs
Dictionary, and various educational publications are important, too. Do is increased
freedom of the press&or willingness to ris$ censorship and arrest. The interest in
general $nowledge accompanies rising literacy rates, in some countries sharply so, and
the accelerating development of modern science and applied technology.
Goc$e, from Some Thoughts Concerning Education /1>:73 4SB +e" 125
Benis Biderot and Eean le 'ond dFAlembert, from the Encyclop%die /1091?0C3,
*Encyclopedia+ entry
4available at( http(HHuod.lib.umich.eduHcgiHtHtextHtext?idx.
cIdid#ccIdid#rgnImain#viewItext#idnoIdidCCCC.JJJJ.JJ2 +e" 125
Eames Thomson, from *A %oem Dacred to the Aemory of Dir ,saac Newton+
/10C03 4SB +e" 125
6en"amin @ran$lin, *A %roposal for %romoting Kseful -nowledge Among the
6ritish %lantations in America+ /10273 4SB +e" 125
Bavid !ume, *)f the 'ise and %rogress of the Arts and Dciences+ /102C3 4SB
+e" 12. 105
;eorge Washington, from @arewell Address /10:>3 4SB +e" 105
Eonathan Dwift, &ulli'er(s Tra'els /10C>3, %art ,,,, *A 8oyage to Gaputa+ 4+e"
105
# $er) short paper is due +eruar) 10"
%ee!s +our. +i$e. and Si1 (+eruar) 1* through 2arch *,
7. A systematic inuiry into human nature. Are humans inherently selfish.
Dympathetic. Delf?interested yet capable of what Damuel Eohnson and others claim, that
*self?interest well understood will produce social concord+. )r are humans inherently
anything at all. Bo we have innate ideas, or does our intellectual stoc$ come solely from
sense experience. @rom culture and education. Are there inherent differences between
*races+. 6etween men and women.
Thomas !obbes, from e'iathan /1>913 4SB +e" 1-5
Dwift, &ulli'er(s Tra'els, %arts ,, and ,8, *A 8oyage to 6robdingnag+ and *A
8oyage to the <ountry of the !ouyhnhnms+ 4+e" 1-. 215
Eean?Eacues 'ousseau, from Discourse on the Sciences and Arts /109J3 and from
Discourse on the )rigin of Ine"uality /10993, pp. 1?C9, 29?:C 4+e" 23.
2*5
Adam Dmith, from Theory of Moral Sentiments /109:3 4SB +e" 2*. 2ar 55
Eohann Wolfgang von ;oethe, The Sorro!s of *oung $erther /10023 42ar /5
%ee!s Se$en. Eight. and 4ine (2arch 11 through #pril 5,
2. Docial, economic, and political theories, explanations, and realignments emerge from
the continuing debate over human nature and society. Dociety, it is argued, should be
established&and its institutions ma$e best use of&what are called *natural+ proclivities
and tendencies of human nature. Let, even here, there is recognition that taste or customs
vary from culture to culture.
Goc$e, from The First and Second Treatises of &o'ernment /1>1:3, pp. xi?xxi, 9?
91, 01?11, :C?2, 1C1?9 42ar 125
Aontesuieu, from The Spirit of the a!s /10213 4SB 2ar 12. 105
The mid5term e1ercise is due 2arch 10"
'ousseau, from The Social Contract, 6$s, ,, ,,, ,,, /i?x3 /10>C3 42ar 10. 235
Dmith, from The $ealth of +ations /100>3 4SB 2ar 2*5
Edmund 6ur$e, *)n <onciliation with the <olonies+ /10093 4SB #pr 25
Beclaration of ,ndependence /100>3 4SB #pr 25
<onstitution of the Knited Dtates and the first Ten Amendments /1010?:13 4SB
#pr 2. 05
Aadison, Federalist ,- /10103 4SB #pr 05
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citi.en /101:3 4SB #pr 05
# short paper is due #pril 0"
%ee!s Ten and Ele$en (#pril * through #pril 1-,
9. 'eform movements emerge from efforts to establish general $nowledge and to
discover human nature empirically( abolition of chattel slavery, emancipation of women
from what is openly called their slavery, and in some societies increasing degrees of
religious toleration.
Goc$e, from A etter Concerning Toleration /1>1:?:C3, pp. 1C9?21, 199?>0 4#pr
-5
6ur$e, on ,reland and religious toleration 4SB #pr -5
Thomas Eefferson, 8irginia Dtatute for 'eligious @reedom /101>3 4SB #pr -5
;otthold Ephrahim Gessing, +athan the $ise /100:3 4SB #pr 115
from Ama.ing &race, selected poems on slavery and abolition 4SB #pr 135
)laudah Euiano, from The Interesting +arrati'e of the ife of )laudah
E"uiano, or, &usta'us /assa, the African /101:3 4SB #pr 135
&utline of a longer paper is due #pril 13"
Aary Wollstonecraft, <hapter : from A /indication of the Rights of $oman
/10:C3 4SB #pr 1*5
)lympe de ;ouges, Declaration of the Rights of $oman and the Female Citi.en
/10:13 4SB #pr 1*5
William 6la$e, from Songs of Innocence and E0perience, *The <himney
Dweeper+ /C3, *!oly Thursday+ /C3, *Gittle 6lac$ 6oy,+ and *Gondon+
/101:?:23 4SB #pr 1*5
%ee!s T'el$e and Thirteen (#pril 22 through 2a) 1,
>. ;rowing self?reflexivity or self?consciousness appears in many underta$ings, from
philosophy to criticism of the arts, including ideas how the individual self or personal
identity is formed, develops, matures, and writes its own history, its autobiography.
Damuel Eohnson, Rasselas /109:3 4#pril 235
'ousseau, from Confessions, 6$s. , and ,, /101C3 410>:53 4SB #pril 255
@ran$lin, from The Auto1iography of 2en3amin Fran4lin /10:1 41001?:J53 4SB
#pril 25. 305
-ant, from Criti"ue of #ure Reason /101J3 4SB #pril 305
# longer paper is due #pril 30"
6e7uirements
The course reuires a very short paper /C?7 pp.3 in the third wee$ and another short paper
/7?9 pp.3 in the fifth or sixth wee$. There will be a short ta$e?home mid?term exercise in
lieu of an hour exam. A final paper /9?> pp.3, along with a preliminary outline, will
complete the writing assignments. 'evision, rewriting, and an opportunity for creative
wor$ will be part of the written assignments. Training in brief oral presentations will be
provided. There will be a regular three?hour final examination.
1JM very short paper /due @ebruary 123
19M mid?term exercise /covers first three units# Thursday, Aarch 123
19M short paper /due April 23
CJM longer paper /due April 7J, with an outline due earlier, April 1>3
C9M final examination T6A
19M class discussion contributions
Te1ts in addition to the Sourceoo!
/All available at the <))%3
;oethe, Eohann Wolfgang. The Dorrows of Loung Werther. Ed. Bavid <onstantine.
)xford WorldNs <lassics, CJ1C. /AmaOon price( P1J3
Eohnson, Damuel. The !istory of 'asselas, %rince of Abissinia. Ed. Thomas -eymer.
)xford WorldNs <lassics, CJJ:. /AmaOon price( P1J3
Goc$e, Eohn. The Selected #olitical $ritings of 5ohn oc4e. ed. %aul Digmund. Norton
<ritical Edition, CJJ9
'ousseau, Eean?Eacues. 6asic %olitical Writings6 Decond Edition. Ed. Bonald A. <ress.
!ac$ett %ublishing <o., CJ11. /AmaOon price( P1C3
Dwift, Eonathan. ;ulliverNs Travels. ed. Albert E. 'ivero. Norton <ritical Editions, CJJC.
/AmaOon price( P193
8oltaire. <andide. ed. 'obert Aartin Adams. Norton <ritical Editions, 1::1. /AmaOon
price( P123

You might also like