Humanities II, Spr 2007
Dr. Kyoo Lee, Manget 205 (Phone 8198), Office Hrs: Tu/Th 4:20-5:50pm, LaGrange College
[Reference Tools]
[Fine Arts] ArtChive; Artcyclopedia; Art History; Artlex; Edge; Louvre; Metropolitan Museum; National Gallery; Tate; Web Gallery of Art
[Geography] Map of Europe
[Lit/Phil] Bartleby; Columbia Encyclopedia; Dictionary of History of Ideas; Gutenberg, Project; Internet Encyclo of Phil; Literary and Rhetorical Terms; Netlibrary [LC Lib Login]; Stanford Encyclo of Phil; Voice of the Shuttle
[Music] Classical Music Library [LC on-campus access only]
[Words] Thinkmap: Visual Thesaurus
0. Introduction
2/6 Administrative Orientation
2/8 Thematic Introduction: Some Conceptual Frames of Thinking
"Man infinitely surpasses man" (Pascal, Pensées, 438 [ed. L. Brunschvicg])
1. What are the general characteristics of this notion, "modern"? Look for examples and passages in the textbook.
2. [Modernity as Post-Medieval] Useful summary found here; note some of the key points and a couple of examples.
3. [Modernity as Contemporary ("Cutting-edge")] Useful summary found here; note some of the key points and a couple of examples.
4. [Modernity as Present (Now-point)] What are the examples in which this notion of modernity is used?
5. [Modernity as a Vision/Project] America(n "dream") as modern, for instance. Are we still modern? Or have we passed that stage?
6. [Modernity and the Dialectic of Subjectivity and Objectivity] What is modern about self-consciousness?
I. The Renaissance
1. [Pico and the Renaissance] “Pico’s oration embodies the Renaissance spirit (p.1).” [Keyword search; take note of the key points]
@What is the Renaissance spirit?
@And how exactly do Pico’s ideas on human exemplify or represent it?
2. [Pico and Human Dignity]
@What is the “Great Chain of Being”? Why “chain”? [Keyword search; take note of the key points]
@And where does it place human beings? And why so?
@How similar, and different, to Plato is Pico? (re: hierarchical relationship between beings, or between beings and Being)
3. [Pico and Divinity] ‘When humanity’s quest ends, “we shall […] not be ourselves but He himself who made us” (p.2).’
@Is Pico talking about “us” or about “God Himself”?
@What is puzzling about Pico’s (spatial) relation to God, his Copernican turn?
@And what does this “turn” tell us about the Renaissance God as man’s image?
Recommended: watch Maya Angelou talk about her inspirational uncle and his enthusiasm for mathematics. (Video, 7 mins)
2/15 No Class:
Review All of Class Material Below On Your Own and Decide:
1. Your Presentation Topics.
2. Exam Group You Wish to Belong.
1. [Machiavelli and the Political Mobility of the Human]
@ What are the key political points or messages of The Prince? Why was and still is this work so scandalous?
@ What are the similarities and differences between Pico and Machiavelli taken together as representatives of the Renaissance; again, how exactly do Machiavelli's ideas on human embody the Renaissance Spirit?
@ How does his view on human nature deepen, reflect and further complicate the psychological dynamics of the Renaissance man?
2. [Machiavelli and the Political Manipulation of Human Emotions]
"Cruelty and Compassion; and Whether it is Better to be Loved than Feared, or the Reverse (Chapter XVII, p.18)."
@ Why does Machiavelli raise such an issue? Why is this a political question?
@ What is Machiavelli's own answer to the question?
@ What is his notion of power? (Look for some conceptual clues in the chapter. All there.)
3. [Machiavelli and Anti-Platonic Realism (or Utilitarianism)]
"Many have dreamed up republics and principalities which never never in truth been known to exist; the gulf between how one should live and how one does live is so wide that a man who neglects what is actually done for what should be done learns the way to self-destruction rather than self-preservation. [...] Therefore if a prince wants to maintain his rule he must learn how not to be virtuous, and to make use of this [...] (Chapter XV, p.16, emphases added)."
@ Locate (pp. 16-9) phrases, sentences or passages that illustrate Machiavelli's political utilitarianism and see how different they are from Platonic thoughts or ideals; why, for instance, is Machiavelli so interested in "appearance" or "reputation"?
@ Are there political philosophical reasons for this thematic preoccupation?
@ Machiavelli finds traditional Roman military literature more useful and interesting than Ancient Greek philosophy. Why? Locate some examples in the text.
4. [Machiavelli and the Medici Family of Florence]
@ Fascinating to see further is some biographical or socio-political context in which the Prince was produced; the rise of political clans and military-economic powers as illustrated by the Medici Family. Where does the Prince, this work itself, stand in this context?
@ Further, how did the Medici contribute to the establishment and institutionalisation of the Renaissance as a period in the history of Western civilisation?
Recommended: Niccolo Machiavelli [videorecording] DVD [JC143 .M163 2004]
2/22 Leonardo da Vinci: Rediscovering/Remapping the World of Human Mind [Lecture Note]
1. [Leonardo and the Renaissance Man]
@ Why is he often described as the "Universal Renaissance Man"? What are his major achievements? Why is he worth studying?
@ And Michelangelo's Statue, David (1501-4), sculpting as "making of men," now responsible for "David Syndrome." Points to consider:
growing artistic consciousness and attention to detail; commodified use of art objects, e.g., the Medici patronage; commonalities and differences between Leonardo and Michelangelo in their style and philosophy. @ Leonardo’s Self-Portraits
@ Leonardo’s sketches and notebooks: a genius who “studies” humans as well as nature, and studiously explores his imaginations.
What do you see there? Check out, for instance, his
anatomical drawingschain-link drivedouble-hulled shipflying machinegear studyhelicoptermilitary tankparachuteprinting presstriple-tier machine gunvariable speed device, etc. 2. [Leonardo and the Renaissance ideas of Beauty and Representation; Contemporary Variations and Parodies]
3. [Leonardo and Mysteries]
@ architectural and anatomical symmetry in nature: vitruvian man (cf. Greek Philosophy/Mathematics such as Pythagoras)
@ Add your own.
Recommended: The life of Leonardo da Vinci [videorecording] DVD [ND623 .L500 L54 2003]
II. The Reformation/Baroque/Early Modern
2/27 Velázquez: Painting Consciousness [Lecture Note]
1. [Velázquez and The Puzzle of Double Painting] What is being painted? And who is painting this?
@ Las Meninas is full of fascinating puzzles and strange twists. How "many" can you point out? What is wrong/strange about the painting?
@ Look, closely and "deeply," at the logic of composition and representation: its complexity and multiplicity. There is no one/single story in this painting. This painting is a very confusing, multiple mirror-play. Note, first, simply, that every one is looking at something; you are introduced to a theatre of gazes, of consciousness - cf. "Infinite Cat Project"
@ Then try and figure out the positions of the people depicted in the painting, both spatial (literal) and metaphorical (symbolic), especially the painter himself; see also High Renaissance Painter Raphael's signature in La Fornaria (Italian, 1520; comparable to Michelangelo, David) and Ingres' imaginary double portrait, Raphael and La Fornarina, 1814.
@ What functions do the frames/mirrors/doors in the painting serve? And what do they mean?
@ Note some of the basic biographical details of Velázquez relevant to your understanding and appreciation of his major work.
2. [Velázquez and The Baroque]
@ What is Baroque Style? What is trompe-l'oeil? How does it build on, and also depart from, the Spirit of the Renaissance? Start by centring your thoughts and notes around the humanism of the Renaissance; in Baroque arts, the difference or division between reality and illusion is not clear-cut. The baroque complicates the senses of identity by conflating the two.
@ Study some other intriguing images and figures from the European Renaissance and Baroque Periods: How do they, altogether, embody the spirit and style of the Periods?
Artemisia (Italian [finally a woman artist!] 1593 - 1652/1653, Judith Beheading Holofernes; Self-portrait as the Allegory of Painting)3. [The Baroque and the Politics of Trompe-l'oeil]
@ Baroque style is a political statement in itself: anti-Reformation. Why? How? Start your investigation by reading the entry on "baroque" in Web Gallery of Art.
@ Why must we study all this? What is all this analytic fuss about? It is your job to articulate and judge the worth of studying these materials: justify your position and do so intelligently.
3/1 In-class EXAM1
1. [Erasmus and Christian Humanism; Modern Liberalism]
@ Erasmus is a Christian humanist, scholar and satirist. How so? You should be able to explain briefly all four concepts (Christian, Humanism, Scholarship and Satire), and further show how all four are related and embodied in the authorship of the The Praise of Folly (1668). Focus especially on how his ideas and text reflect and further contribute to:
@ the spirit of period in which he lived and worked @ his "self-critical" contempt for the scholar/clergymen: Why did he hate philosophers/monks, when he himself is one of them?@ locate some of the "tongue-in-cheek" passages in the text (from the excerpt in the textbook, or the entire text The Praise of Folly) and analyse their tone: how serious? 2. [Erasmus and the Lutheran Reformation]
The Reformation (16th century), which as a historical movement somehow began with angry young German Dr. Martin Luther's posting on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, October 31, 1517, of 95 theses, is often seen as the twin brother/sister of the Renaissance. Study all the basic details of the information linked herewith. And answer:
@What are the connections between the two Rs? Both conceptually and historically.@What is patently "modern" about the two Rs (as opposed to classical)?@Which theses/passages/ideas strike a cord with you, still today? @What are the three levels of spiritual renewal of Christianity that The Reformation promotes? And where does Methodism, for instance, fit in? @ And lastly, correlate some of the Lutheran thesis to the words of Erasmus: what are the examples that illustrate the contemporaneity of these two Christian radicals? Recommended: Luther's The German Mass and Order of Divine Service, January 1526.
3/8 Mark Twain: The Mysterious Stranger [VIDEO]
No.44, the Mysterious Stranger Set in the (still) middle age Austria, 1590, this story tells of No. 44's mysterious appearance at the door of a print shop and his use of heavenly powers to expose the futility of mankind's existence.
1. [The Mysterious Stranger and the Reformation] Note how this comedy shares the critical spirit and vision of the Reformation: Notwithstanding old Twain's growing pessimism and sharply negative view on religion in general, his perspective regarding the Erasmusian folly of some of the religious practices is, curiously, not too different from the modern spirit of the Reformation: focus on that, when you think of this question. Questions:
@ What are the examples of the folly of mankind allegorised in this story?
@ Why "dream"? (Note that the story unfolds within a dream or a reverie)
2. [The Mysterious Stranger, Gutenberg and the Age of Information] The story shows how the age of Gutenberg, which enabled wider and swifter distribution of knowledge (e.g., the Bible), is eclipsed by that of automated information technology, which resonates with the gains and losses of today's e-culture. Question:
@ Is this transition necessarily a good phenomenon? Are human beings progressing or regressing?
This question is way too large (!), of course. You must, however, be able to start forming some considered and justifiable opinion about this sort of issues, drawing on your critical thoughts on the overall value of the Renaissance/Reformation modernity and its impact; it might be useful to start by comparing main characters including those two boys with the same face, living in different eras.
(NB: if this part appears in the exam, the question will test whether you thought about it, e.g., the pros and cons of material progress and culture, not what your conclusion is. Dr. Lee is not interested in seeing when you stop thinking; her job is to see to it that you start thinking.)
3/13 Caravaggio: Painting Doubts, Emotions and Sensations
[NB: Rated PG: The following images might or might not be disturbing: artistic sublimation of the shock is required, if necessary. Try and think, while looking at the pictures, what exactly it is that Caravaggio tries to "represent" or achieve in those images. And in class, we shall be focusing on only three, in order to maximise the experience of Caravaggio's intensity and genius; those interested in examining many more examples are urged to study them by using the following [1-3] frameworks of reading.]
@ What is the biblical story of "the sacrifice of Isaac"? Correlate the story to the image. [Search Hint: Search Database: "Isaac"]
@ In Velazquez, we discussed "Baroque gaze" and its complexity; in Caravaggio, we shall look at Baroque colour (or interplay between lightness and darkness) and its intensity.
@How does the style/content of Velazquez's work compare to that of Caravaggio's?@For instance, both artists focus on painting "moments": but they seem to depict different kinds of moments. How different? @How does the style/content of classical painters in the following compare to that of Caravaggio's? @In Velazquez, one sees the "theatre of consciousness." Then, in Caravaggio? Try and invent your own formulation/phrase, and explain why: "theatre of ..."? or "... of ..."?2. [Caravaggio and the Theology of Vulnerability/Body] The Incredulity of St. Thomas (1601-2, or trans. also as "Doubting Thomas")
@ This painting humanises doubts. What does it mean?
@ Here, the tactile reciprocity between the body of the Christ and the probing finger of St. Thomas is striking: they both are vulnerable (or are they?). They both become human (or do they?). This image says something directly and clearly about the doctrinal and dispositional differences between modern Christian views of Divinity and pre-modern or Medieval views. What are they? Try and establish at least a couple of points briefly.
3. [Caravaggio, Crulety and Gender; Gentileschi] Judith Beheading Holofernes (1598)
@ What is the biblical story involving Judith?
@ Study the face of Holoferens: Whom does he look like? Or Whom does he remind you of? Could it be based on the facial image of a real, ordinary man? What does the realism of the face say further about the nature of painting itself? (Hint: Mona Lisa and Da Vinci)
@ Compare Caravaggio’s Judith with Gentileschi's version: Gentileschi, Judith Beheading Holofernes, 1620 (cf. W3-1: Velazquez).
@What are the points of connection and disconnection between the two artists? Explore them in terms of not only the extremity of
Baroque style and its dramatic intensification, but the rise of gender consciousness in this era. How differently, for instance,
does Gentileschi's version treat or depict emotion? (Hint: it is not accidental that Getileschi was one of the first few,
formally educated and publicly acknowledged women artists in the history of art. Women depicted and voiced by female artists,
rather than objectified by male artists: how different now are they?)
@ Link the two questions/points above to the Baroque as a political movement against unity or the universal: how?
3/15 Bacon and Descartes: The Modernity of Scientific Study and Methodical Reflection [R 121-2; 123-5]
"Knowledge is power. Invention always precedes the acceleration of cultural development on a world-wide scale." Francis Bacon, "Of Heresies [De Haeresibus]," The Works of Francis Bacon, Vol XIV, p. 95. Ed. James Spedding. Houghton, Mifflin and Company, Boston.
@Knowledge is power (Ipsa Scientia Potestas Est)**: Bacon, philosopher, statesman, essayist of the English Renaissance, to whom this proverb is often attributed, is a pioneer of modern science. What kind of knowledge? What kind of power? And what is modern about that connection? Explicate the meanings and insights of this thought, by also relating it especially and specifically to "Of Truth" and "Of Studies."
@ Bacon is regarded as the father of modern British empiricist philosophy. Note his strong emphasis on scientific method (that demystifies and destroys the "idols") as a vital tool for human advancement and enlightenment. How does/would this view alter ways in which modern individuals relate to each other as well as to society as a whole? What are the socio-political and further theological implications of this "scientific" revolution? Explore this question by linking it back to the humanism of the European Renaissance and its revolutionary spirit discussed so far.
2. [Descartes and New Thinking ("Cogito, sum; Je pense, je suis.")] Read especially Part II and IV of Discourse on Method
@ What are the four rules of thinking Descartes establishes and promotes as a secure path to truth? @ Why rules? Why does he think they are important? Note that it is a book on "method." @ "Cogito, sum (I think, I am)" is an argument, a proof: what exactly does it prove or show? @Why is this proposition important? What is the background against which this thought or affirmation arose? @Does it imply that "if I do not think, I do not exist" (or may not exist)?@Again, what is radically modern about this thought? (Hint: subjectivism, humanism and autonomy)@ Unlike Bacon, Descartes is considered a rationalist. What is rationalism? and In what sense does his philosophy exemplify it? (You do NOT have to be a professional philosopher or a philosophy major to be able to answer this question. You can find clues very easily by simply studying and thinking about the material introduced above.) 3. [Bacon, Descartes and the Dialectic of New Beginning: Between Boldness and Prudence]
@ Modernity is often associated with youth and its glamour: "new, young and modern ..." However, the Discourse on Method, as well as Bacon on boldness, for instance, also shows that youth is a metaphysical age of delusion, ignorance and domination rather than liberation. A certain temporal dialectic is then played out in such a modern discourse on inauguration, a new start: what is new, and old, in the modern philosophy of beginning (e.g. Bacon and Descartes)? Again, think big and incisively: link your studied and informed thoughts to the broader, recurring themes of "self, society, beauty and transcendence" in the Renaissance and early Modern culture.
3/20 Shakespeare, Hamlet: Life as a “Theatre” of the Mind [R 38-41; 59-61, Act III]
To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 't is nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? To die; to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to say we endthe heart-ache and the thousand natural shocksThat flesh is heir to. Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. 1. [Shakespeare and Elizabethan Drama: Life as a Theatre]
@ Identify the quotations above: Where does each appear? What is the context? You should be able to explain the significance of each quotation at least briefly in a specifically informed manner.
@ Why is life a stage, and people, players? Start your study of Shakespeare by thinking around these questions. (cf. You may use Sparknotes, on Hamlet and MacBeth, or E-notes or any other similar sites, but ONLY use those as a useful guide, a starting point. No additional or deeper thoughts of your own mean no efforts, nothing, e.g., zero grade.)
@ Hamlet, like The Merchant of Venice which we will also read later, is a deeply philosophical, psychologically acute, patently modern plays about (1) existential anxieties faced by individuals, (2) the complexities of political ambition and moral confusion, and (3) human desire for order and justice in the face of profound ambiguities of meanings such as "inside vs. outside," "appearance vs. reality", "good vs. evil", "prediction vs. intention," etc. Locate a couple of passages [esp. R 38-41; 59-61, Act III] that illustrate such themes. Harold Bloom's influential definition of Shakespeare's contribution as an early modern writer as "the invention of the human," seems quite approriate.
@Analyse Hamlet, the multi-faceted character, and Shakespeare as a Velazquezian writer. Focus on the threefold element of uncertainty, temptation and suspension. How do they deal with this issue? For instance, Hamlet doesn't say "should I just kill myself or not, or what?" Or "Oh, I wish I could just drop dead." MacBeth doesn't say "Life's not real," or "Oh sugar, my life is so messed up." There is something radically impersonal and insightful about the images and ideas that the key passages above compose with utmost economy. Shakespearean words are extremely poignant, but at the same time extremely universal. Try and analyse at least a few passages from the play, and show where and how exactly you see such a marvelous combination of simplicity and complexity in his notion of the "human" and his understanding of human realities.
@ Pay attention to the locations of Acts and Scenes: Do you see the multi-layered parallel between the spatial, the temporal and the psychical? A similar question can and will be asked about the Merchant of Venice. So think about this as a preliminary exercise; no need to know all the basic details of each Act and Scene.
Act 1, Scene 1: Elsinore. A platform before the castle.Act 1, Scene 2: A room of state in the castle.Act 1, Scene 3: A room in Polonius' house.Act 1, Scene 4: The platform.Act 1, Scene 5: Another part of the platform.Act 2, Scene 1: A room in Polonius' house.Act 2, Scene 2: A room in the castle.Act 3, Scene 1: A room in the castle.Act 3, Scene 2: A hall in the castle.Act 3, Scene 3: A room in the castle.Act 3, Scene 4: The Queen's closet.Act 4, Scene 1: A room in the castle.Act 4, Scene 2: Another room in the castle.Act 4, Scene 3: Another room in the castle.Act 4, Scene 4: A plain in Denmark.Act 4, Scene 5: Elsinore. A room in the castle.Act 4, Scene 6: Another room in the castle.Act 4, Scene 7: Another room in the castle.Act 5, Scene 1: A churchyard.Act 5, Scene 2: A hall in the castle.2. [Shakespeare and Literary Tradition: Old and New]
@ The view on life as a temporal drama, a complex interplay of chance and necessity, is hardly new: ancient culture, arts, philosophy and literature have already shown profound insights into this matter so profusely. Sophoclean tragedy is a case in point. What are the points of connections between Shakespeare and Sophocles as dramatists? Provide example(s).
@ So far we have been examining modern subjectivism/humanism and aesthetic transcendence (cf. "individual and society" and "beauty and transcendence") from artistic, religious and philosophical viewpoints. Now it's literature. What makes Shakespearean drama, especially tragedy, modern? Think, for instance, about the contemporaneity, realism and emotional depths and intensities of kings and queens in Shakespeare's plays as well as the sheer breath of issues embodied in their lives and deaths. Provide example(s).
3/22 Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice [searchable]: A Close Reading of the Ethical and Emotional Dynamics
[...] and what’s his reason? I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? [Act III. Scene I. 57-58 (ed. Folger Shakespeare Library), The Merchant of Venice (Folger Edition, Downloadable pdf)]1. Learn the basic plot of the story as well as the key characters in it. You may find Charles and Mary Lamb's tale useful.
2. Learn the basic characters (dramatis personae) and their key roles, characteristics and relationship in the play.
3. Note Key passages and their significance: For instance, passages starting with:
@ Antonio: "In sooth, I know not why I am so sad." [1.1]; "I hold the world but as the world... a stage [...] and mine a sad one" [1.1]
@ Bassanio: "Good signiors both, when shall we laugh?" [1.1]; "a lady richly left" [1.1]; "The world is still deceiv’d with ornament." [3:2]
@ Shylock: "[...] and what’s his reason? I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes?" [3:1]; "I crave the law." [4:1]; "I am content." [4:1]
@ Portia: "The quality of mercy is not strain’d." [4:1]; "(in the casket, it says) "All that glitters is not gold, ofteh have you..." [2:7]
@ Lorenzo on "our muddy vesture": "Sweet soul, let's in, and there expect their coming. [...] Such harmony is in immortal souls; but, whilst this muddy vesture of decay doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it." [5:1]
4. Note the locations of Acts and Scenes, and think about how, marvelously, both simple and complex the composition is:
Act 1, Scene 1: Venice. A street.Act 1, Scene 3: Venice. A public place.Act 2, Scene 1: Belmont. A room in PORTIA'S house.Act 2, Scene 2: Venice. A street.Act 2, Scene 3: The same. A room in SHYLOCK'S house.Act 2, Scene 4: The same. A street.Act 2, Scene 5: The same. Before SHYLOCK'S house.Act 2, Scene 6: The same.Act 2, Scene 7: Belmont. A room in PORTIA'S house.Act 2, Scene 8: Venice. A street.Act 2, Scene 9: Belmont. A room in PORTIA'S house.Act 3, Scene 1: Venice. A street.Act 3, Scene 2: Belmont. A room in PORTIA'S house.Act 3, Scene 3: Venice. A street.Act 3, Scene 4: Belmont. A room in PORTIA'S house.Act 3, Scene 5: The same. A garden.Act 4, Scene 1: Venice. A court of justice.Act 4, Scene 2: The same. A street.Act 5, Scene 1: Belmont. Avenue to PORTIA'S house.@Street, Houses and Justice: the play opens with a street scene, and ends with a happy event in Portia's house; in between, the key characters move in and out of a few other "houses," back and forth using the streets. Discuss the symbolism of this locational geometry and dynamism. For instance, pay attention to differences between the inside and the outside: how is the Shylock of Act 2 Scene 5 (inside) different from that of Act 3 Scene 1 (outside), and also from that of Act 4 Scene 1 (inside)?
5. [The Tragicomedy of Prejudices, Moral Impurities and Human Conditions] Is the Merchant of Venice primarily or essentially a comedy? Or a tragedy? It is often characterised, instead, as a "problem play." For it is simply too tragic to be a comedy, and too comedic to be a simple tragedy. It is a comedy within a tragedy, and a tragedy within a comedy. Interpretative conflicts originate from the fact that the story concludes at the expense of Shylock's ultimate loss, which also has moral, religious and social implications, directly and deeply. That is, anti-Semitic prejudices and violence, as well as an immanent critique of them, run through the whole play. Readers then should try and read the play multi-dimensionally, doing justice to its self-questioning complexity and profundity. No one is straightforwardly evil; no one, straightforwardly good. Keeping in mind the structural ambiguity of human morality, consider at least a few of the following inter-related questions on The Merchant of Venice as a Velazquezian double play. In each case, you should be able to discuss analytically and specifically at least a couple of relevant passages and elements of the story that illustrate your point(s). How do the following elements play a role in this play? Try and break down your thoughts, and reconnect each element.
@ attraction/repulsion
@ family or marriage
@ race or ethnicity
@ cross-dressing
@ social justice
@ in/tolerance
@ humiliation
@ typecasting
@ xenophobia
@ mutilation
@ reciprocity
@ friendship
@ obligation
@ hypocrisy
@ sexuality
@ prejudice
@ morality
@religion
@ trauma
@ fortune
@ gender
@ money
@ mercy
@ choice
@ irony
@ faith
@ bond
@ time
@ hate
@ love
@ law
6. [The Other View; or the View of the Other] What would it be like to tell the same story again specifically from the viewpoint of Antonio, Bassanio, Portia or Shylock? Or even from relatively minor characters such as Jessica, Lorenzo, Salarino, and the servants? (You might also like to note that it is usually the clowns and clownish servants in Shakespeares' plays that reveal something truthful and poingnant about reality. They tend to be, as it were, the sneaky, unacknowledged, unintentional truth-sayers). Imagine that The Merchant of Venice is a real story, and we have no option but to rely solely on the narrative memory of Antonio, or Bassonio, or Portia, or Shylock, or any others, for he or she is the sole survivor or the only witness. Pick one character and retell the story briefly in summary form, from the viewpoint of the chosen character. One crucial point of this exercise is to see what it is like, quite literally, to put oneself in another's shoe. Perhaps what we see is each other's blindness; and lovingly, we must.
3/27 The Merchant of Venice: A Movie (dir. by Michael Radford)
3/29 In-class EXAM 2
4/2 No Class: Spring Break
4/5 No Class: Spring Break
III. The Enlightenment and the Age of Reason
7 reasons not to mess with children (Information introduced by Prof. Tracy Lightcap, LaGrange College) 1. [Kant and the Age of Critique]
@ Kant has written three Critiques, which eventually forms the philosophical system of his thinking. What are they? And what are the three corresponding key questions raised in those books? And what is modern about the spirit of those questions?
@ Kant offers an account of human beings as self-conscious entities caught up in some mental and historical conflicts: “Kant posits the human being as caught up in an insoluble tension.” Provide at least two Kantian examples of that tension.
Complete the following sentences in summary form followed by the answer; each sentence is the beginning of a paragraph in Kant, “What is Enlightenment?” and each paragraph systematically and persuasively builds up his key thesis which is: (2.0)
@ Enlightenment is: (2.1) [NB: Learn the entire sentence by heart.]@ Laziness and cowardice are the reasons why: (2.2) @ Thus it is difficult for each separate individual to work his way out of: (2.3) @ There is more chance of an entire public enlightening itself. This is indeed almost: (2.4)@ Now in some affairs which affect the interests of the commonwealth, of the commonwealth, we require a certain mechanism whereby: (2.5)@ But should not a society of clergymen, […], be entitled to commit itself by oath to a certain unalterable set of doctrines, in order to secure for all time a constant guardianship over each of its members, and through them over the people ? I reply that this is quite: (2.6)@ If it is now asked whether we at present live in an enlightened age, the answer is: (2.7)@ A prince who does not regard it as beneath him to say that he considers it his duty, in religious matters, not to prescribe anything to his people, but to allow them complete freedom, a prince who thus even declines to accept the presumptuous title of tolerant, is himself: (2.8)@ I have portrayed matters of religion as the focal point of: (2.9)@ But only a ruler who is himself enlightened and has no far of phantoms, yet who likewise has at hand a well-disciplined and numerous army to guarantee public security, may say what no republic would dare to say: Argue as much as you like and about whatever you like, but: (2.10) 3. [Kant, Rousseau, Luther and Machiavelli]
@ Kant is heavily influenced by Rousseau whose innovative ideas on human equality, individual freedom and pedagogic autonomy turn into a philosophical force behind the French Revolution. What are the three mottos of the French Revolution? And how is Kant’s philosophy of the Enlightenment related to those three motives? Locate the clues and examples in “What is Enlightenment?”.
@ In terms of questioning old authority, especially that of the clergy and the monarch, there are some notable points of intersection among the ideas and practices of Kant, Luther and even Machiavelli. What are they? Based on your learning so far, draw some large picture of the modern genealogy of a theological critique.
@ In terms of introducing a new authority, Kant, Luther and Machiavelli differ significantly. What are the natures of those “replaced” authorities?
4/12 Voltaire: Why/How does Optimism Keep Flogging Candide, Voltaire’s “Bastard”? [R 147-55]
[...] but we must cultivate our garden.—Voltaire, Candide (1759)1. [Voltaire and the Age of Optimism]
@ Read this useful sketch of Voltaire the thinker of the French Enlightenment: What are the “three Voltaires” that this essay is describing?
@ Who are Candide, Cunegonde, James the Anabaptist, and Dr. Pangloss? If pressed for time, read at least the very good summary selections [textbook, 147-155] of Candide as well as learn the basic plot; if you have spare time after that, read the multi-lingual translations.
@ Candide is a satirical comedy about the ethos of Enlightenment: collective optimism towards human progress and ultimate hopes for humanity. Voltaire uses Pangloss as a stand-in Leibniz, another “rationalist” pre-Kantian philosopher, who is famous for his Principle of Sufficient Reason: what is it? And what aspect of this theory does Candide satirise it? (Hint: "Everything is for the best in this best of all possible worlds.")
2. [Voltaire and Satirical Distance/Force]
@ What is satire? A satire is subtly yet essentially different from a self-reflexive Critique (cf. Kant), and it is not a straightforward criticism, a caricature, or a humour. It is not just “to make fun of” something topical or some contemporary values one tends to take for granted. Then what is it? While reading the links, focus on addressing the following questions:
How is it different from mere mocking or ridiculing? Why does it tend to be topical? What are the critical, political functions of hyperbole, for instance, often used in satire? What kind of “distance” and force does satire generates? Discuss such theoretical issues by using specific examples from Candide .
@ Jonathan Swift’s Modest Proposal (1729) is another example – we will not read this in class but it is a required reading. The point of this reading is to understand the functions of hyperbole by looking at another example from the same period.
@ The relationship between Pangloss and Candide illustrates something essential about the politics of pedagogy—power relation between the teacher and the student; Pangloss must have been a student too at an earlier age. How would Kant of “What is Enlightenment?” view that relationship? Put yourself in the position of Kant and provide Kantian commentary by using some of the key concepts from that article.
3. [Voltaire and the Shadows of Modern Humanity]
@ Why did Voltaire tell the story from the perspectives of Candide who is a “bastard” rather than a legitimate and happy member of a legitimate and happy family? Why? What does this shadowy figure signify or symbolize in the story? What insight does this dark comedy hold?
@ “When he wrote that it was our duty to cultivate our garden, he really knew what it meant to cultivate a garden”: So what did Voltaire mean by “our duty to cultivate our garden,” that last sentence of Candide? Why Duty? Why Cultivation? Why Garden?
@ Is Candide not, in a sense, written from an ultimately optimistic viewpoint? (Note: Optimism is the subtitle of Candide.) If so, how is Voltaire’s optimism different from the optimism of those who blindly, mechanically and tautologically believe in the unshakable goodness of things? Let us not forget that Voltaire's critical idea on optimism became part of the progressive philosophy behind not only the French (1789-99) but American (1774-91) Revolution near the end of 18th century, the Age of Enlightenment.
IV. 19th Century
4/17 Nietzsche: Affirmative Pessimism of the Overman (Ubermensch) [R 243-5]
We have killed him—you and I. —Nietzsche, Gay Science01. “Him,” who?
02. What is meant by “killing” him?
03. How did we, according to Nietzsche, kill him?
04. Why did we, according to Nietzsche, kill him?
05. When did we, according to Nietzsche, kill him?
06. Where did we, according to Nietzsche, kill him?
07. Who found out that he had been killed?
08. So is he dead, dead?
09. And what is the relation between him and the “overman”?
10. What is the relation between us and the “overman”?
11. What are the differences and similiarities between Candide and Zarathustra among us?
12. Why is Nietzsche a "postmodern" thinker rather than modern?
Nietzsche, often grossly misunderstood partly due to his aphoristic brilliance, frightening insight and provocative ambiguity, is always instantly famous for saying “God is dead,” a sentence we tend to circulate too easily like a sticky note or a dollar bill. But what exactly does he mean? It is very important to understand its meaning, implications and force, as precisely as possible; the nuance as well as the context in which this has been declared.
Discuss the questions above (not a police check-list that forces one to say yes/no, this/that, but a series of guiding questions that requires a labour of reflection) in some detail, while and after reading the following four:
@ Sections 125 (re madman) and 343 (re cheerfulness) of Nietzsche, Gay Science (Die Fröhliche Wissenschaft)
@ Shelley O’hara, 2004, Ch 4: Gay Science, Nietzsche Within Your Grasp [LC library e-book]
@ Excerpt from Thus Spake Zarathustra in textbook [R 244-5]
@ Critical overview on Thus Spake Zarathustra; or/and Ch5: Thus Spake Zarathustra, Nietzsche Within Your Grasp [LC library e-book]
Whoever knows he is deep, strives for clarity; whoever would like to appear deep to the crowd, strives for obscurity. For the crowd considers anything deep if only it cannot see to the bottom: the crowd is so timid and afraid of going into the water. —Nietzsche, Gay Science Recommended: Q & A (Student & Dr. Lee's Email Correspondence) re how to understand Nietzsche's overman
4/19 Whitman: “Song of Myself” and the Optimism of a Brave New Self/World [R 213-8]
1. [Whitman and American Values]
Starting from Poem 1 of Song of Myself [R 214], "I celebrate myself, and sing myself,/ And what I assume you shall assume,/ For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you," locate at least two other passages that capture, with poetic simplicity, the essense of American values. Then explain what those values are and how they are poeticised.
2. [Whitman and American Green, Leaves of Grass]
Starting from Poem 6 of Song of Myself [R 216], "A child said What is the grass? fetching it to me with full hands/ [..] the flag of my disposition [...]/ I guess the grass is itself a child, the produced babe of the vegetation," locate at least two other passages that capture, with poetic images, the essense of America as innocent, sprouting youth. Then discuss the link between the American sense of the land and the unique kind of nationalism generated in it.
3. [Whitman and American Children, Girls and Boys: Hopes for the Future]
Starting from Poem 8 of Song of Myself [R 217], "The little one sleeps in its cradle,/ I lift the gauze and look a long time, and silently brush away flies with my hand," locate at least two other passages that capture, with poetic observation, the essense of American optimism. Then discuss the unique centrality of children or "the childlike" (not to be confused with "childish") to the American vision of the future.
4. [Whitman and Californian Dream]
Read Poem 12 of Song of Myself [R 218], "The butcher-boy puts off his killing-clothes, or sharpens his knife at the stall in the market,/ I loiter enjoying his repartee and his shuffle and break-down," along with Ginsberg's A Supermarket in California, "What peaches and what penumbras! Whole families/shopping at night! Aisles full of husbands! Wives in the/avocados, babies in the tomatoes!--and you, Garcia Lorca, what/were you doing down by the watermelons? [...] I saw you, Walt Whitman, childless, lonely old grubber,/poking among the meats in the refrigerator and eyeing the grocery/boys. [...] Where are we going, Walt Whitman? The doors close in/an hour. Which way does your beard point tonight? [...]." Then discuss the connections and disconnections between two poems. For instance, what kind and level of Americanness celebrated in Whitman's poem is still being repeated in this Californian "odyssey in the supermarket" (Ginsberg)? Pay attention to the poetic humour with which both poets describe this truth about everyday America.
4/24 In-class EXAM 3
V. 20th Century
4/26 Frank Lloyd Wright: The Genius of the American Architect
Wrighting the Vertical: an American Revolution.You are how you live, not where. — Kyoo Lee1. [Wright and The American Heartland: An American Style of Habitation]
Frank Lloyd Wright is famous for practically inventing the Prairie style, often seen in the American Midwest.
@ What are its characteristics and patterns? How is it different from or even opposite of:
@ Federalist (18th, cf. Symmetry)
@ How and why would one say that Wright is truly an American Genius? (Read "intro" part in this link for an idea, some hints) What kind of American Spirit does his architecture embody?
2. [Wright and The American Dialectic: Building as Interweaving]
@ Consider one of his masterpieces, Fallingwater in Pennsylvenia: Note a few notable characteristics that render this house a work of art itself.
@ Old and New: How does he interweave these opposites?
@ Inside and Outside: How does he interweave these opposites?
@ Horizontal and Vertical: How does he interweave these opposites?
@ Simple and Complex: How does he interweave these opposites?
@ Natural and Technical: How does he interweave these opposites? What is, for instance, cantilevering? And what is unique about Wright's application of this technique?
Recommended: Think about the set of questions #2 when, for instance, looking at/visiting Guggenheim Museum, NY.
5/1 Langston Hughes: Poetic Liberation, or Salvation, of Human Race(s) [R 281-4]
—Louis Armstrong (1967/8)1. [Hughes and the autobiographical]
@ What is the "Jim Crow Laws" (1880s-1960s)?
@ Hughes' poetry is often and intensely autobiographical, drawing on anecdotal events in his life: cite and explain the backgrounds of at least two examples: for instance, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," "Mulatto" and "I, too."
@ What is it that makes the I of
"I've known rivers" or "I heard the singing of the Missisippi when Abe Linclon went down to New Orleans" or "I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem" or"But I guess I'm what I feel and see and hear."not merely personal but collective or universal? (Also locate the sources of the quotes above.) Explain that in terms of the poetic device, distance, use and voice of the autobiographical I. Simply, how does this mere, individual "I" communicate universal ideas to which all readers can relate?
2. [Hughes, "Theme for English B" and the Harlem Renaissance (1920-30)]
@ the Harlem Renaissance was more than a literary movement taking place only in elegant salons or bookstores: it was a cultural struggle for expression and recognition, even revolution. The comprehensive and integrated nature of this movement is reflected, for instance, in the use of concrete, multi-sensorial language in "Theme for English B." Discuss and memorise at least a couple of examples of that in "Themes for English B."
Hint: As Zora Neal Hurston puts it in "Black Death," "He who sees only with the eyes is very blind": she is here telling a story of "how it feels to be colored me" [R 284-86]: These two texts are required readings, outside class, and you should be able to summarise both stories in order to prepare properly for the exam. @ What does English "B" stand for? Discuss its symbolism.
3. [Hughes, River Dream and the Redemptive Imagination]
@ Why and how does Hughes use rivers ("The Negro Speaks of Rivers," 1921) and dreams ("Harlem," 1951) as metaphors? What functions and concepts can you read and discern from these images? What are their messages and forces? You must discuss them by using the text as well as your own imagination.
@ Where does "a raisin in the sun" appear? And what does it mean? (cf. recommended reading: Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun)
@ In "Harlem," note that there is a sentence that states; all the other sentences question. What is the sentence that does not question?
(1) Memorise that sentence and (2) discuss the significance of that difference.
@ What is uniquely "American" about his poetry? Make connections between Whitman, Wright, Hughes and the American "dream."
I am the darker brother.They send me to eat in the kitchenWhen company comes,But I laugh,And eat well,And grow strong. Tomorrow,I'll be at the tableWhen company comes.Nobody'll dareSay to me,"Eat in the kitchen,"Then. Besides,They'll see how beautiful I amAnd be ashamed - I, too, am America. - Langston Hughes, 1925 Recommended: Watch Maya Angelou talk of the power of poetry and the depth of human experience. (Video, 3 mins)
Recommended: Listen to Maya Angelou talk of all art being autobiography and confession (Audio, 3 min 5)
Recommended: Video: "26: The Redmptive Imagination," A Biography of America Vol.26 [LC Library]
Recommended: Video: The Shadow of Hate: A History of Intolerance in America [LC Library]
One is not born, but becomes a woman. —Tammy Wynette1. [de Beauvoir and the Sexed Other: Why and how the woman becomes "the Other."]
@ Why, according to de Beauvoir, is the woman the "second" sex? What does it mean? (Hint: differences b/w sex/gender; role; identity; designation)
@ Earlier in late 18th century (1792), Mary Wollstonecraft too "vindicated the rights of woman," paving the way to feminist movements. It is, however, arguably by de Beauvoir that the root problem of gender inequality has been deeply analysed: how so? What are the differences in the level and scope of thinking between Wollstonecraft and de Beauvoir?
@ "The Other" (as opposed to one, or self) is an abstract concept used in philosophical discussion of relation, and finds, as with most of philosophical vocabulary, an infinite number of examples in everyday life. de Beauvoir, for instance, uses it as a means to understand and explain the sexual or more precisely sexed relationship between man and woman, or male and female, or masculine and feminine. Locate in the text [R 291-5] at least two passages where she introduces that term and then note the key points (once you have learned those, you must be able to recall their basic arguments without looking at the text.). Especially, look for passages that discuss "reciprocity" and "complicity" between One and the Other. According to de Beauvoir, why and how does the woman become the Other?
@ de Beauvoir, quoting Aristotle, introduces this deeply-rooted, commonly-held, philosophical assumption about woman: "The female is a female by virtue of a certain lack of qualities" [R 291]. What does it mean? And what are everyday examples of this pedestrian idea, which de Beauvoir reveals and criticises? Try and think of something that is not too obvious, something subtle and implicit but more powerful precisely for that reason.
2. [de Beauvoir and the Sexed Human: How about/Why not "one is not born, but becomes a man"?]
@ de Beauvoir is truly insightful in pointing to the structural inequality or disymmetry between man and woman. But then now, can we not apply similar insights to the problems of, say, "masculinism"? What would it mean to say, "one is not born, but becomes a man"? Does it not show a certain limit, inflexibility, in de Beauvoir's model of gender inequality? Furthermore, does she not herself posit man as "the standards" in her promotion of the status of woman? Argue your position.
@ In what sense can one say then that the victim of sexism is not only woman but man, and that feminism liberates not only women but, more significantly, men and thus mankind as a whole?
@ Could gender liberation be a next frontier of Pico's modernity and humanity (the gender of which, in Pico's time, was not consciously articulated at all)? Back to Pico or away from Pico?
Recommended: Catharine MacKinnon (2005), Women's Lives, Men's Laws [download the introduction] [video lecture @ Columbia Univ.]
Recommended: Judith Butler (1990), Gender Trouble [cf. useful lecture note]: gender as performance, part of fantasy-formation.
Recommended: Ariel Levy (2005), Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture [read excerpt]
Recommended: Heike Faller, "Squandering Our Emancipation"
Recommended: Elizabeth and Michael, Debate between two students at a Catholic University regarding "feminism" and "masculinism"
Recommended: Caitlin Flanagan (2006), "TO HELL WITH ALL THAT: Loving and Loathing Our Inner Housewife"
5/8 In-class EXAM 4
