Harvard CB 55 Syllabus Spring 2014

8/11/2019 Harvard CB 55 Syllabus Spring 2014

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Enlightenment Creations of the Self, Society, and Institutions

Culture and Belief 55Professor James Engell

Spring Term 2013

The Enlightenment, a vital intellectual and cultural movement transforming Europe andNorth 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 itcreated, and the ideas it fostered.

Enlightenment Creations of the Self, Society, and Institutionscomprises six interrelatedunits 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 churchesand monarchical forms of government, are uestioned and even re"ected# received$nowledge is tested. %ersonal experience&or experimental results&rather than rotelearning becomes more the touchstone for truth. The statement from the 'oman writer!orace is often repeated( ta$e nothing on authority. )ur modern version( *uestionauthority.+

mmanuel -ant, *What s Enlightenment+ /1023 4SB Jan" 2-5

Alexander %ope, fromAn Essay on Man, 6oo$s and /10773 4SB Jan" 2-5

8oltaire, Candide/109:3 4Jan" 2-. 315

Edward ;ibbon, ?3, and ;eneral )bservations on the @all ofthe 'oman Empire in the West.+ 4SB +e" 55

ontesuieu, from The Spirit of the a!s /1023, on 'oman Becline 4SB +e" 55

-ant, from Criti"ue of #ure Reason /1013 andReligion $ithin the imits ofReason Alone/10:73 4SB +e" /5


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%ee! Three (+eruar) 11 through +eruar) 15,

C. A desire to increase and spread general $nowledge or general education, to ma$everified $nowledge a public possession. TheEncyclop%dieis the uintessential example,

but national academies, philosophical and scientific societies, Damuel ohnsonFsDictionary, and various educational publications are important, too. Do is increasedfreedom of the press&or willingness to ris$ censorship and arrest. The interest ingeneral $nowledge accompanies rising literacy rates, in some countries sharply so, andthe accelerating development of modern science and applied technology.

Goc$e, from Some Thoughts Concerning Education/1>:73 4SB +e" 125

Benis Biderot and ean le 'ond dFAlembert, from theEncyclop%die/1091?0C3,*Encyclopedia+ entry

4available at( http(HHuod.lib.umich.eduHcgiHtHtextHtext?idx

cIdid#ccIdid#rgnImain#viewItext#idnoIdidCCCC.JJJJ.JJ2 +e" 125

ames Thomson, from *A %oem Dacred to the emory of Dir saac Newton+/10C03 4SB +e" 125

6en"amin @ran$lin, *A %roposal for %romoting Kseful -nowledge Among the6ritish %lantations in America+ /10273 4SB +e" 125

Bavid !ume, *)f the 'ise and %rogress of the Arts and Dciences+ /102C3 4SB+e" 12. 15

;eorge Washington, from @arewell Address /10:>3 4SB +e" 15

onathan Dwift, &ulli'er(s Tra'els/10C>3, %art , *A 8oyage to Gaputa+ 4+e"15

# $er) short paper is due +eruar) 1"

%ee!s +our. +i$e. and Si (+eruar) 1* through arch *,

7. A systematic inuiry into human nature. Are humans inherently selfishDympathetic Delf?interested yet capable of what Damuel ohnson and others claim, that*self?interest well understood will produce social concord+ )r are humans inherentlyanything at all Bo we have innate ideas, or does our intellectual stoc$ come solely fromsense experience @rom culture and education Are there inherent differences between*races+ 6etween men and women

Thomas !obbes, frome'iathan/1>913 4SB +e" 1-5
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=did;cc=did;rgn=main;view=text;idno=did2222.0000.004http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=did;cc=did;rgn=main;view=text;idno=did2222.0000.004http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=did;cc=did;rgn=main;view=text;idno=did2222.0000.004http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=did;cc=did;rgn=main;view=text;idno=did2222.0000.004


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Dwift, &ulli'er(s Tra'els, %arts and 8, *A 8oyage to 6robdingnag+ and *A8oyage to the C3 4ar 1. 25

Dmith, from The $ealth of +ations/100>3 4SB ar 2*5

Edmund 6ur$e, *)n


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9. 'eform movements emerge from efforts to establish general $nowledge and todiscover human nature empirically( abolition of chattel slavery, emancipation of womenfrom what is openly called their slavery, and in some societies increasing degrees ofreligious toleration.

Goc$e, fromA etter Concerning Toleration/1>:?:C3, pp. 1C9?21, 199?>0 4#pr-5

6ur$e, on reland and religious toleration 4SB #pr -5

Thomas efferson, 8irginia Dtatute for 'eligious @reedom /10>3 4SB #pr -5

;otthold Ephrahim Gessing,+athan the $ise/100:3 4SB #pr 115

fromAma.ing &race, selected poems on slavery and abolition 4SB #pr 15

)laudah Euiano, from The Interesting +arrati'e of the ife of )laudahE"uiano, or, &usta'us /assa, the African/10:3 4SB #pr 15

&utline of a longer paper is due #pril 1"

ary Wollstonecraft, :53 4SB #pril 255

@ran$lin, from The Auto1iography of 2en3amin Fran4lin/10:1 41001?:J53 4SB#pril 25. 305


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-ant, from Criti"ue of #ure Reason/10J3 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 inlieu of an hour exam. A final paper /9?> pp.3, along with a preliminary outline, willcomplete the writing assignments. 'evision, rewriting, and an opportunity for creativewor$ will be part of the written assignments. Training in brief oral presentations will beprovided. There will be a regular three?hour final examination.

1JM very short paper /due @ebruary 12319M mid?term exercise /covers first three units# Thursday, arch 123

19M short paper /due April 23CJM longer paper /due April 7J, with an outline due earlier, April 1>3C9M final examination T6A19M class discussion contributions

Tets in addition to the Sourceoo!

/All available at the

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Harvard CB 55 Syllabus Spring 2014