Course Description / Course Readings / Course Requirements   |   SCHEDULE: September / October / November / December

Course Description and Objectives

In the history of Western thought, there is an ongoing tradition of asking whether the fact of human suffering, or of evil in the world, can be compatible with the existence of a benevolent God.  As Philo puts the problem in Hume's Dialogues: "Epicurus's old questions are yet unanswered. Is [God] willing to prevent evil, but not able? then is he impotent. Is he able, but not willing? then is he malevolent. Is he both able and willing? whence then is evil?"  The first part of this course will look at some ways that the question of God's existence has been linked with that of the presence of suffering and evil--exploring the theme of "theodicy" in writings by Freud, Hume, and Kant.  In the second part, we will turn to specifically post-Holocaust confrontations with the question of evil by looking at reports and interpretations of the Nuremberg and Eichmann trials, especially Hannah Arendt's Eichmann in Jerusalem.

A core objective of this class is to develop skills of close reading, textual analysis, and strong writing.  The Text Preparation assignments are designed for you to use and improve those skills; the midterm and final exams consist of open-book essay questions that require you to apply those skills.  The course is structured in a way that encourages students to approach their education as a process that both requires and rewards active engagement.  Because the course presupposes that successful education requires the active, informed participation of students, the course requires participants to complete assigned readings prior to the course meeting at which they will be discussed, to attend all sessions, and to participate actively in course and tutorial meetings.  Preparation for, attendance at, and participation in course and tutorial meetings are required and will count toward the final grade.

Course Readings

You can generally obtain these in a number of ways - see details for each title on the syllabus.

• Books for this course have been ordered with Titles (visit the "Tank": TSH B203).  In addition to the books that contain course readings, I am asking you to purchase two writing reference books:
  • Diana Hacker, A Pocket Style Manual, 4th ed. (2004)
  • Gordon Harvey, Writing with Sources. A Student Guide (1998)
• All the readings are also on reserve at Mills Library. Look up the Mills Library reserve lists under "Hollander" in MORRIS.   
• A coursepack containing some of the readings for October 17 and after is available from Titles.  However, since it is much cheaper to make personal copies of readings from the books on reserve than to buy the coursepack (whose price includes a hefty copyright fee that the bookstore is obliged to pay), I encourage you to do the former.  Only a limited number of coursepacks has been ordered in advance; if they are no longer in stock, you can order one on a "raincheck" basis, which will be ready in 2 days' time - please plan ahead to ensure you can prepare the texts in time for our in-class work on them.

At times you may be asked to consult or make your own copy from a book on reserve.

You must have your own copy of all the texts to be discussed--with the same pagination as the edition selected for the class--whether in book or xeroxed form, so that you can mark them as you read and be prepared to refer to specific passages in class and tutorial, and when you write the exams.

Course Requirements

• Text Preparations on the reading will be assigned every other week and should be handed in at the end of the class session on the day they are due (no late submissions accepted). Their purpose is (1) to encourage you to read carefully and reflect on issues that come up in the reading, so that you are in a position to participate knowledgeably and actively in class and tutorial; and (2) to give you feedback on your writing and on working with primary texts, in preparation for writing the exam essays for this class.  Individual assignments are ungraded; a certain number will be selected at random each week to receive detailed feedback.  You can expect to receive feedback on at least two of these assignments in the course of the semester. Your overall grade will be based on whether you completed all of them and on the quality of those that have been selected for feedback. Please keep all the assignments that are returned to you--with or without comments--for your reference and in case we ask to see them again later in the term. 

  In preparing these and other written assignments, you are encouraged to use the resources of the Writing Clinic at the Center for Student Development, and to consult the writing guides by Hacker and Harvey.

• Attendance is mandatory, since participating in in-class work is crucial to successful completion of this course.  If you need to be absent from a class session, please notify one of us, preferably by e-mail, and be sure to ask a classmate to fill you in on what you missed.

• Participation includes: reading the material carefully ahead of time and raising points and questions about it in class and tutorial, taking part in in-class group assignments, communicating with the instructor and TA outside of class, etc. 

• Midterm Exam and Final Exam will consist of essay questions involving textual analysis and will be open-book.

Grades are based on Text Preparations (10% for the first 2; 15% for the remaining 2, for a total of 25%), Attendance/Participation (20%), Midterm Exam (25%), Final Exam (30%).  Failure to write either of the two examinations, or 4 unexcused absences from class, constitute sufficient grounds for earning an "F" in the class.

You are advised to retain copies of any written work you submit for this class, and all your research notes, until you have received an official grade.

September 12

September 19

FREUD: The Value of Religious Ideas