SYLLABUS-IN-PROGRESSReligious Studies 4N03 (Fall 2006) Topics in Western Religious Thought: Spinoza, Kant, MendelssohnThis syllabus is posted at http://socserv.mcmaster.ca/danahol/4n03 and is also accessible by way of my home page (see below) and the Dept. of Religious Studies website. It will be updated periodically, and students in the class are asked to consult it regularly during the semester. updated November 26, 2006
Course Description / Course Readings / Course Requirements / Schedule: September | October | November |
This course is an advanced introduction to three European philosophers who made major contributions to thinking about the philosophical and practical significance of religion in the modern world: Baruch Spinoza, Immanuel Kant, and Moses Mendelssohn. In reading works by these thinkers, questions we will explore include: What is the relation of religion to reason, or to philosophical thinking? What role might religion have in the pursuit of moral goodness, or freedom, and what does it have to look like in order to fulfill this role? How has Scripture served as a resource for philosophical investigation into such questions? And finally: In the predominantly Christian context in which the works we will read were written, how do these thinkers envision the difference between Christianity and Judaism; and what significance, if any, does this difference have for their conception of religion?
A core objective of this class is to develop skills of close reading, textual analysis, and strong writing. The assignments are designed for students to use and improve 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, participants are required to complete assigned readings prior to the course meeting at which they will be discussed, to attend all sessions, and to participate actively in class meetings. Preparation for, attendance at, and participation in class meetings are required and will count toward the final grade.
You can generally obtain these in a number of ways - see details for each title on the syllabus.
All the readings will also be placed on reserve at Mills Library. Look up the Mills Library reserve lists under "Hollander" in MORRIS.
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 can be prepared to refer to specific passages in class.
Grades are based on Written Summary (10%), First Paper (20%), Second Paper (25%), and Participation/Protocol/Presentation (45%). Failure to write any of the assignments (the summary, the two papers, and the protocol), or 4 unexcused absences from class, constitute sufficient grounds for earning an "F" in the class.
McMaster University has a strict policy concerning Academic Integrity: "Academic dishonesty consists of misrepresentation by deception or by other fraudulent means and can result in serious consequences, e.g., the grade of zero on an assignment, loss of credit with a notation on the transcript (notation reads: "Grade of F assigned for academic dishonesty"), and/or suspension or expulsion from the university. It is your responsibility to understand what constitutes academic dishonesty. For information on the various kinds of academic dishonesty please refer to the Academic Integrity Policy, specifically Appendix 3. The following illustrates only three forms of academic dishonesty: 1. Plagiarism, e.g., the submission of work that is not one's own or for which other credit has been obtained. 2. Improper collaboration in group work. 3. Copying or using unauthorized aids in tests and examinations."Please let me know if you have any questions on how this policy applies to your work for this course. |
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.
Baruch Spinoza, Theological-Political Treatise (1670), trans. Samuel Shirley [purchase book]: Preface, chaps. 1-2.
Alternate translation: Benedict Spinoza, Theologico-Political Treatise, trans. Martin D. Yaffe [book on reserve]
Background Reading on Spinoza:
Steven Nadler, "Baruch Spinoza" (2001/2005) in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy [online]: 1. Biography; 2. Ethics: read until the end of the section on "God or Nature"; and glance at 3. Theological-Political Treatise - which will be a useful resource to consult as you work through the TTP.
Rebecca Goldstein, Betraying Spinoza. The Renegade Jew Who Gave Us Modernity (2006), chap. 2 [book on reserve; chapter distributed as handout]: "In Search of Baruch" - esp. pp. 17-48 (pp. 49 ff. are not so important for our purposes)
For those who are interested, see additional materials on the book Betraying Spinoza on the publisher's website (Nextbook), as well as this interview with author Rebecca Goldstein.
September 27
Theological-Political Treatise, chaps. 3-5
Assignment (to be completed by Group 1): Written Summary of TTP chap. 3.
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October 11
Assignment (to be completed by Group 2): Written Summary of TTP chap. 6 (see instructions for last week)
Spinoza, Theological-Political Treatise, chaps. 5-7
wrap-up Spinoza
NOTE: the references below are to the marginal page numbers of Kant's Grounding; these refer to the pagination of the standard German edition and appear in most English-language editions of this work. Please use these page numbers in your citations to this work. |
Immanuel Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals (1785), trans. James W. Ellington [purchase book],First Section:
from Grounding, Second Section:
Immanuel Kant, Critique of Practical Reason (1788), trans. Mary Gregor (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1997) [handout/make personal copy from book on reserve]: pp. 100-110. German edition here
FIRST PAPER ASSIGNMENT - due November 6 or November 10. See also Tips for Writing an Effective Paper.
Friday, October 20, 1:30-4:45 p.m. Toronto Mennonite Theology
Centre Symposium: "Spinoza
as Religious Philosopher: Between Jewishness and Radical
Protestantism" |
Kant, selection from Critique of Practical Reason, cont'd.
November 1 - class meeting extended to 9:00 p.m.
Kant, "On the Miscarriage of All Philosophical Trials in Theodicy" (1791), trans. George di Giovanni, in Kant, Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason and Other Writings [purchase book/make personal copy from book on reserve] - to p. 26 (i.e., skip "Concluding Remark")
Supplementary:
November 8
finish discussion of Kant, "On the Miscarriage of All Philosophical Trials in Theodicy"
Kant, Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason (1792/1793), trans. George di Giovanni [purchase book/make personal copy from book on reserve]: pp. 109-122 (i.e., Sections III-VI); Section VII: p. 128 ("We have reason to say...) - p. 129; Division 2: pp. 129-39
MAKEUP SESSION Friday, November 10, 4-6 p.m.
finish discussion of Kant, Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason
FIRST PAPER due November 6 or November 10
Mendelssohn, Jerusalem, or on Religious Power and Judaism (1783), trans. Allan Arkush [purchase book]: Section I: 40-45 and 55 ("I will now leave...") - 75; Section II: 77-83 ("However...")
Background Readings:
Julius H. Schoeps, "1783. Moses Mendelssohn writes Jerusalem..." in The Yale Companion to Jewish Writing and Thought in German Culture, 1096-1996, ed. Gilman/Zipes [handout/make copy from book on reserve or from master copy in course file in UH 104]
Daniel Dahlstrom, "Moses Mendelssohn" in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2002) [online] - see esp. the biographical information at the beginning and Section 6 on "Political Theory."
Alexander Altmann, "Introduction" to Mendelssohn, Jerusalem [purchase book], pp. 3-13
Mendelssohn, Jerusalem, Section II: 84 ("I come now...") - 104 ("...a book")
Mendelssohn, Jerusalem, Section II: 117 bottom - 139 (end of book)
FINAL PAPER due December 11 by e-mail to danahol@mcmaster.ca.