3/30 Tue |
Introduction (go over syllabus & develop graduate
student presentation schedules) |
|
James’s Epistemologies,
Metaphysics, and Metaphilosophies |
Week 1 4/1 Thr |
Transitionalism-Fluxism The Principles of
Psychology (1890) in WWJ
* Optional: Emerson, “Self-Reliance”
(1841) |
Week 2 4/6 Tue |
Radical Empiricism Essays in Radical Empiricism (posthumous
1912) in WWJ
* Optional: Dewey, “The
Postulate of Immediate Empiricism” (1905) |
4/8 Thr |
[Guest Lecture &
Discussion with Prof. Scott Pratt – Prof. Koopman will not be in attendance
due to a presentation at Emory University in Atlanta] |
Week 3 4/13 Tue |
Pragmatism Pragmatism (1907)
in WWJ
* Optional: Peirce, “The
Fixation of Belief” and “How to Make Our Ideas Clear” (1878) |
4/15 Thr & 4/16 Fri |
Seminars |
Week 4 4/20 Tue |
Pluralism “On Some Hegelisms” (1882) in WTB A Pluralistic
Universe (1909) in WWJ
* Optional: Bergson, “An Introduction
to Metaphysics” (1903) |
4/22 Thr & 4/23 Fri |
Seminars [453: FIRST SHORT PAPERS DUE IN CLASS THUR
OF WEEK 4 (4/22)] |
|
James’s Moral-Ethical
Philosophy |
Week 5 4/27 Tue |
The Ethics of
Belief “The Will to Believe” (1896) in WTB “The Dilemma of
Determinism” (1884) in WTB “The Sentiment of Rationality” (1879/1882) in WTB * Optional: Clifford, “The
Ethics of Belief” (1877) The Ethics of
Self-Transformation “The Energies of Men” (1907) in WWJ “Will” (1890, abridged) in WWJ [preferably read the full “Will” chapter in the Principles] * Optional: James, “Will” chapter in Talks to Teachers (1899) [pdf] |
4/29 Thr & 4/30 Fri |
Seminars |
Week 6 5/4 Tue |
The Liberal-Pluralist
Morality of Tolerance & Inclusion “On a Certain
Blindness in Human Beings” (1899) in WWJ “What Makes a Life Significant?” (1899) in WWJ “The Moral Philosopher and the Moral Life” (1891) in WTB * Optional: Mill, On Liberty, Ch. 1 (1859) The Liberal-Pluralist
Morality of Individuality-in-Sociality “Great Men and Their Environment” (1880) in WTB “The Importance of Individuals” (1890) in WTB * Optional: Emerson,
“Society and Solitude” (1870) |
5/6 Thr & 5/7 Fri |
Seminars |
|
James’s Social-Political-Cultural
Criticism |
Week 7 5/11 Tue |
Peace and War “The Moral Equivalent of War” (1910) in WWJ [pdf packet of two essays below] “Remarks at the Peace Banquet” (1904) “Robert Gould Show: Oration” (1897) * Optional: Jane Addams, Newer Ideals of Peace, Chs. 1 & 8
(1907) Imperialism and
the Spanish-American War [pdf packet of writings below] “Letter on the Hon. Samuel W. McCall on the Venezuelan
Crisis” (1895) “Answer to Roosevelt on the Venezuelan Crisis” (1896)
“The Philippine Tangle” (1899) “The Philippine Question” (1899) “The Philippines Again” (1899) “Governor Roosevelt’s Oration” (1899) “Diary of a French Naval Officer: Observations at Manila”
(1900) “Views of Professor Blumentritt on the American Occupation”
(1900) “Secretary Taft a Biased Judge” (1904) “On Philippine Independence” (1904) plus selections from James's correspondence (read what you can of this) See also the recent Sunday Times review on new books on the Spanish-American war * Optional: Theodore
Roosevelt, The Rough Riders (1899) |
5/13 Thr & 5/14 Fri |
Seminars [453: RESEARCH PAPER PROPOSALS DUE IN CLASS
TUE OF WEEK 8 (5/18)] [553: FIRST VERSION RESEARCH PAPERS DUE IN
CLASS TUE OF WEEK 8 (5/18)] |
Week 8 5/18 Tue |
Academia [pdf packet of writings below] “The Ph.D. Octopus” (1903) “The True Harvard” (1903) “Stanford’s Ideal Destiny” (1906) * Optional: Louis Menand,
“The Ph.D. Problem” (2009) Medical
Regulation [pdf packet of writings below] “The Medical Advertisement Abomination” (1894) “The Medical Registration Act” (1894) “The Medical Registration Bill” (1894) plus selected correspondence * Optional: W. Rothstein, American Physicians in the Nineteenth Century:
From Sects to Science (1972) |
5/20 Thr & 5/21 Fri |
Seminars |
|
Concluding Thoughts and Selected Secondary
Literature |
Week 9 5/ 25 Tue |
Full Group Discussion (Grads & Undergrads): James, Imperialism, and Inclusivism Ruth Anna Putnam, “Some of Life’s Ideals” (1997)
[pdf] Richard Rorty, “Religious Faith, Intellectual
Responsibility, and Romance” (1997) [pdf] George Cotkin, William
James: Public Philosopher, Chs. 6 & 7 (skim chs. 1 & 5) (1989) [pdf]
* Optional: Max C. Otto, “On a Certain Blindness in William James” (1943) [pdf] * Optional: George Garrison
and Edward Madden, “William James—Warts and All” (1977) * Optional: Cornel West, The American Evasion of Philosophy ,
Ch. 2 (1989) * Optional: Ruth Anna
Putnam, “The Moral Life of a Pragmatist” (1990) * Optional: Harvey Cormier,
“Pragmatism, Politics, and the Corridor” (1997) * Optional: Graham Bird, “Moral
Philosophy and the Development of Morality” (1997) * Optional: Jennifer
Welchman, “WJ’s ‘Will to Believe’ and the Ethics of Self-Experimentation’”
(2006) * Optional: Andrew F.
Smith, “Communication and Conviction: Jamesian Deliberative Democracy” (2007) [doc] * Optional: Eric T. Weber, “James,
Dewey, and Democracy” (2009)
* Optional: William Connolly, Pluralism,
Chs. 1, 3, & Postlude (2005) [pdf] * Optional: Jonathan McKenzie, “Pragmatism, Pluralism, Politics: James’s Tragic…”
(2009) [pdf] * Optional: Joshua Miller, Democratic Temperament (1997) * Optional: David
Schlosberg, “Resurrecting the Pluralist Universe” (1998) [pdf] * Optional: Richard Flathman,
Pluralism and Liberal Democracy, ch. 2
(2005) * Optional: Kennan
Ferguson, Politics in the Pluriverse , chs. 1 & 2 (2007) * Optional: Alex Livingston, "Docility in America: James, Tocqueville, and Individuality" [pdf]
* Optional: David Hollinger,
In the American Province, Chs. 1 &
2 (1985) * Optional: James
Kloppenberg, Uncertain Victory,
Chs. 1-3 (1986) * Optional: Robert
Westbrook, Democratic Hope, Ch. 2
(2005)
|
5/27 Thr |
Undergraduate Seminar: Inclusivism and Imperialism Putnam, Rorty, and Cotkin Readings |
5/27 Thr |
Optional Seminar (Grads & Undergrads): James, Pragmatism, and Feminism Charlene Haddock Seigfried, Pragmatism & Feminism, Ch. 6 (1996) [pdf] James Livingston, Pragmatism,
Feminism, and Democracy, Ch. 5 (2001) [pdf] |
5/28 Fri |
Graduate Seminar: Jamesian Political Philosophy Colin Koopman, “William James’s Politics of Personal
Freedom” (2005) [pdf] Colin Koopman, "Pragmatist Public Pluralism: Beyond the Public/Private Divide" (ms.) [pdf] * Optional: Henry James, The American Scene (1907) |
Week 10 6/1 Tue |
Full Group Discussion (Grads & Undergrads): Concluding
Reflections Come to class prepared with: 1) a thesis statement about Jamesian political philosophy and 2) a metaphilosophical question about the possible roles and values of political philosophy today |
6/3 Thr & 6/4 Fri |
Classes Rescheduled due to Instructor Presentation in Washington D.C. at Privacy Law Conference |
|
[453 & 553: FINAL PAPERS DUE IN MY BOX
MONDAY OF EXAM WEEK] |
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