Please note that this syllabus should be regarded as only a general guide to the course. The instructor may have changed
specific course content and requirements subsequent to posting this syllabus. Last Modified: 09:35:36 03/25/2009
HP 031: Self and Other in The Western Tradition.
Professor Anne A. Davenport
(W) 617-495-7175
(H) 978-371-1085
adavenport@cfa.harvard.edu
Fall Semester: From Renaissance Humanism to the Enlightenment
1. Sept. 3: “Know Thyself”. Diachronic self. Rites of Passage.
2. Sept. 8: Shakespeare (1564–1616), King Lear, I–III.
3. Sept. 10: Shakespeare, King Lear, IV–V.
4. Sept. 15: Machiavelli (1469–1527), The Prince (Painter: Titian)
5. Sept. 17: Thomas More (1478–1535), Utopia. (Painter: Holbein)
6. Sept. 22: Martin Luther (1483–1546), Christian Liberty
7. Sept. 24: Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592), Essays, Bk. I.
8. Sept. 29: Montaigne, Essays, Bk. II
9. Oct. 1: Montaigne, Essays, Bk. III.
10. Oct. 6 : René Descartes (1596–1650), Discourse on Method.
11. Oct. 8: Descartes, Metaphysical Meditations, I and II.
12. Oct. 15: Descartes, Metaphysical Meditations, III and IV.
13. Oct. 20: Descartes, Metaphysical Meditations, V and VI.
14. Oct. 22: Blaise Pascal (1623–1662), Pensées. PAPER DUE.
15. Oct. 27: Pascal, Pensées. (Painter: Georges de LaTour)
16. Oct. 29: Pascal, Pensées.
17. Nov. 3: Voltaire (1694–1778), Candide.
18. Nov. 5: Denis Diderot (1713–1784), D’Alembert’s Dream
19. Nov. 10: Denis Diderot, D’Alembert’s Dream
20. Nov. 12: Rousseau (1712–1778), Discourse on the Origin of Inequality.
21. Nov. 17: Rousseau, Discourse on the Origin of Inequality.
22. Nov. 21: Kant (1724–1804), Groundwork, Introduction. Roger Scruton, German
Philosophers, 7–85. (Composer: Bach)
23. Nov. 24: Kant, Groundwork, sections I and II.
24. Dec. 1: Kant, Groundwork, section III.
25. Dec. 3: Rousseau, Rêveries. PAPER DUE.
26. Dec. 8: Rousseau, Rêveries. (Painter: Watteau)
27. Dec. 10: Rousseau Rêveries. (Composer: Mozart)
Course requirements:
Two 8–page papers, due October 22 and December 3. The final exam will be a
take–home exam. It will be distributed in class Dec. 10 and due in my box Dec. 18 by
11:30 AM.
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