Do Kafka and James Help Us?
FRANZ KAFKA: TOO ALERT?
1883- 1924, Born in Prague, Czech Republic
Father was born poor
He grew up in a upwardly mobile middle class family
Little Brothers Georg and Heinrich die in early years
Says his bar-mizvah was dull and meaningless
Studied law and writes, gets TB in asbestos factory
Virgin/whore complex or virgin/whore dichotomy
Writes Passers-By between1904-1912
Lives through Industrial Age and World War One
At age 28 looked 15
KAFKA
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DOES HE THINK TOO
MUCH?
IS HE ALERT?
IS HE TOO ALERT???
DOES HE PAY TOO
MUCH ATTENTION TO
NEGATIVITY??
FRANZ KAFKA & CONTRADICTON
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“ Thus he knows Two
things at once, and
both with equal
assurance: that there
is no God, and that
there must be God“
FRANZ KAFKA
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The look in Kafka’s eyes
was always a little
puzzled, full of the
wisdom of children and
of melancholy slightly
counter pointed by an
enigmatic smile. He
always seemed to be
somewhat embarrassed."
Kafka: Author of Passers-By
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In Kafka we have the
modern mind,
intelligent, but
skeptical. It plays the
great game of
pretending to
comprehend the
world in sterilized
sobriety.
KAFKA’S CONFUSION

It is a mind living
in sin with the soul
of Abraham
FRANZ KAFKA
After his own death,
( he dies from effects of
Tuberculosis) his three
sisters will die in the Shoah,
or Holocaust.
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WOULD KAFKA HAVE BEEN
SHOCKED?
OR WOULD HE HAVE SAID:
“ I SAW IT COMING!”
William James
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1842- 1910
Born in NYC
Godfather: Ralph Waldo
Emerson
Brothers Wilky and Bob
fought in Civil War
Suffers depression and soul
sickness
Is He himself the Man in
the Club??
Father of Pragmatism
PRAGMATISM:

action or policy
dictated by
consideration of the
immediate practical
consequences rather
than by theory or
dogma
DO PRAGMATISTS TAKE
INITIATIVE?
I will take steps to be a teacher and
a pilot.
CAN I GRADUATE?
CAN I LAND THIS PLANE?
RISKS IN INITIATION
INITIATION
IS IT WORTH IT??
IS IT WORTH IT?
RISKS IN ALERTNESS
DOES HE SEES THE SIGNS WHAT
IS HAPPENING?
IS HE A HERO? A MISGUIDED
FOOL?
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Updated, 10:30 a.m. | Hundreds
of protesters from Zucotti Park
clashed with the police as they
tried to reach the New York
Stock Exchange on Thursday
morning, and at least 50 were
arrested.
WHICH IS EASIER TO SEE?
TRUE OR FLASE?
TRUE OR FALSE?
IN CLASS ESSAY
THESIS 1
KAFKA AND JAMES
PROVIDE USEFUL
INSIGHTS FOR
LEADERS IN THE
SENIOR SEMINAR
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THESIS 2
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LEADERS IN THE
SENIOR SEMINAR
SHOULD AVOID THE
PROBLEMS THAT
KAFKA AND JAMES
PRESENT.