Humanities 211/212

The Birth of the Modern

Spring 2013 Syllabus

Note: To allow conversations in class, it is important that everyone in conference be reading the same edition of the course texts. The editions listed at the end of this syllabus (and available in the bookstore) have been chosen with an eye to keeping costs low and scholarly standards high.

Lectures will be on Mondays unless announced otherwise in class.

WEEK I (January 28-February 1)

Shakespeare, The Tempest

Stephen Greenblatt, “Learning to Curse,” in his Learning to Curse, 16-39*

Lecture:  Theatre and the Civilizing Process (Knapp)

WEEK II (February 4-8)

note that there are two lectures this week—one Monday, one Wednesday—in the Psychology Auditorium at 1:10pm

Selected Canons from The Council of Trent, The Thirteenth and the Twenty-Second Sessions. Available at http://history.hanover.edu/early/trent.htm

Selections from St. Ignatius of Loyola, Spiritual Exercises, pp. 114-16, 121-182*

Selections from The Life of Saint Teresa of Ávila by Herself, pp. 205-211*

Susanne Warma, “Ecstasy and Vision: Two Concepts Connected with Bernini's Teresa,” The Art Bulletin 66: 3 (September, 1984): 508-511.

Robert Harbison, Reflections on the Baroque, pp. 1-32*

John Bossy, Christianity in the West, 89-152

Monday Lecture: Bernini and the Counter Reformation (Katz)

Wednesday Lecture: Eccentric Baroque: Borromini and his Heirs (Harbison)

Reediana Omnibus Musica Philosopha—ROMP!—The Baroque

ROMP! Concert: Friday, February 8  (optional)
7:30pm - Kaul Auditorium - "Baroque Journeys: Michala Petri and Friends"
Michala Petri, recorder; Christopher Costanza, cello; Allan Vogel, oboe; John Gibbons, harpsichord

ROMP! SYMPOSIUM: Saturday, February 9 (mandatory)
12:00pm - Psych 102/103 - ROMP! lunch
1:00pm - Psych 105 - Robert Harbison, "Baroque Opera and Baroque Space"
2:30pm - Psych foyer - coffee and refreshments
3:00pm - Psych 105 - Wendy Heller, "Pan's Legacy: Pastoral Shepherds, Virtuoso Devils, and Wind Playing in the Baroque"

WEEK III (February 11-15)

Galileo, The Discoveries and Opinions of Galileo, 23-58, 175-216

Francis Bacon, "The Great Instauration" (from Edwin A. Burtt, ed. The English Philosophers)*

Bacon, "Thoughts and Conclusions"*

Shapin, The Scientific Revolution, 1-117

Lecture: The New Science (Garrett)

WEEK IV (February 18-22)

Descartes, Discourse on Method & Meditations on First Philosophy

Shapin, The Scientific Revolution, 119-165

Lecture: The Cartesian Revolution (Bedau)

WEEK V (February 25-March 1)

Pascal, Pensées, 33-95, 121-127, 149-164, 210-212, 234-237, 285-286

Dunn, The Age of Religious Wars, 58-68; 82-92; 152-164

Lecture: Pascal (Bedau)

WEEK VI (March 4-8)

note that there are two lectures this week—one Monday, one Wednesday—in the Psychology Auditorium at 1:10pm

Saint-Simon, Louis de Rouvray, The Age of Magnificence: The Memoirs of the Duc de Saint-Simon, (selected, edited, translated by Sanche de Gramont), 21-23, 185-90, 40-50, 97-100, 135-178*

Bossuet, Jacques-Benigne, Politics Drawn from the Holy Scriptures, pp. 57-106*

Peter Burke, The Fabrication of Louis XI, pp. 1-59, 85-105

Monday Lecture: Le Roi Soleil:  Myths and Realities (Breen)

Wednesday Lecture: Versailles and the King’s Distinction (Katz)

WEEK VII (March 11-15)

Racine, Phaedre

Molière, Tartuffe

Dunn, The Age of the Religious Wars, 178-189

Lecture: Staging Virtue (Steinman)

SPRING BREAK (March 18-22)

WEEK VIII (March 25-March 29)

Madame de Lafayette, The Princess of Clèves

Lecture: The Subject of Power (Steinman)

WEEK IX (April 1-5)

“Agreement of the People,” & “The Putney Debates” (from Divine Right and Democracy, ed. D. Wootton, 283-317)*

Dunn, The Age of Religious Wars, 164-178

John Milton, Areopagitica

Dunn, The Age of Religious Wars, chap. 3 & pp. 189-198

Lecture: Uncloistered Virtue (Sacks)

WEEK X (April 8-12)

Hobbes, Leviathan, Book I, Introduction and chapters 1-6, 10, 12-16; Book II, chapters 17-22, 24, 26, 29-31; Book III, chapters 32, 43; Review and Conclusion

Lecture: Hobbes and Skepticism (Breen)

WEEK XI (April 15-19)

John Milton, Paradise Lost

Lecture: Reading the World of the English Revolution (Steinman)

WEEK XII (April 22-26)

John Locke, Second Treatise on Civil Government

John Locke, Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Epistle to the Reader, I.I, I.II, II.I, II.II, II.VIII, II.XII.1, II.XVII, II.XXIII, III.I, III.II, III.III.1-8, III.X.1-7, IV.1, IV.II, IV. III.1-6.

Lecture: Locke: Labor and Liberty (Sacks)

WEEK XIII (April 29-May 3)

Voltaire, Candide

Lecture: Paradise and Liberty Revisited: Enlightenment Taxonomies (Steinman)

Books for Purchase

note:  The assigned reading is keyed to these editions and these particular translations, which we thus highly recommend.  If you are using another text, it is your responsibility at least to find which pages you are to read.

Shakespeare, William. The Tempest (ed. S. Orgel). Oxford.
Bossy, John. Christianity in the West. Oxford U.P.
Galileo. Discoveries and Opinions of Galileo (trans. Stillman Drake).
Dunn, Richard S. The Age of the Religious Wars: 1559-1715. Norton.
Shapin, Steven. The Scientific Revolution. Chicago.
Descartes, Rene. Discourse on Method and Meditations. Hackett.
Pascal, Blaise. Pensées (trans. A.J. Krailsheimer). Penguin Classics.
Burke, Peter. The Fabrication of Louis XIV.
Racine, Jean. Iphigenia; Phaedra; Athaliah. (trans. John Cairncross). Penguin Classics.
Molière. Tartuffe (trans. Richard Wilbur). Harcourt Brace.
de Lafayette, Madame. The Princess of Clèves. Norton.
Milton, John. Areopagitica. Liberty Foundation.
Milton, John. Paradise Lost (ed. John Leonard). Penguin Classics.
Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan (ed. Richard Tuck). Cambridge.
Locke, John. Second Treatise of Civil Government. Dover Thrift Edition
Locke, John. Essay Concerning Human Understanding. ed. Yolton. Abridged edition. Everyman
Voltaire. Candide. (ed. Daniel Gordon) Bedford.

* Indicates that readings will be available online through MOODLE. Go to moodle.reed.edu and       
enter your username and password.