Philosophy 403 | Office Hours in RH-422 (445-4489) |
Heroism and the Human Spirit | TU & TH: 9:00 AM -10:00 AM; |
Philosophy Seminar | and by appointment |
Fall, 1999 | Phone: 445-4489 |
Prof. Michael Kagan | Email: kagan@maple.lemoyne.edu |
Goal: The main purpose of this course is to provide students with an opportunity to develop their own answers to the question, "What makes a person great?" It is hoped that giving students a chance to address this problem while seeing its inter-connections with fundamental philosophical issues will help them integrate their heroic visions into their own philosophies of human existence and/or philosophic religious faith.
Requirements and grading
Required Reading List: (in approximate reading order)
Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eye.
Wiesel, Elie. Night. New York:
King, Stephen. Different Seasons (also published
as Shawshank Redemption).
Rand, Ayn. Anthem.
Vonnegut, Jr., Kurt. Mother Night.
Haley, Alex, and Malcolm X. The Autobiography
of Malcolm X.
Plato, Symposium.
SPECIAL NEEDS
In coordination with the Academic Support Center (ASC), reasonable accommodations are provided for qualified students with disabilities. Please register with Anne Herron in the ASC Office for disability verification and determination of reasonable accommodations. After receiving your accommodation form from the ASC, you will need to make an appointment with me to review the form and discuss your needs. Please make every attempt to meet with me within the first week of class so your accommodations can be provided in a timely manner. You can either stop by the ASC, Library, 1st floor, or call (445-4118-voice or 445-4104-TDD) to make an appointment with Ms. Herron.
IMPORTANT DATES
No Classes on the Following dates: Sep. 6 (Labor Day),
Sep. 20 (Yom Kippur), Oct. 11 - Oct. 12 (Long Weekend), and Nov.
24-26 (Thanksgiving Break).
PROJECT PROPOSALS DUE Friday, OCT. 15. WRITTEN PROJECTS DUE: FRI.,
NOV. 19.
LAST DAY OF CLASS - December 10
ABOUT STUDENT PRESENTATIONS ON READINGS:
All students are expected to do all readings and to share their understanding with one another in class discussions and by leading their own and participating in other students' presentations on the various readings. Student presentations on readings begin the second week of class, and will be scheduled during the first week. The subtopics will be divided up into student groups whose size will be determined by the class size.
Remember: You have less than an hour to present. Focus on the aspects your group finds most interesting and important. Do not try to cover everything. Your presentation will be improved if you make it easier for others to participate. (Please try to help others' presentations by participating!) Please feel free to meet with me to discuss your presentations. If you don't find me on campus, feel free to call me at home before 8:00 PM. YOU CAN ALWAYS LEAVE A VOICE MAIL MESSAGE AT 445-4489.
TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE AND SCHEDULE OF ASSIGNMENTS ['*' MARKS WEEKS IN WHICH STUDENTS PRESENT ON READINGS.]
Albom, Mitch. Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and
the Last Great Lesson.
Becker, Ernest. The Birth and Death of Meaning, The Denial
of Death, and other works.
Belenky, et al. Women's Ways of Knowing.
Brown, Claude. Manchild in the Promised Land.
Brown, Christy. My Left Foot.
Bujold, Lois McMaster. Cordelia's Honor, and other works.
Butler, Octavia E. Parable of the Sower, Bloodchild and Other
Stories, and other works.
Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Second ed.
Card, Orson Maps in a Mirror: The Short Fiction of Orson Scott Card,
Ender's Game, and other works.
Chandler, Raymond. The Simple Art of Murder, and other works.
Cross, Amanda. Death in a Tenured Position, and other works.
Davies, Robertson. The Deptford Trilogy : Fifth Business/the Manticore/World
of Wonders, and other works.
Dostoevsky, Fyodor. Brothers Karamazov, The Idiot, Notes
from the Underground, "The Crocodile," and other works.
Elgin, Suzette Haden. Native Tongue, The Judas Rose,
The Gentle Art of Verbal Self Defense and other works.
Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man.
Frankl, Viktor. Man's Search for Meaning. Pocket Books Washington
Square Press printing, 1985.
Friedman, C.S. This Alien Shore, and other works..
Gardner, John. The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers.
Gilligan, Carol. In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and
Women's Development.
Gilman, Dorothy The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax, Tightrope Walker,
Incident at Badamya, and other works.
Goldman, William. The Princess Bride.
Hammett, Dashiel. The Maltese Falcon (the book and the
movie). You should look at his other novels as well.
Hargrove, Anne C. Getting Better: Conversations with myself and
other friends while healing from breast cancer.
Heinlein, R. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Citizen of the
Galaxy, Double Star and other works.
Hesse, Hermann. Siddhartha, The Journey to the East,
The Glass Bead Game, Steppenwolf, and other works.
Hoeg, Peter. Smilla's Sense of Snow, Borderliners.
Howatch, Susan. Glamorous Powers, and other works.
Irving, John. A Prayer for Owen Meany, The World According
to Garp.
Kafka, Franz. "Penal Colony," "Hunger Artist," The Trial, The
Castle, and other works.
Kagan, Michael . Educating Heroes (Durango, Colorado:
Hollowbrook, 1994.
Kamenetz, Rodger. The Jew in the Lotus : A Poet's Rediscovery of
Jewish Identity in Buddhist India, and Stalking Elijah: Adventures
with Today's Jewish Mystical Masters.
Kaye, Ronnie. Spinning Straw into Gold.
King, Stephen. Bag of Bones, Insomnia, The Stand,
and other works.
Kress, Nancy. Beggars in Spain, Maximum Light.
Leonard, George. Mastery (New York: Penguin/Plume,
1992).
Lowry, Dave. Autumn Lightning.
Le Guin, Ursula K. Left Hand of Darkness, The Lathe of Heaven,
The Dispossessed, and other works.
Morrison, Toni. Song of Solomon, and other works.
Noddings, Nel. Caring.
McBride, James. The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His
White Mother.
Oates, J. C. On Boxing.
Polster, Miriam F. Eve's Daughters : The Forbidden Heroism of Women.
Pullman, Philip. The Golden Compass (New York: Alfred
A. Knopf, 1996).
Raffa, Jean Benedict. The Bridge to Wholeness: A Feminine Alternative
to the Hero Myth.
Rand, Ayn. The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged, The Virtue
of Selfishness.
Rollin, B. First, You Cry.
Russell, Mary Doria. The Sparrow, and Children of God.
Sapphire. Push: A Novel.
Silverberg, Robert. Lord Valentine's Castle.
Suzuki, D.T. Zen and Japanese Culture.
Sturgeon, Theodore. More than Human, and other works.
Scriptures, religious tales and teachings of interest to the student,
from a variety of traditions (including, but not limited to, African, Buddhist,
Christian, Islamic, Jewish, Native American, Taoist, Vedic.)
Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club.
Tolstoy, Leo. The Death of Ivan Ilyich, and other works.
Vonnegut, Jr., Kurt. Slaughterhouse Five, and other works.
Walker, Alice. The Color Purple.
Wiesel, Elie. Dawn, The Accident, and other works.
Willis, Connie. Lincoln's Dreams, Doomsday Book,
Bellwether, Remake.
Yoshikawa. Musashi.
Zettel, Sarah. Fool's War.
Some of this page's links: