Books Ordered

Isaac Kramnick, ed. The Portable Enlightenment Reader [= ER]

James Schmidt, ed. What Is Enlightenment? [= WIE]

Ulrich Im Hof. The Enlightenment

Norton Anthology of American Literature, Vol. 1 [= Norton]

Rousseau, La Nouvelle Heloise

Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther

**NOTE that the Im Hof assignments serve as background, summarizing problems rather than providing details. REQUIRED reading assignments are starred (*); the rest are strongly encouraged, and may turn up in lectures. WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT DUE DATES AS INDICATED.

Week 1: Aug. 28

Thurs Introduction to the Course

•ASSIGNMENT: be sure you go see Jefferson in Paris

(on reserve in BATTS 234 language lab [ask for by title & course]; and in the UGL as VIDCASS 5917; 139 min.)

Part 1: The People of the Enlightenment

Week 2: Sept. 2, 4

Tues Defining the Enlightenment as the Era of Romance, Revolution, and Reason

Im Hof, Enlightenment, 3-10

*Kant, "What is Enlightenment," in What is Enlightenment? [= WIE], 58-64 AND in Portable Enlightenment Reader (ER), 1-7

Moses Mendelssohn, "On the Question: What Is Enlightenment?," WIE, 53-57

Karl Leonhard Reinhold, "Thoughts on Enlightenment," WIE, 65-77

•ASSIGNMENT: Compare the two translations --worksheet précis included with assignments

Thurs Who's Who in the Enlightenment, I: The Upper Classes and the Revolution

Im Hof, Enlightenment, 13-48 (kings, aristocracy, clergy)

*Christoph Martin Wieland, "A Couple of Gold Nuggets," WIE, 78-83

Background: John Christian Laursen, "The Subversive Kant: The Vocabulary of 'Public' and 'Publicity," WIE, 253-269

Week 3: Sept. 9, 11

Tues Who's Who in the Enlightenment, II: Romance

*Rousseau, La nouvelle Heloise, Part 1 (24-81)

•ASSIGNMENT: Worksheet précis included with assignment; due in on Thursday, but start it for today

Thurs Who's Who in the Enlightenment, III: Reason

Im Hof, Enlightenment, 49-79 (middle class, farmers, commoners)

*Rousseau, La nouvelle Heloise, Part 1 ( -155); Part IV (381-409)

•ASSIGNMENT: Worksheet précis completed

Week 4: Sept. 16, 18

Tues Who's Who in the Enlightenment, IV: Romance versus Reason

*Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther (all)

•ASSIGNMENT: Worksheet précis completed

Thurs Who's Who in the Enlightenment, V

*READ TWO OUT OF THREE BIOGRAPHIES

J. de Crévecœur, "Letters from an American Farmer," Norton, 656-681

Benjamin Franklin, "Autobiography, Part 1," Norton, 487-532 (-600 optional; bio = 440-442)

Elizabeth Ashbridge, "Some Account of the Fore-Part of the Life of E. A.," Norton, 600-621)

II. Why the Enlightenment Took Hold

Week 5: Sept. 23, 25

Tues Citizens of the World

Im Hof, Enlightenment, 83-97 (WITH THE GREAT POEM), 98-101

•Discussion: Jefferson in Paris

Thurs Redefining History

*Giambattista Vico, "The New Science," ER, 351-356

*David Hume, "History as Guide," ER, 359-361

*Jean-Jacques Rousseau, "A Critique of Progress," ER, 363-369

*François-Marie de Voltaire, "in Defense of Modernity," ER, 369-378

*Adam Smith, "The Four-Stage Theory of Development," ER, 378-380

Joseph Priestley, "How Glorious, Then, Is the Prospect," ER, 382-387

Marquis de Condorcet, "The Perfectability of Man," ER, 387-395

Background: Rudolph Vierhaus, "Progress: Ideas, Skepticism, and Critique," WIE, 330-341

Week 6: Sept. 30, Oct. 2

Tues Redefining Community

Im Hof, Enlightenment, 105-154

*Jean D'Alembert, "Human Mind Emerged from Barbarism," ER, 7-17

*Denis Diderot, "Encyclopédie," ER, 17-21

Cesar Dumarsais, "Definition of a Philosophe," ER, 21-22

Marquis de Condorcet, "Future Progress of the Human Mind," ER, 26-38

Francis Bacon, "The New Science," ER, 39-42

*Pierre de Beaumarchais, Le Mariage de Figaro, ER, 23-24

•ASSIGNMENT: Précis comparing Beaumarchais and Franklin

Thurs Reaching the Community: Freedom of Press and Sample Publicity

*E. F. Klein, "On Freedom of Thought and of the Press," WIE, 87-96

*C. F. Bahrdt, "On Freedom of the Press and Its Limits," WIE, 97-113

*Friedrich Karl von Moser, "Publicity," WIE, 114-118

J. G. Fichte, "Reclamation of the Freedom of Thought," WIE, 119-141

*François-Marie de Voltaire, "On Bacon and Newton," ER, 51-60

Joseph Priestly, "The Organization of Scientific Research," and "Letter to Priestly" by Benjamin Franklin, ER, 69-74

III. Philosophy of the Enlightenment

Week 7: Oct. 7, 9

Tues The Philosophy of the Enlightenment: Reason

Im Hof, Enlightenment, 157-220

*René Descartes, "I Think, Therefore I Am . . . ," ER, 181-185

*John Locke, "Essay Concerning Human Understanding," ER, 185-188

*G. Leibnitz, "New Essays on Human Understanding," ER, 188-190

*ASSIGNMENT: Precis for your paper draft due!!

Thurs Philosophy of the Enlightenment, II: Educating Reason

*Julien de la Mettrie, "Man A Machine," ER, 202-209

*Ettienne de Condillac, "Treatise on the Sensations," ER, 220-222

John Locke, "Some Thoughts Concerning Education," ER, 222-228

*Jean-Jacques Rousseau, "Children and Civic Education," ER, 229-235

Thomas Jefferson, "Letter to Peter Carr," Norton, 744-747

Week 8: Oct. 14, 16

Tues On Religion

Pierre Bayle, "On Superstition and Tolerance," ER, 75-81

*John Locke, "A Letter Concerning Toleration," ER, 81-90

Isaac Newton, "Argument for a Diety," ER, 96-100

Baron de Montesquieu, "If there is a God . . . ," ER, 106-109

David Hume, "Of Miracles and the Origin of Religion," ER, 109-115

*Johann G. Hamann, "Letter to Christian Jacob Kraus," WIE, 145-153

*François-Marie de Voltaire, "Recollections on Religion," ER, 115-133

Baron D'Holbach, "No Need of Theology, Only of Reason ," ER, 140-150

*The Temple of Reason, ER, 168-173

•ASSIGNMENT: Précis on any essay in Section III-- follow its logic

Thurs On Art

David Hume, "Of the Standards of Taste," ER, 322-329

*Edmund Burke, "The Sublime," ER, 329-333

*Jean-Jacques Rousseau, "On Theater and Morals," ER, 333-336

*Immanuel Kant, "The Beautiful and Sublime," ER, 339-342

Joshua Reynolds, "Discourse on Art," ER, 342-349

Week 9: Oct. 21, 23

Tues On Ethics

*John Cleland, "Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure," ER, 257-264

Claude-Adrien Helvétius, "A Treatise on Man," ER, 287-297

*Immanuel Kant, "Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals," ER, 297-306

*Jeremy Bentham, "The Principle of Utility," ER, 306-314

•ASSIGNMENT: Paper draft due

Section IV: The Challenge of the US

Thurs Cosmopolitanism

Im Hof, 223-234

*Benjamin Franklin, "Information to Those Who Would Remove to America," Norton, 459-464

*Benjamin Franklin, "The Way to Wealth," Norton, 442-448

*Thomas Jefferson, "Letter to John Adams," Norton, 747-750 (NAT'L ARISTOCRACY)

Background: Jonathan B. Knudsen, "On Enlightenment for the Common Man," WIE, 270-290 (ON CLASS)

Tues Race and Ethnicity: Europe Meets the Other

*David Hume, "Negroes . . . Naturally Inferior to the Whites," ER, 629

*Benjamin Franklin, "Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America," Norton, 464-468

*Cherokee Memorials, Norton, 949-958

*Olaudah Equiano, "Interesting Narrative of the Life," Norton, 764-797

•ASSIGNMENT: Précis on any Franklin or Equiano essay

Thurs Gender Challenges, I (MALE VOICES)

Thomas Jefferson, "Notes on the State of Virginia," Norton, 733-743

*Jean-Jacques Rousseau, "Duties of Women," ER, 568-579

*Immanuel Kant, "The Fair Sex," ER, 580-586

*Thomas Paine, "Women, Adored and Oppressed," ER, 586-590

Week 11: Nov. 4, 6

Tues Gender Challenges, II (Female Voices)

*Mary Wollstonecraft, "Vindication of the Rights of Woman," ER, 618-629

*Mary Astell, "Some Reflections Upon Marriage," ER, 560-568

Catherine Graham, "Women's Education," ER, 591-601

*Olympe de Gouges, "The Rights of Women," ER, 609-618

Background: R. M. Schott, "Gender of Enlightenment," WIE, 471-487

•ASSIGNMENT: Précis on any essay on /by women

Thurs Emancipation and the Law

Im Hof, Enlightenment, 237-253

*John Locke, "The Second Treatise of Civil Government," ER, 395-404

Baron de Montesquieu, "The Spirit of the Laws," ER, 405-415

François-Marie de Voltaire, "Political Essays," ER, 416-424

J.-J. Rousseau, "Discourse on the Origin of Inequality," ER, 424-430

*Jean-Jacques Rousseau, "The Social Contract," ER, 430-441

*F.-M. de Voltaire, "On Torture and Capital Punishment," ER, 532-535

Jeremy Benthan, "Cases Unmeet for Punishment," ER, 541-546

Week 12: Nov. 11, 13

Tues Reasonable Revolutions

*"Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen," 466-468 (FR/ US)

*Thomas Jefferson, "Autobiography [Declaration of Independence]," Norton, 727-733

*Thomas Paine, "The Rights of Man," ER, 469-472

Thomas Paine, "Common Sense," Norton, 706-719

*The Federalist, Nos. 1 & 10, Norton, 755-763

Benjamin Franklin, "Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced," Norton, 451-456

*John and Abagail Adams, "Letters," Norton, 681-706

•ASSIGNMENT: Paper rewrite due -- be sure you're starting Paper 2!

Thurs Trade, Economics, and the Relations between Nations

David Hume, "Of Luxury," ER, 491-496

*François Quesnay, "The Physiocratic Formula," ER, 496-502

Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot, "Economic Liberty," ER, 502-505

*Adam Smith, "The Wealth of Nations," ER, 505-515

Anti-War

*François-Marie de Voltaire, "Splendid Armies," ER, 546-550

*Benjamin Franklin, "There Never was a Good War," ER, 550-551

*Immanuel Kant, "Perpetual Peace," ER, 552-559

Background: Kevin Paul Geiman, "Enlightenment Cosmopolitanism," WIE, 517-532

SECTION V: Anti-Enlightenment and US Divergence

Week 13: Nov. 18, 20

Tues Anti-Enlightenment

Im Hof, Enlightenment, 257-80

*Frederick the Great, "Benevolent Despotism," ER, 452-459

Thurs Enlightenment as a Threat

*A. Riem, "On Enlightenment . . . Dangerous?," WIE, 168-187

*F. K. von Moser, "True and False Political Enlightenment," WIE, 212-216

*Johann Heinrich Tieftrunk, "On the Influence of Enlightenment on Revolutions," WIE, 217-224

J. A. Bergk, "Does Enlightenment Cause Revolutions?," WIE, 225-231

Week 14: Nov. 25, 27

Tues Redefining Religion and the Religion of Reason in the US

Thomas Jefferson, "Religion . . . My Views of It," ER, 160-66

Thomas Paine, "The Age of Reason," ER, 174-180

*Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Nature," Norton, 989-1021

*Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Over-Soul," Norton, 1062-1073

NOTE: Have you started your second paper yet?

Thurs THANKSGIVING

Week 15: Dec. 2, 4

Tues Post-Enlightenment, Into Nationalism: Looking Backward

Im Hof, Enlightenment, 283-292

*Nathaniel Hawthorne, Norton, 1169-1173; "Scarlet Letter" ("Custom House"), 1249-1273 and ("Conclusion") 1383-1386

*Washington Irving, "Intro," and "The Author's Account of Himself," Norton, 896-897

*Washington Irving, "Rip Van Winkle," Norton, 897-909

•ASSIGNMENT: Précis on any Section V essay

Thurs The End of the Enlightenment

*Washington Irving, "Legend of Sleepy Hollow," Norton, 909-929

Edgar Allen Poe, "Fall of the House of Usher," Norton, 1463-1475

Background: Friedrich C. Beiser, "Early Romanticism and the Aufklärung," WIE, 317-329

Background: Hartmut Böhme and Gernot Böhme, "The Battle of Reason with Imagination," WIE, 426-452

Background: Rüdiger Bittner, "What is Enlightenment," WIE, 345-358

Background: Max Horkheimer, " Reason Against Itself," WIE, 359-367