Proseminar (1St Yr Grad Students Only) (401-2-20)
Topic
18th c. Philosophy of History
Instructors
Rachel E Zuckert
8474912556
Kresge 3-425
Meeting Info
Meets in Non-General PurposeRm: Mon 2:00PM - 4:50PM
Overview of class
In this seminar, we will read some of the central, inaugurating texts of the philosophy of history in the European modern tradition, by Rousseau, Kant, and Herder, and discuss their various questions, including: does history have an aim or purposes, and how could we know of it/them? Is there historical progress, and if so, of what sort? Is there a central defining subject matter or "spine" for human history (such as political events, technology, cultures)? Relatedly, we will also discuss questions - of philosophical anthropology, one might say -- that occupy these early thinkers concerning the relationship between history and nature, freedom, and rationality. For example: is human history to be understood as part of or continuous with natural history (of all organisms, or of human organisms in particular)? Is historical investigation therefore strongly akin to biological explanation, or based upon biological premises? Or does human freedom or rationality disrupt the claims of biology and nature - so that history (proper) is departure from nature, a break with (merely) biological processes? What, most broadly, makes human beings historical? Finally, we will also consider why these philosophers present their claims concerning human nature (philosophical anthropology) in speculative-historical, narrative form: what sorts of philosophical claims or projects might be promoted by this form of philosophizing? We will consider how these projects in philosophy of history may be connected to the philosophers' criticisms of the European colonial project and (related) European racist theorizing (historically contemporary to their work). We will conclude the course with excerpts from later discussions of the relation between philosophy and history, as a contrast case: Friedrich Nietzsche's debunking genealogy of morality, and Amia Srinavasan's reflections on the cogency of such genealogical arguments.
Class Materials (Required)
Same as PHIL 401-1
Johann Gottfried Herder, Another Philosophy of History and Selected Political Writings, trans. Ioannis D. Evrigenis and Daniel Pellerin, Hackett. ISBN 0-87220-715-3 Immanuel Kant, Political Writings, ed. Hans Reiss, Cambridge. ISBN 0-521-39837 Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Discourses and Other Early Political Writings, ed. Victor Gourevitch, Cambridge. ISBN 0-521-42445-3 There will also be some supplementary readings available online through Canvas
Enrollment Requirements
Enrollment Requirements: Reserved for Graduate Students.