Special
History 1122, Western Civilization II
For the first special reading exam do one of the works from Part I or II.
I. From the section on the Second Europe or the Enlightenment you may want to read one of the works we will discuss in class or others to which we will refer:
· Rene Descartes, Discourse on The Method.
· David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding.
· Isaac Newton, Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy.
· Alexander Pope, Essay on Man.
· John Locke, Second Essay on Government.
· (Francais-Marie Arouet) Voltaire, Letters on the English, the "first bomb hurled against the Old Regime," according to one scholar. Also, see Philosophical Dictionary, whose entries illustrate his keen wit, rationalism, and scorn for traditional, oppressive authorities.
· Immanuel Kant, What is Enlightenment?
As you read, relate what you read to the themes of the Second Europe:
· man is by nature good, not depraved.
· this life is its own end; man's purpose is to live the good life on earth, not focus on the beatific life after death.
· man can solve the problems preventing the good life on earth, using reason and experience alone.
· man is oppressed by ignorance, superstition, and traditional authorities. He needs freedom to apply reason and experience to perfect life on this earth and achieve the happiness to which he is entitled as a human being.
II. From the section on The Shaping of the Second Europe by Revolutions, you may enjoy one or more of the following:
· Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence.
· Thomas Paine, Common Sense.
· The French Revolution's Declaration of the Rights of Man-1789.
· Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France.
· John Stuart Mill, On Liberty.
As you read, relate the work(s) to the movement which produced it or to the general theme that the impact of revolutions produced "isms" which shaped (i.e., affirmed, modified, or diminished) the Second Europe or Enlightenment tradition. Ask yourself how the work takes a position on those Enlightenment principles cited above.
For the second special reading exam do one of the works from Part
III. Continuing with works from the section on The Shaping of the Second Europe by Revolutions, you may like:
· Giuseppe Mazzini's Essay on the Duties of Man, and On Nationality.
· Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust.
· Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Poems.
· William Wordsworth, Poems
· John Keats, Poems
· Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto or Robert Owen, A New View of Society
· Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Two sites: One, Two.
· Robert Browning, Two sites: One, Two
· Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary is the centerpiece of our session on Literary Responses
· Henrik Ibsen, A Doll's House
· Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species; or The Voyage of the Beagle
· Friedrich Nietzsche's Works (go to http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/ and enter his name)
· Various works on Imperialism.
As you read any of the works above, relate what you read to
the movement which produced it or to the general theme that the impact of
revolutions produced "isms" which shaped (i.e., affirmed, modified,
or diminished) the Second Europe or Enlightenment tradition. Ask yourself how
the work takes a position on those Enlightenment principles cited above.
IV. From the section on Revolt Against Europe, you might want to read:
· Vladimir Lenin, What is to be Done?
· Benito Mussolini, What is Fascism?
· Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf; and other writings
· Franklin D. Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address.
As you read the works above from the 20th century, relate them to the theme of "Revolt Against Europe" or rejection of the Enlightenment.
For the third special reading exam do one of the works from Part IV.
V. Continuing with works from the section Revolt Against Europe, you may choose:
· Sigmund Freud, History of the Psychoanalytic Movement; Interpretation of Dreams; Psychopathology of Everyday Life; The Origin and Development of Psychoanalysis.
· Jean Paul Sartre, No Exit; Existentialism is a Humanism.
· Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness.
· Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises.
· Sinclair Lewis, Babbitt.
· T. S. Eliot, The Waste Land; Various poems.
· W. H. Auden, Various poems.
· William Butler Yeats, Poems.
· Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison.
How does the work you read illustrate the theme of "Revolt Against Europe?" Does it reject or affirm any Enlightenment principles? Does it offer any guidance to the problem of "Revolt Against Europe"?
This list is suggestive and not definitive. However, if you wish to read
something not on this list, and not included in my class presentations, you
must have my approval.