Fall quarter
The core texts for fall 2006 are:
- The Iliad. We'll be using the
Fagles translation (Penguin Classics).
- Oedipus the King. We'll be using the recent Meineck and Woodruff translation,
in the Hackett
standalone volume.
- Euthyphro and other early Platonic dialogues. We'll
be using
Four Texts on Socrates (revised edition, translated by
Thomas G. and Grace Starry West, Cornell University Press).
Many instructors assign Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. There are a number
of choices here:
Ross (Oxford University Press),
Rowe (Oxford University Press), or
Irwin (Hackett Publishing).
Crisp (Cambridge University Press) appears to be currently
available only as an e-book. If you plan on reading additional
works of Aristotle, key sections of the Ross translation can be
found with selections from other Aristotelian texts in
A New
Aristotle Reader (Princeton University Press). The
same goes for the Irwin translation in
Selections
(Hackett Publishing) and the briefer
Introductory Readings (Hackett Publishing).
Winter quarter
The core readings for 2007 are the following:
- Descartes' Meditations. We'll be using the
Cambridge texts in the history of philosophy edition.
- Hamlet, the
Arden second series edition, edited by Jenkins.
- Hume's Enquiry concerning Human Understanding We'll
be using the
Hackett edition.
Desk copies for these three books will be ordered by the Division.
For info on where to pick up your copies and related matters,
see here.
In addition to these texts, we read a selection of texts that do not
belong to the modern-philosophical canon. There are three main
categories here:
- Works predating the renaissance but postdating ancient Greek
philosophy that provide background, context, or contrast. If
you choose to assign something of this sort, it will probably be the
first thing you read for the quarter. Three obvious choices:
1) The Bible. There are many cheap editions of the Bible.
(Yes, some people think the writing of the Old Testament in part predates
Plato's time. But its reception in the tradition postdates
it).
2) Augustine's Confessions. Some instructors find this
text especially useful for its thematic linkages to, and influence
upon, the Meditations. Three well-regarded
translations, all about the same price, are:
Chadwick (Oxford World Classics),
Pine-Coffen (Penguin) and
Sheed (Hackett). The Chadwick is significantly more recent
than the others, and appears to be the current choice of
most philosophers.
3) Aquinas. Only advised for those who know what they're
doing. Penguin offers a
Selected Writings.
-
Essays that engage recognizably philosophical topics
but not in the style or manner of the works of the
modern-philosophical canon (for example, by being less argumentative
and more discursive).
1) The obvious choice is Montaigne. The two most
highly-regarded translations are Screech (either
complete or
selections, and not to be confused with the
other Penguin edition) and
Frame (Everyman's LIbrary, inexpensive hardcover). "On Experience" and "On Physiognomy" discuss
Socrates. "On Repentance" is another possibility. One
instructor reads "On Cannibals" in conjunction with The Tempest.
Other possibilities are "Of Custom" (a.k.a. "On Habit"), "Of
Cruelty", and "Of Presumption".
Some of the later essays, in their focus on Montaigne's terminal
illness, connect thematically to the preoccupation with death in
Hamlet.
2)
Bacon. "Of Truth", "Of Atheism" and "Of
Superstition" (the latter two best read as a pair) discuss
faith and the justification of belief, and thus bear directly on the
primary theme of the quarter. One instructor has read Bacon in
conjunction with
Thomas Paine.
3) You might also consider Galileo, such as "The Assayer", "The
Starry Messenger" or "Letter to Duchess Christina" (all of which are
collected, but apparently abridged, in
this edition). Some instructors have reported finding this material
difficult to tackle effectively absent a context in the history of
science.
- Major works of literature from the modern period. In recent years,
instructors have assigned Don Quixote and the Inferno.
Another possibility is Pamela by Richardson, which has the
advantage of being shorter than his gargantuan Clarissa.
It might be read in conjunction with Henry Fielding's parody
Shamela (which is apparently not the only Richardson
parody). Richard Strier champions use of this
Donne poem.
Spring quarter
The two core philosophy texts for the spring are the following:
- Kant's Groundwork. The new
Cambridge edition is the most highly-regarded translation.
But some think that the
Hackett translation is easier for students to understand, and in
any case it's much cheaper. Another choice is the
Paton translation.
- Hume's Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals.
Oxford has a new edition targeted to students. The
Hackett edition is not quite as good, but a lot cheaper.
As we aspire less to uniformity in the spring, instructors are free
to choose their remaining readings. At least one novel must be
included. The material ought, of course, to relate to the topics
in moral philosophy pursued in class discussion of the above texts.
Some suggestions:
Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem.
Austen, Persuasion.
Jonathan Bennett, "The Conscience of Huckleberry Finn".
Coetzee, Disgrace or Waiting for the Barbarians.
Conrad, Heart of Darkness (with the obvious film
accompaniment).
Melville, Billy Budd.
Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray (in conjunction with the
sections on vanity in Hume's Treatise).
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