German
Romanticism: Literature, Philosophy, Science
Note: this course will sometimes be offered as a
one-quarter course, sometimes as a two quarter course; check the time schedule
Hist. 25400;77100 CFS
42400
Philos.30700 HiPSS 27600
German 47800
Instructor: Robert J. Richards
I. Books:
Books for the course are available in the
A. Required reading:
Fichte,
J. G. Introductions to the Wissenschaftslehre (Hackett)
Goethe,
Johann Wolfgang von, Faust Part One, translated by David Luke (Oxford)
Goethe,
Johann Wolfgang von, Faust Part Two, translated by David Luke (Oxford)
Goethe,
Johann Wolfgang von, Sorrows of Young Werther,
translated by Mayer and Bogen (Vintage Classics)
Kant,
Immanuel, Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics, trans. G. Hatfield
(Cambridge)
Kant,
Immanuel, Critique of Judgment, translated by Werner Pluhar (Hackett)
Novalis, Hymns to the Night (McPherson & Co.)
Schleiermacher, Friedrich, On Religion (Cambirdge)
B. Packet of Photocopies: Readings in German Romanticism
(available for purchase in the
C. A helpful guide to the course: Robert J. Richards, The Romantic Conception of Life:
Science and Philosophy in the Age of Goethe (
D. For those who wish to try their hand:
Goethe,
Johann Wolfgang von, Faust, Erster und Zweiter Teil (Deutscher Taschenbuch)
Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von, Die
Kant,
Immanuel, Kritik der
Urteilskraft (Suhrkamp)
Kant,
Immanuel, Prolegomena zu einer
jeden künftigen Metaphysik (Felix Meiner)
Schleiermacher, Friedrich, Ueber
die Religion (Felix Meiner)
II. Requirements:
1. Each student must read all the material under
the heading "texts for discussion."
The recommended reading should also be done, though perhaps with
somewhat less assiduity.
2. On the Wednesday prior to each class during
the two quarters, you should turn to me via email a one-two page essay. The essay should be the answer to a question
you have posed concerning some aspect of the reading for that week. The question might be suggested by the
secondary reading, or by something that seems puzzling in the primary reading. Absolutely no longer than two pages.
3. A 10-20 page paper will be due on December
1st, by
4. At the end of the quarter, there will be a
final take-home exam, with one question:
What constitutes Romantic thought in
5. When
this is offered as a two-quarter course:
during the second quarter, your efforts should be directed toward the
production of a seminar paper. The topic
will be of your own choosing, but you should discuss it with the instructor
before you undertake serious effort. The
seminar paper should embody research done from primary sources in the areas of
philosophy, history, literature, or cultural studies. The paper will be due by noon on Tuesday,
March 26th. Turn your paper into the
secretary in Social Sciences 207. (If you turn it in by March 15th, you will
have a grade on your winter report card).
Be sure to keep copies of all your written work (required).
III. Office hours and
communication
Office
hours will be held in Social Sciences 205 on Tuesdays and Thursdays from
Fall Quarter
I. Introduction
A. Lecture:
Scope and Nature of Romanticism.
B. Recommend reading:
1.
Isaiah
2. Robert Richards, Prologue and chap. 1 of The Romantic Conception of Life. In Selected Readings in German Romanticism.
II. The Prelude: Sturm und Drang
A. Texts for discussion:
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Sorrows of Young Werther.
B. Recommended reading:
1.
Robert Richards, The Romantic Conception of
Life, chap 2, pp. 1-9; chap. 10, pp. 1-48.
In Selected Readings in German Romanticism.
2.
Hans Reiss, ADie Leiden des jungen Werthers,@ Goethe=s
Novels. In Goethe: Secondary
Readings.
III. Kant: The Argument of the First Critique
A. Text for discussion: Immanuel Kant, Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics (1783), Introduction, Preamble, First and Second Parts.
B. Recommended reading:
1.
2. Paul Guyer, "The Transcendental Deduction of the Categories," Cambridge Companion to Kant. In Selected Readings in German Romanticism.
IV. Kant and Herder
A. Texts for discussion:
1. Kant, Prolegomena, Third Part, Conclusion, and Solution.
2. Johann Gottfried von Herder, Reflections on the Philosophy of the History of Mankind (1784-91), in Selected Readings in German Romanticism.
3. Immanuel Kant, "Reviews of Herder's Reflections," in Selected Readings in German Romanticism.
B. Recommended reading:
1. W. Zimmerli, "Evolution or Development? Questions Concerning the Systematic and Historical Position of Herder," in Herder Today, ed. Kurt Mueller-Vollmer, in Selected Readings in German Romanticism.
2. Isaiah Berlin, "The Apotheosis of the Romantic Will," The Crooked Timber of Humanity, in Selected Readings in German Romanticism.
V. Kant's Critique of Judgment: Aesthetic Judgment
A. Texts for discussion: Immanuel Kant, Critique of Judgment, '1-22 (pp. 43-95); '23-29 (pp. 97-126); '30-53 (pp. 141-201).
B. Recommended reading:
1. Werner Pluhar, "Translator's Introduction," in Critique of Judgment, pp. xxiii-lxxi.
2. Eva Schaper, "Taste, Sublimity, and Genius: The Aesthetics of Nature and Art," Cambridge Companion to Kant. In Selected Readings in German Romanticism.
VI. Kant's Critique of Judgment: Teleological Judgment
A. Texts for discussion: Immanuel Kant, Critique of Judgment, '61-88 (pp. 235-349).
B. Recommended reading:
1. Werner Pluhar, "Translator's Introduction," in Critique of Judgment, pp. lxxi-cix.
2. Robert Richards, AKant and Blumenbach on the Bildungstrieb: A Historical Misunderstanding, Stud. Hist. Phil. Biol. &Biomed. Sci, 31 (2000). In Selected Readings in German Romanticism.
VII. Romantic Poetry
A. Texts for discussion:
1.
Selections of Goethe=s
Poetry (mostly from Selected Verse): AMailied@ (p. 7); AWillkommen und Abschied@ (pp. 9-10); AHeidenroselein@ (pp. 10-11); AGanymedA (pp. 15-16); APrometheus@ (pp. 17-19);AWanders Nachlied, I and II@ (pp. 49-50); AAn den Mond@ (two versions, pp.
50-54); @Bin so in Lieb...@ (P. 75); AErlkönig@ (pp. 80-82); AKennst du
das Land . . .@ (pp. 85-86); ANur wer
die Sehnsucht kennt. . .A(p. 87); ARömische Elegien@ (in Selected
Readings in German Romanticism); AMetamorphose der Pflanzen@(pp. 147-51); ANatur und Kunst@ (p. 197); ADas Tagebuch@(pp. 202-211); and AGefunden@ (p. 218).
2. Friedrich von Hardenberg (Novalis), Hymns to the Night
B. Recommended Reading:
1. Richards, Romantic Conception of Life, chap. 2, pp. 9-26; chap. 10, pp. 48-118.
2. Robert Tobin, AIn and Against Nature: Goethe on Homosexuality and Heterosexuality,@ in Outing Goethe and His Age, ed. A. Kuzniar. In Selected Readings in German Romanticism.
VIII.Aesthetic Theory
A. Texts for discussion:
1. Goethe=s Theory of Art: ASimple Immitation, Manner, Style.@ In Selected Readings in German Romanticism.
2. Friedrich Schiller: ANaive and Sentimental Poetry,@ selections. In Selected Readings in German Romanticism.
3. Friedrich Schlegel et al., Athenaeum Fragments (1B6, 22, 34, 116B21, 252, 281). In Selected Readings in German Romanticism.
4. Friedrich Schlegel, Dialogue on Poetry. In Selected Readings in German Romanticism.
B. Recommended reading:
1. Richards, The Romantic Conception of Life, chap. 2, pp. 9-59, 102-107, 124-37; chap. 4; chap. 11, pp. 1-40.
2. Ernst Behler, AThe Theory of Romantic Poetry,@ in his German Romantic Literary Theory. In Selected Readings in German Romanticism.
IX. Fichte: Foundations of Idealism
A. Texts for discussion:
J. G. Fichte, Introductions to the Wissenschaftslehre, pp. 1-105.
B. Recommended Reading:
1.
Robert Richards, ARomantic
Movement,@ pp.
59-102. In
Selected
2. Editor=s AIntroduction@ to Fichte, Introductions to the Wissenschaftslehre, pp. vii-xxxii.
X. Romantic Approach to Religion
A. Text for discussion:
Friedrich Schleiermacher, On Religion, first, second, and third speeches.
B. Recommend reading:
1. Introduction to the Cambridge edition of On Religion
2. Richards, The Romantic Conception of Life, chap. 2, pp. 107-24.
XI. Winter Quarter
XII. Romantic Philosophy: Schelling
A. Text for discussion: Philosophical Letters on Dogmatism and Criticism. In Selected Readings in German Romanticism.
B. Recommended reading: Robert Richards, The Romantic Conception of Life, chap. 3, pp. 1-48. In Selected Readings in German Romanticism.
XIII.Naturphilosohpie: Schelling
A. Text for discussion:
1. Schelling, Ideas for a Philosophy of Nature Preface to 1st (1797) and 2nd (1803) editions, Introduction, Supplement to Introduction, chs 1 and 2 (with supplements) of Book I; ch. 4 (with supplement) of Book II. In Selected Readings in German Romanticism.
2. Schelling, System of Transcendental Idealism, parts 5 and 6. In Selected Readings in German Romanticism.
B. Recommended reading: Richards, The Romantic Conception of Life, chap. 3, pp. 48-118. In Selected Readings in German Romanticism.
XIV. Goethe's Science
A. Texts for discussion: selections from Goethe's On Morphology, in Selected Readings in German Romanticism.
B. Recommend reading:
1. Ernst Cassirer, "Goethe and the Kantian Philosophy," in Selected Readings in German Romanticism.
2. Richards, The Romantic Conception of Life, chap. 11, pp. 40-145.
XV. Vital Forces and the Aesthetics of Science: Johann Friedrich Blumenbach and Alexander von Humboldt
A. Texts for discussion:
1. Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, ABildungstrieb,@ in Elements of Natural History (10 ed., 1820), in Selected Readings in German Romanticism
2. Alexander von Humboldt, "Vital Force, or the Rhodian Genius," Views of Nature (1807; 3rd ed., 1849). In Selected Readings in German Romanticism.
3. Alexander von Humboldt, Cosmos: a Sketch of a Physical Description of the Universe (1844). In Selected Readings in German Romanticism
B. Recommended reading: Michael Dettelbach, AHumboldtian Science,@ in Cultures of Natural History, eds. N. Jardine, et al. In Selected Readings in German Rpmanticism.
XVI. Goethe: Faust, part 1
A. Texts for discussion: Goethe, Faust Part One
B. Recommended reading:
1. Introduction to Part One by David Luke.
2. Remarks by Goethe on his Faust. In Selected Readings in German Romanticism
XVII.Goethe: Faust, Part Two
A. Text for discussion: Goethe, Faust Part Two (scenes 8B10 [to line 7150; 7676B8487], 11, 21B23.
B. Recommended reading:
1. Introduction to Part Two by David Luke
2. Comments by Contemporaries. In Selected Readings in German Romanticism.
3. Richards, The Romantic Conception of Life, chap. 12