Philosophy 3387 American Philosophy Unit One

W Aug. 21 Thoreau and Cavell (lecture)

Recommended readings: Thoreau: Re-read parts of Walden; Selections from Stanley Cavell, The Senses of Walden

M Aug. 26 Emerson (Guest lecture, Professor David Mikics)

Reading Assignment: R.W. Emerson (in Goodman), "Circles," pp. 22-33

W Aug. 28 Cavell on Emerson

Reading Assignment: Stanley Cavell (in Goodman), "Thinking of Emerson"

Lecture Notes

M Sept. 2 (No Class--Labor Day)

W Sept. 4 West on Emerson

Reading Assignment: Cornel West, Ch. 1, "The Emersonian Prehistory of American Pragmatism," pp. 9-41.

M Sept. 9 Unit One Essay Due: See topic below.

Assignments

1. A short (5-7 page) take-home exam essay on Emerson.

Discuss the following claim:

Emerson is seen very differently by Stanley Cavell and Cornel West. West treats Emerson as an "organic intellectual" who launches the American "evasion" of philosophy. Cavell treats Emerson as a philosopher akin to Wittgenstein or Heidegger, someone who philosophizes about "the logic or epistemology of moods."

2. Each student must make at least one contribution to a collaborative class World Wide Web Project for Unit One. Details will be discussed in class. The Web project for Unit One will include information on figures and topics such as: Thoreau; Emerson; American Transcendentalism; Transcendentalism and Eastern Philosophy; The Alcotts; Brook Farm; Margaret Fuller; related American authors (Hawthorne, Melville).