关于此课程： This course examines how the idea of "the modern" develops at the end of the 18th century in European philosophy and literature, and how being modern (or progressive, or hip) became one of the crucial criteria for understanding and evaluating cultural change. Are we still in modernity, or have we moved beyond the modern to the postmodern?
授课大纲
第 1 周
Course Pages
“The Modern and the Postmodern Part I” covers the first half of a full semester course on European history, literature and philosophy. We begin with Immanuel Kant and Jean Jacques Rousseau and conclude with Friedrich Nietzsche and Charles Baudelaire and a very quick look at painting at the time they wrote. Although in the final week themes of postmodernism begin to emerge, a discussion of how modernism becomes postmodernism is at the heart of Part II of this course.
2 阅读材料
- Reading: Syllabus
- Reading: Course Logistics
Philosophy, Modernity, and Intellectual History
Why is philosophy relevant to modernity?
Through reading Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Immanuel Kant, we examine philosophy as a reflection on modernity and progress.
2 视频, 1 阅读材料
- Reading: Philosophy and Modernity -- Kant
- 视频: Philosophy, Modernity, and Intellectual History I
- 视频: Philosophy, Modernity, and Intellectual History II
第 2 周
What is Enlightenment?
Using Rousseau’s Discourse on the Origins of Inequality, we study how the pursuit of knowledge is related to the politics of inequality.
4 视频, 1 阅读材料
- Reading: What is Enlightenment?--Rousseau
- 视频: What is Enlightenment? I
- 视频: What is Enlightenment? II
- 视频: What is Enlightenment? III
- 视频: What is Enlightenment? IV
第 3 周
From Enlightenment to Revolution
Karl Marx is our focus here as we move from a consideration of ideas to a confrontation with alienation, class struggle and revolution.
5 视频, 1 阅读材料
- Reading: From Enlightenment to Revolution--Marx
- 视频: From Enlightenment to Revolution I
- 视频: From Enlightenment to Revolution II
- 视频: From Enlightenment to Revolution III
- 视频: From Enlightenment to Revolution IV
- 视频: From Enlightenment to Revolution V
已评分: First Writing Assignment
第 4 周
Modernism and Art for Art's Sake
We read Flaubert’s Madame Bovary as a reflection on convention, stupidity and art in the wake of the failures of mid-19th century revolution.
4 视频, 1 阅读材料
- Reading: Modernism and Art for Art's Sake--Flaubert
- 视频: Modernism and Art for Art's Sake I
- 视频: Modernism and Art for Art's Sake II
- 视频: Modernism and Art for Art's Sake III
- 视频: Modernism and Art for Art's Sake IV
已评分: Second Writing Assignment
第 5 周
Re-imagining the World
We situate Charles Darwin’s great achievement in the context of the English Enlightenment traditions and reimaging the world without a goal for change.
4 视频, 1 阅读材料
- Reading: Re-imagining the World--Darwin
- 视频: Re-imagining the World I
- 视频: Re-imagining the World II
- 视频: Re-imagining the World III
- 视频: Re-imagining the World IV
第 6 周
From Struggle to Intensity
Through an examination of Charles Baudelaire and Friedrich Nietzsche, we focus on an aesthetic embrace of intensity instead of search for the “really real.”
6 视频, 1 阅读材料
- Reading: From Struggle to Intensity--Baudelaire and Nietzsche
- 视频: From Struggle to Intensity I
- 视频: From Struggle to Intensity II
- 视频: From Struggle to Intensity III
- 视频: From Struggle to Intensity IV
- 视频: From Struggle to Intensity V
- 视频: From Struggle to Intensity VI
已评分: Third Writing Assignment
第 7 周
Paintings
A Quick Survey of how advanced painting moved toward a consideration of the surface of the canvas and away from a quest for the most realistic representation of the world.
2 视频
- 视频: Paintings I
- 视频: Paintings II
常见问题解答
运作方式
Coursework
Each course is like an interactive textbook, featuring pre-recorded videos, quizzes and projects.
Help from Your Peers
Connect with thousands of other learners and debate ideas, discuss course material, and get help mastering concepts.
Certificates
Earn official recognition for your work, and share your success with friends, colleagues, and employers.
制作方
Wesleyan University
At Wesleyan, distinguished scholar-teachers work closely with students, taking advantage of fluidity among disciplines to explore the world with a variety of tools. The university seeks to build a diverse, energetic community of students, faculty, and staff who think critically and creatively and who value independence of mind and generosity of spirit.
评分和审阅
Starting this course coincided with my having to stay at home due to a cold. I became so engrossed that staying in and studying was not only a palliative measure for cabin fever ennui but actually what I really wanted to be doing. As a result I finished the course well before its deadline. I appreciated having Professor Roth describe the perspectives of all these different thinkers so clearly, so simply, so intelligently. His enthusiasm was contagious. All the references to texts were really helpful. The course also gave me the opportunity to read texts I never normally would have done. I am already on to The Modern and the Postmodern Part II. Thank you, great experience.
5+ Highly recommended! Interesting, informative, and very well presented!
El curso está muy completo y el lenguaje es bastante claro
Very interesting subject matter, and the course was well organized and accessible. Would recommend taking the course to those interested in late Western philosophy.