POSC 108 POSTMODERN POLITICS

Fall 2001 Rhodes WW 448 83420 MWF 9-10, 2-3

THE COURSE: After 1988, westerners rejoiced to see the fall of the totalitarian regimes of central Europe and the Soviet Union. However, in the midst of the Czech revolution against communism, Vaclac Havel argued that both west and east were suffering a common spiritual ailment, which he called alienation. This suggested that the totalitarianism that has passed away was only one manifestation of a deeper crisis of modern mankind. Havel might have been right, for the succeeding years have witnessed increased desire for the establishment of a "postmodern" way of life. This course will examine the relations among alienation, modern life, and the postmodern yearning. It will assume that the greatest spiritual diagnostician of modern times was Nietzsche. It will begin with him, turn next to two of the most important postmodern writers, and finally look at Havel's warnings.

BOOKS TO BE PURCHASED: Havel, Disturbing the Peace; Havel, (article) Power of the Powerless (a paper to be purchased from PoSc Department); Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy; Kaufmann (ed.), The Portable Nietzsche; Rabinow (ed.), The Foucault Reader, Rosen, Hermeneutics as Politics.

ATTENDANCE: Normally, one must attend all of the class sessions to do well in the course. Repeated absences will have natural consequences, in the sense that they certainly will cause students to do poorly on papers, to fail to achieve distinction in class discussions, and, hence, to receive low grades. This will occur automatically, so the instructor will not have to take role more than occasionally.

REQUIREMENTS: Students will prepare readings assigned below for class discussion. The readings are difficult. They cannot be skimmed. Understanding will come only with careful study and reflection. The instructor will announce when the various readings should be completed. There will be two papers, the topics and dates of which will be determined by discussions between the instructor and the class.

GRADING: Papers will be expected to display cogent reasoning, mastery of information (factual accuracy, knowledge of arguments, and appropriate selection of texts and data for use in the analysis of problems), elegance of style, and grammatical correctness. Each paper will count for 50% of the course grade, and excellent class participation will be weighed as "extra credit" that might raise grade averages.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

(1) Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy, all.

(2) Portable Nietzsche, in The Gay Science: The Madman (95-96); Thus Spoke Zarathustra: Zarathustra's Prologue (121-137); Nietzsche contra Wagner: Epilogue (680-683); Thus Spoke Zarathustra: On the Three Metamorphoses (137-140).

(3) Zarathustra, On the Teachers of Virtue (140-142); On the Afterworldly (142-146); On the Despisers of the Body (146-149); On the Pale Criminal (149-152); On the Preachers of Death (156-158); On the Friend (167-169); On the Thousand and One Goals (170-172).

(4) Zarathustra, On Love of the Neighbor (172-174); On Little Old and Young Women (177-179); On Child and Marriage (181-183); On the Gift-Giving Virtue (186-191); Upon the Blessed Isles (197-200); On Self-Overcoming (225-228); On Redemption (249-254); The Stillest Hour (257-260); On the Vision and the Riddle (262-272); On the Higher Man (398-408).

(5) Zarathustra, On War and Warriors (158-160); On the New Idol (160-163); On the Flies of the Market Place (163-166); On the Rabble (208-211); On the Tarantulas (211-214); On Great Events (241-245); The Night Song (217-219).

(6) Portable Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols, all.

(7) Foucault, pp. 32-100, 170-187, 258-272, 333-339.

(8) Rosen, intro, chs. 1, 2, 3, 5.

(9) Havel, Power of the Powerless.

(10) Havel, Disturbing the Peace.

PAPER INSTRUCTIONS

Each paper will be an essay no longer than 1800 words. Students will write on topics and follow outlines provided by the instructor. The essays will have these tasks: (1) Identify the question that the philosophers raise in the passages mentioned, and explain why it is problematic. The question posed by the instructor will begin this work, but not complete it. (2) Analyze the reasoning about the question that the philosophers offer. (What are the assumptions? What are the arguments? To what evidence do the arguments appeal? What difficulties might render the assumptions or the arguments unacceptable, and how do the philosophers handle them?) (3) With regard to what is problematic in the question, explain how the philosophers' arguments guide us in our own search for truth. (Reason this section especially carefully. This section best shows the student's ability to carry an inquiry beyond recitation of text and lecture notes.)