Some of the best political theory of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries has appeared in novels. Apparently, there are great minds and keen observers of the human condition who find it easier to seek truth in the form of the story than in the medium of philosophic writing. This course will let such thinkers lead a search for the fundamental verities of order and disorder. It will ask whether poetic insight can illuminate the right way of life, and whether it can diagnose the nature and causes of mankind's ills. The course also will examine studies of order and disorder that have been produced in different cultures, trying to ascertain what in these cultures is peculiar to them and what is universal.
Achebe, Things Fall Apart, Conrad, Nostromo; Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov; Solzhenitsyn, The Cancer Ward, Bellow, Mr. Sammler's Planet.
It is necessary to attend all of the classes to do well in the course. Repeated absences will have natural consequences, in the sense that they almost certainly will cause students to do poorly on examinations, to fail to achieve distinction in class discussion, and to receive low grades. This will occur automatically, so the instructor will not have to take role more than occasionally.
Students will prepare the reading assignments listed below for class discussion. There will be three papers, the first on Achebe and Conrad, the second on Dostoyevsky, and the third on Solzhenitsyn and Bellow. The papers will be due approximately after each third of the course, as determined in consultations between the instructor and the class.
Papers will be graded on the basis of the quality of their reasoning, their mastery of information (as displayed not only in knowledge of texts and factual accuracy, but in intelligent selection of texts and data for use in discussion of problems), their elegance of style, and their grammatical correctness. Each is worth 33% of the course grade. Effective class participation will result in upward adjustment of grades earned on the papers.
Achebe, all.
Conrad, pp. 1-248.
Conrad, pp. 249-end.
Dostoyevsky, Part 1.
Dostoyevsky, Part 2.
Dostoyevsky, Part 3.
Dostoyevsky, Part 4.
Solzhenitsyn, The Cancer Ward, all.
Bellow, all.
Each paper will be an essay no longer than 2000 words. In consultation with the instructor, the student will select and analyze passages from the texts under consideration. The analysis has these tasks: (1) Select passages that focus on one fundamental problem of order. (2) Analyze the authors' presentation of the problem. What is wrong? What are the causes of the malady? What cures are suggested? (3) Explain how the authors' analyses guide us in our own search for truth. (Reason this section especially carefully. It is the part of the essay that best shows the student's ability to carry an inquiry beyond the mere recitation of texts and lecture notes.)
