Reading the Enlightenment; Knowledge, Politics and the Good Life from Shakespeare to Goethe

(4 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

The Enlightenment (roughly the 17th - 18th centuries) has been celebrated as the birth of the modern world, the dawning of an age of reason that cast off the dogmatism and superstition of the past. Yet it has also been castigated for its hubris, prejudice, and narrow-minded rationalism. In this course, you will have the opportunity to examine the foundations of modern European thought for yourself by reading, analyzing, and discussing some of the Enlightenment's greatest texts. Authors include William Shakespeare, Francis Bacon, René Descartes, Thomas Hobbes, Blaise Pascal, Jonathan Swift, David Hume, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, Adam Smith, Immanuel Kant, Thomas Malthus, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Jane Austen, and Johann von Goethe. Under the direction of a seminar leader, students study and discuss a range of major texts from the period of the Enlightenment, chosen on the basis of their enduring value and considerable influence on the subsequent Western Tradition. Through the reading of selected "Great Books", students will acquire a broad intellectual background while developing their abilities to read texts critically, formulate articulate and thoughtful arguments, and communicate effectively.