Phil 333 Sec. 01 American Philosophy MWF 10-10:50 SCI 112
Prof. David Vessey Office Hours: MWF 11-12 (caf)
dvesssey@neiu.edu MW 1-2:30 (office)
and by appointment
In this course we will be reading the works of a group of
philosophers who saw themselves as doing explicitly American philosophy, that
is, philosophy that embodies the ethos and intellectual values of the United
States. The main philosophers we will
read will be the American Pragmatists Charles Sanders Peirce, William James,
and John Dewey. Pragmatism remains the only uniquely American philosophy, even
thought it was influenced by nineteenth century German philosophy and,
especially, Darwin. In addition we
will read to thinkers who tried to apply pragmatism to the central social
issues of the day: William James' student W.E.B DuBois, and John Dewey's
collaborator (and Chicago's own) Jane Addams. Finally we will look at three
thinkers who are reviving the main themes of pragmatism as a critique of
contemporary philosophical practice, Richard Rorty, Richard Bernstein, and
Hilary Putnam.
This will be a discussion based course with lectures filling
in the background necessary for the evaluation of the readings. To facilitate
discussions, there will be weekly two-page papers (double-spaced, 12pt.
Times/New Roman, 1" margins) due every Monday. Since these papers are to
facilitate discussion there is no point in handing them in late. The papers
will be graded A, B, C, F and only the highest seven grades will be counted in
the final grade. The focus of the course is a larger research paper (8 pages) a
presentation draft of which is due the Monday before Thanksgiving break. For
this paper everyone will pick an issue or figure in American pragmatism of particular
interest to him/her. In keeping with the emphasis on discussion, the student
will formally present the paper and we will discuss these papers as a class for
the last two weeks of the course. A revision of the paper based on the class
comments is due at the time of the final exam. The typo policy applies to all
graded, written work. As a minimum standard for university level writing, all
work submitted for a grade should be well proofread and must be one's own work.
For every four typos the grade will be lowered one step (i.e. A- to B+); typos
include spelling errors, grammatical errors, improper use of gendered pronouns,
and failure to properly reference quotations. Failure to properly reference is
different from plagiarizing. Plagiarism is a sign that one has so lost track of
their proper role as a student that there is no point in them continuing in the
class (much less in college) at this point in their lives. Finally since
discussion is the focus of the class (and discussions can not be made up if
missed) attendance and participation are central parts of the grade for the
class. It is always expected that the student will have read and digested the
material before coming to class and will come to class with a hard copy of the
reading to refer to during discussion. The daily attendance and participation
grade is: F-Absent; D-Present but unprepared (either not having read it, not
having brought it to class, or both); C-Present, prepared, but not
participating in discussion; B-Present and participating in discussion;
A-Present and significantly contributing to discussion.
Grade Breakdown:
Attendance and Participation: 25%
Weekly Papers: 35%
Presentation: 10%
Presentation Draft: 10%
Final Research Paper: 20%
1. Mon. Aug. 29 Introductions
2. Wed. Aug. 31 Emerson "Self-Reliance"
3. Fri. Sept. 2 Emerson "Experience"
Paper 1 Due
Mon. Sept. 5 No Class/Labor Day
4. Wed. Sept. 7 Dewey "Philosophy and Civilization"
5. Fri. Sept. 9 Emerson "American Scholar"
6. Mon. Sept. 12 Peirce "The Fixation of Belief"
Paper 2 Due
7. Wed. Sept. 14 Peirce "How to Make our Ideas Clear"
8. Fri. Sept. 16 Peirce "What Pragmatism Is"
9. Mon. Sept. 19 Peirce "Pragmaticism"
Paper 3 Due
10. Wed. Sept. 21 James "The Self"
11. Fri. Sept. 23 James "Stream
of Thought"
12. Mon. Sept. 26 James "Dilemma
of Determinism"
Paper 4 Due
13. Wed. Sept. 28 James "What Pragmatism Means"
14. Fri. Sept. 30 James "Pragmatism's Conception of Truth"
15. Mon. Oct. 3 James "Will to Believe"
Paper 5 Due
16. Wed. Oct. 5 James "Moral
Philosopher and the Moral Life"
17. Fri. Oct. 7 James "Conclusion" Varieties of Religious Experience
18. Mon. Oct. 10 James "The World of Pure Experience"
Paper 6 Due
19. Wed. Oct. 12 Dewey "The Reflex Arc Concept in Philosophy"
20. Fri. Oct. 14 Dewey "Does Reality Posses Practical Character?"
21. Mon. Oct. 17 Dewey "The Pattern of Inquiry"
Paper 7 Due
22. Wed. Oct. 19 Dewey "Having an Experience"
23. Fri. Oct. 21 Dewey No Class
24. Mon. Oct. 24 Dewey "Aims in Education", "Natural Development and Social
Efficiency as Aims"
Paper 8 Due
25. Wed. Oct 26 Dewey "Search
for the Great Community"
26. Fri. Oct 28 Dewey "I Believe", "Creative Democracy—The Task Before Us"
27. Mon. Oct 31 DuBois Souls of Black Folk, Chp. 1
Research Paper Proposal Due
28. Wed. Nov. 2 DuBois Souls of Black Folk, Chps.2 & 3
29. Fri. Nov. 4 DuBois "Souls of White Folk"
30. Mon. Nov. 7 Addams Long Road of Women's Memory, Chps 1, 2 & 6
Paper 9 Due
31. Wed. Nov. 9 Addams "Subjective Necessity of Social Settlements"; "The Objective
Value of Social Settlements"
32. Fri. Nov. 11 Addams "Charitable Effort"
33. Mon. Nov. 14 Addams "A Modern Lear"
Paper 10 Due
34. Wed. Nov. 16 Rorty "Pragmatism,
Relativism, Irrationalism"
35. Fri. Nov. 18 Rorty "Solidarity and Objectivity"
36. Mon. Nov. 21 Bernstein "Pragmatism, Pluralism, and the Healing of Wounds"
Research Paper Due
37. Wed. Nov. 23 Putnam "Pragmatism and the Contemporary Debate"
THANKSGIVING
38. Mon. Nov. 28 Presentations
39. Wed. Nov. 30 Presentations
40. Fri. Dec. 2 Presentations
41. Mon. Dec. 5 Presentations
42. Wed. Dec. 7 Presentations
43. Fri. Dec. 9 Presentations
44. Mon. Dec. 12 Conclusions and Evaluations