Modernity, Politics, and Philosophy

This seminar will explore the idea of the "end of modernity" or of "postmodernism" from the standpoint of certain classic themes of philosophy (e.g., the nature of rationality, the self, the unity of the world) as well as from the standpoint of the prospects of philosophy itself as a practice.  The thesis around which the readings and discussions will be organized will be that important critics of modernity and of modern philosophy have undermined their critical aims by failing to pose the problem of modernity and philosophy in adequate political terms.  But to make this argument, an appropriate notion of politics must be developed in a way that makes its philosophical dimensions and social implications explicit.  We will discuss aspects of such a notion in relation to discussions that are apolitical, antipolitical, or that claim to reflect in ways that are deeper than politics.  In our attempt to develop this idea we will be exploring arguments and claims of Marx, Nietzsche, Adorno, Habermas, Lyotard, Rorty, Heidegger, and Derrida.
 

Texts:

Baynes, Bohman, and McCarthy, eds., After Philosophy: End or Transformation?  (AP)
Marx and Engels, Communist Manifesto
Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols
Adorno, Minima Moralia
Bernstein, ed., Habermas and Modernity  (HM)
Seidman, ed., Habermas on Society and Politics: A Reader  (HSP)
Heidegger, Basic Writings
 

Course Outline:

 I.  Themes and Background

Sept. 24 1.  Introduction to course themes:  the idea of modernity, its analysis and critique, its relation to rationality as understood by modern philosophy, the challenge to philosophy, the historical role of politics in the modern world;  key terms:  world, public, politics, the social, the division of labor, enlightenment.  Marx's critique of the modern world and the project of critique in general.
 
  Readings:  Marx and Engels, Communist Manifesto

Oct. 1 2.  Nietzsche's "anti-political" critique of modernity:  interpretation and the formation of persons;  history without direction, the critique of illusions; the place of intellectuals in the critique of modernity;  culture and politics;  comparison of Marx and Nietzsche.

  Readings:  Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols

Oct. 8 3.  Approaches to politics in and against modernity:  rethinking of critical theory, commonalities between Marx and Nietzsche, the notion of the public sphere and the place within it of intellectual practices.

  Readings:  Habermas, "The Public Sphere" (HPS); Wellmer, "Reason, Utopia, and the Dialectic of Enlightenment"  (HM); Adorno, selections from Minima Moralia, sections 22, 49, 60,61,72, (language:) 64,65,90, (individuals:) 88, 97, 99, 120, (exchange:) 125

 II.  Postmodernist Claims and Counterclaims

Oct. 15 4.  Postmodernist arguments:  the idea of postmodernity, the critique of modern philosophical foundationalism, issues about reflection, the unity of experience and the world, the implications for political understanding, claims about contemporary society.
 
  Readings:  Lyotard, "The Postmodern Condition" (AP); Rorty, "Pragmatism and Philosophy" (AP);  Habermas, "The Crisis of the Welfare State and the Exhaustion of Utopian Energies" (HPS)

Oct. 22 5.  Thinking about postmodernism in social and political terms; postmodernism and knowledge/power; identifying outstanding issues.
 
  Readings:  Habermas, "Philosophy as Stand-In and Interpreter" (AP), and  "Neoconservative Cultural Criticism in the US and West Germany" (HM);  Rorty, "Habermas and Lyotard on Postmodernity"  (HM);  Habermas, "Questions and Counterquestions" (HM);  Adorno, section 50

          III.  Issues about Modernity:  Humanism and Technology

Oct. 29 6.  Issues about humanism and its presuppositions; questions about the relation between political and philosophical reflection;  are certain kinds of philosophy "deeper" than politics?
 
  Readings:  Heidegger,  "Letter on Humanism";  Derrida, "The Ends of Man" (AP);  Adorno, sections 18, 39, 40, 53, 55, 57, 58, 59, 66, 146

Nov. 5 7.  Modernity, science, and action;  competing critiques of technology;  philosophical relevance of the idea of the division of labor; subject/object, reification, culture and the relation between society and nature.

  Readings:  Heidegger, "The Question Concerning Technology";  Habermas, "Technology and Science as "Ideology" (HPS);  Adorno, sections 19, 20, 76, 77, 85, 91, 139, 146

Nov. 12 8. Issues about the form and scope of philosophical reflection;   philosophy in historical context and as a historical activity.
 
  Readings: Heidegger, "The End of Philosophy and the Task of Thinking";  Adorno, sections (thought:) 79, 80, 81, 82, 92, 126, 127, (intellectuals:) 8, 63, 83, 86, 132, 147, (philosophical reflection:) 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 98, (irony:) 134

 
 IV.  Historical Formation, Aesthetic Reflection, and Politics

Nov. 19 9.  Seeking historical terms for philosophical and political reflection;  philosophical reflection and the question of agency and experience in the context of structural change.

  Readings:  Habermas, "The Tasks of a Critical Theory of Society" (HPS) and  "What Does a Crisis Mean Today?  Legitimation Problems in Late Capitalism"  (HPS);  Adorno, sections (culture industry:) 71, 129, 130, 131

Nov. 26 10.  Issues about philosophy as a historically self-conscious practice;  politics, aesthetics and the relation to modernity.
 
  Readings:  Adorno, sections 94, 96, 124, 136, 137, 140, 141, 144, 145, 100, 153
 

Course requirements:

 Occasional study questions, a short class report, and a term paper.  The study questions are meant to provide a starting point for class discussion.  I will read and comment on answers to these for anyone who wishes to hand some in.  The short report will concern sections from our shared readings, or a discussion of related background texts, and will count 25% of the grade;  a written version is due the day of presentation.  Students are encouraged to propose their own report ideas, e.g., on themes or authors related to the course or on issues to be pursued in their term papers.  The term paper will cover some theme from the course;  a list of possible topics will be provided, but students are free to develop their own topic.  A one page summary of the planned paper will be due Nov. 12.  The paper itself will be due Wednesday, Dec. 5 at 5 pm.  Class participation and optional study questions will be considered for the final grade, but the term paper will be the main basis for the grade.

Office hours:

 Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1:30 to 3:00, or by appointment

 117 A Morrill Hall                          phone:  353-9391
                                                          355-4490 (messages)