HARVARD UNIVERSITY
HISTSCI 166*
!
"What is Enlightenment?": Science, Religion, and the Making of Modernity
!
Fall 2014
Mondays, 01:00 - 03:00 p.m.
Science Center 252
!
Soha Bayoumi, PhD
Email: [email protected]
Office hours: Wed. 3-5, Science Center 361
!
Introduction and course goals
From Immanuel Kant's answer to this question in 1784 to Michel Foucault's engagement
with the same question and answer in 1984, two centuries had passed and a lot of water had
flown under the bridge. From the
inception of its ideals in the AngloSaxon world in the seventeenth
century at the hands of Spinoza, John
Locke and Isaac Newton, to its
development in France in the
eighteenth century by Voltaire,
Montesquieu and Rousseau and
culmination with the writings of
Immanuel Kant, the Enlightenment
developed into an important intellectual movement which helped shape modernity and its
repercussions in the contemporary world. This course will trace the history of Enlightenment in
primary sources, enriched by a collection of secondary readings, and will explore contemporary
*
Offered jointly with the Divinity School as HDS 3302. This is a preliminary version of the syllabus,
adapted from last year’s offering. Final version may be slightly modified.
reflections on Enlightenment from various schools of thought ranging from Marxism to
feminism and postmodernism. The course will address the themes of reason and rationality,
science and knowledge, religion and religious institutions, tolerance and intolerance, ethics and
morality.
Course policies
Participation is key in this course. Therefore, students are asked to do the readings
before the class and write at least one question on each reading on the course’s online
discussion board. Questions are meant to show students’ engagement with the readings. They
should ideally be conducive to class discussion. Students are encouraged to read the questions
asked by their fellow students before coming to class and and be ready for discussion. The online
discussion board is also available for further participation by students if they wish to additionally
contribute, in a written format, to class discussions, by posting their own thoughts on the subjects
and readings discussed, or by linking to interesting and relevant online materials.
We will also set a schedule according to which one or more students will present on the
readings (for 10-15 minutes each) every session and one or more other students will respond to
the presentation(s) (for 5-10 minutes each), in order to create a lively discussion in the class.
Presenters and discussants should meet, share notes or otherwise coordinate with one another
prior to class. These different forms of participation aim at enriching the reading, understanding
and debating of the materials the course will deal with. In addition to their final project, students
are required to submit three written assignments throughout the semester.
!
Assignments and evaluation
Grades are divided as follows: attendance (5%), in-class participation (5%), questions
posted on the online discussion board (10%), presentations and responses (10%), response paper
10%, object biography 10%, destination exercise 10%, final project 40%.
Notes on a primary source: 2-4 pages, choose a primary source text, either one that is
included in our course readings, or a related text. Discuss the author, the time when the text was
written, the purpose for producing the text and its main arguments and methods.
2
“Mine an archive!”: 2-4 pages, locate an archive: be it an online archive (using
Harvard’s e-resources or other tools), or an “offline” archive in the Harvard library system, in the
Boston area (or elsewhere if you so wish!) Search for materials from the 18th century that relate
to some of the topics we discuss in class. Choose one and write about it: it can be a book, a
manuscript, a map, etc.
Destination report: 2-4 pages, choose a destination in search of a 20th- or 21st-century
place or object (texts, maps, artworks, audiovisual materials, etc.) that evokes the enlightenment
and write about what you’ve found and its relevance to our course.
The final project can take a variety of forms: a term paper, a website, an artwork, a film,
etc. (previous final projects even included designing computer software and baking cakes!) If
you choose a non-paper format for your final project, you are asked to accompany it with a 2-5
page narrative as well as a bibliography. Term papers are 10-12 for undergraduate students or
15-20 pages for graduate students (double-spaced, 12 font, and 1-inch margins). Before
embarking on your final project, you are encouraged get in touch with your instructor to discuss
its topic and format.
Syllabus
!
1. Introduction to the Course: What Is Enlightenment? (September 8)
Kant, Immanuel. “An Answer to the Question: What Is Enlightenment?” (1784), in
Schmidt, James. What Is Enlightenment?: Eighteenth-Century Answers and Twentieth-Century
Questions. University of California Press, 1996, pp. 58-64. Mendelssohn, Moses. “On the Question: What Is Enlightenment” (1784), in Schmidt,
James. What Is Enlightenment?: Eighteenth-Century Answers and Twentieth-Century Questions.
University of California Press, 1996, pp. 53-57.
Schmidt, James. What Is Enlightenment?: Eighteenth-Century Answers and Twentieth-
Century Questions. University of California Press, 1996, pp. 1-44.
!
3
2. The Politics of the Enlightenment and the Creation of a Public Sphere
(September 15)
Klein, Ernst Ferdinand. “On Freedom of Thought and of the Press: For Princes,
Ministers, and Writers” (1784), in Schmidt, James. What Is Enlightenment?: Eighteenth-Century
Answers and Twentieth-Century Questions. University of California Press, 1996, pp. 87-96.
Bahrdt, Carl Friedrich. “On Freedom of the Press and Its Limits: For Consideration by
Rulers, Censors, and Writers” (1787), in Schmidt, James. What Is Enlightenment?: EighteenthCentury Answers and Twentieth-Century Questions. University of California Press, 1996, pp.
97-113.
Fichte, Johann Gottlieb. “Reclamation of the Freedom of Thought from the Princes of
Europe, Who Have Oppressed It Until Now” (1793), in Schmidt, James. What Is
Enlightenment?: Eighteenth-Century Answers and Twentieth-Century Questions. University of
California Press, 1996, pp. 119-142.
Moser, Friedrich Karl von. “Publicity” (1792), in Schmidt, James. What Is
Enlightenment?: Eighteenth-Century Answers and Twentieth-Century Questions. University of
California Press, 1996, pp. 114-118.
Moser, Friedrich Karl von. “True and False Political Enlightenment” (1792), in Schmidt,
James. What Is Enlightenment?: Eighteenth-Century Answers and Twentieth-Century Questions.
University of California Press, 1996, pp. 212-216.
Teiftrunk, Johann Heinrich. “On the Influence of Enlightenment on Revolutions” (1794),
in Schmidt, James. What Is Enlightenment?: Eighteenth-Century Answers and Twentieth-Century
Questions. University of California Press, 1996, pp. 217-224.
Bergk, Johann Adam. “Does Enlightenment Cause Revolutions” (1795), in Schmidt,
James. What Is Enlightenment?: Eighteenth-Century Answers and Twentieth-Century Questions.
University of California Press, 1996, pp. 225-232.
Laursen, John Christian. “The Subversive Kant: The Vocabulary of ‘Public’ and
‘Publicity’”, in Schmidt, James. What Is Enlightenment?: Eighteenth-Century Answers and
Twentieth-Century Questions. University of California Press, 1996, pp. 253-269.
!
!
4
3. The Age of Reason: Between Rationalism and Empiricism (September 22)
“Notes on a primary source” due
Descartes, René. Meditation V: Of the Essence of Material Things; And, Again, of God;
That He Exists. http://www.wright.edu/~charles.taylor/descartes/meditation5.html Locke, John. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Prometheus Books, 1994, pp.
59-70
Kant, Immanuel. Critique of Pure Reason. P. F. Collier and son, 1901, pp. 43-52
Cassirer, Ernst. The Philosophy of the Enlightenment. Edited by James P. Pettegrove.
Translated by Fritz C. A. Koelin. Princeton University Press, 1968, pp. 3-36.
!
4. Teaching and Learning: Schools, Universities and the Book Industry
(September 29)
Helvétius, Claude-Adrien. A Treatise on Man, His Intellectual Faculties and His
Education: A Posthumous Work of M. Helvetius. Translated from the French, with Additional
Notes, by W. Hooper, printed for B. Law and G. Robinson, 1777, pp. 1-10.
Gay, Peter. The Enlightenment: An Interpretation : The Science of Freedom. W. W. Norton
& Company, 1996, pp. 497-528.
Gill, Natasha. Educational Philosophy in the French Enlightenment: From Nature to
Second Nature. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2010, pp. 23-34, 65-72.
Melton, James Van Horn. The Rise of the Public in Enlightenment Europe. Cambridge
University Press, 2001, pp. 79-122
Andrew, Edward. Patrons of Enlightenment. University of Toronto Press, 2006, pp.
35-58.
!
5. Science and Knowledge (October 6)
Frängsmyr, Tore. “The Mathematical Philosophy”, in Frängsmyr, Tore, J. L. Heilbron,
and Robin E. Rider. The Quantifying Spirit in the Eighteenth Century. University of California
Press, 1990, pp. 27-45.
5
Heilbron, J. L. “The Measure of Enlightenment”, in Frängsmyr, Tore, J. L. Heilbron, and
Robin E. Rider. The Quantifying Spirit in the Eighteenth Century. University of California Press,
1990, pp. 207-242.
Gay, Peter. The Enlightenment: An Interpretation : The Science of Freedom. W. W. Norton
& Company, 1996, pp. 126-140, 319-343.
!
6. Religion and Faith (October 20)
“Mine an archive” due
Byrne, James M. Religion and the Enlightenment: From Descartes to Kant. Wesminster
John Knox Press, 1996, pp. 1-26.
Gay, Peter. The Enlightenment: The Rise of Modern Paganism. W. W. Norton &
Company, 1995, pp. 212-226.
Sheehan, Jonathan. “Enlightenment, Religion, and the Enigma of Secularization: A
Review Essay.” The American Historical Review 108, no. 4 (October 1, 2003), pp. 1061–1080.
!
7. Toleration: Philosophical and Political Concerns (October 27)
Gay, Peter. The Enlightenment: An Interpretation : The Science of Freedom. W. W. Norton
& Company, 1996, pp. 398-406.
Grell, Ole Peter, and Roy Porter. Toleration in Enlightenment Europe. Cambridge
University Press, 2006, pp. 1-22.
Rosenthal, Michael A. “Spinoza on Why the Sovereign Can Command Men’s Tongues
But Not Their Minds”, in Williams, Melissa S. and Jeremy Valdron. Toleration and Its Limits.
Nomos, 2008, pp. 54-77.
Forst, Rainer. “Pierre Bayle’s Reflexive Theory of Toleration”, in Williams, Melissa S.
and Jeremy Waldron. Toleration and Its Limits. Nomos, 2008, pp. 78-113.
Tuckness, Alex. “Locke’s Main Argument for Toleration”, in Williams, Melissa S. and
Jeremy Waldron. Toleration and Its Limits, Nomos. 2008, pp. 114-138.
Spinoza, Benedictus de. Theologico-Political Treatise (Chapter XX). 1673: http://
www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/992/pg992.html
6
Bayle, Pierre. A Philosophical Commentary on These Words of the Gospel, Luke 14.23,
‘Compel Them to Come In, That My House May Be Full’. 1686 (Chapter XI): http://
oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=163&Itemid=27
Locke, John. A Letter Concerning Toleration. 1689: http://www.constitution.org/jl/
tolerati.htm
Voltaire. Treatise on Tolerance (excerpts). 1763: http://www.constitution.org/volt/
tolerance.htm
!
8. Enlightenment Ethics and the Building of a New Morality (November 3)
Berman, Marshall. The Politics of Authenticity: Radical Individualism and the Emergence
of Modern Society. New ed. Verso, 2009, pp. 163-199.
Schneewind, Jerome B. The Invention of Autonomy: A History of Modern Moral
Philosophy. Cambridge University Press, 1997, pp. 483-530.
!
9. Enemies of the Enlightenment?: The “Counter-Enlightenment Movement”
(November 10)
Berlin, Isaiah. Three Critics of the Enlightenment: Vico, Hamann, Herder. Edited by
Henry Hardy. First ed. Princeton University Press, 2000, pp. 255-358.
Fleischacker, Samuel. What is Enlightenment? Routledge, 2013, pp. 43-57.
!
10. Beyond Enlightenment: Contemporary Responses to the Enlightenment I.
Marxist Schools (November 17)
“Destination report” due Hook, Sidney. “The Enlightenment and Marxism.” Journal of the History of Ideas 29, no.
1 (January 1, 1968), pp. 93–108.
Adorno, Theodor W. and Max Horkheimer. Dialectic of Enlightenment. Verso, 1997, pp.
3-42.
Horkheimer, Max. “Reason Against Itself: Some Remarks on Enlightenment”, in
Schmidt, James. What Is Enlightenment?: Eighteenth-Century Answers and Twentieth-Century
Questions. University of California Press, 1996, pp. 359-367. 7
11. Beyond Enlightenment: Contemporary Responses to the Enlightenment II.
Postmodernism and Post-structuralism (November 24)
Man, Paul de. Allegories of Reading: Figural Language in Rousseau, Nietzsche, Rilke,
and Proust. Yale University Press, 1982, pp. 135-159. Foucault, Michel. “What Is Enlightenment”, 1984. http://foucault.info/documents/
whatIsEnlightenment/foucault.whatIsEnlightenment.en.html.
Foucault, Michael. “What Is Critique?”, in Schmidt, James. What Is Enlightenment?:
Eighteenth-Century Answers and Twentieth-Century Questions. University of California Press,
1996, pp. 382-398.
Foucault, Michel. Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason.
Vintage, 1988, pp. 199-220.
Foucault, Michel. Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Random House Digital,
Inc., 2012, 195-228.
!
12. Beyond Enlightenment: Contemporary Responses to the Enlightenment II.
Feminism (December 1)
Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Edited by Carol H. Poston.
Second ed. W. W. Norton & Company, 1987, pp. 1-10.
Schott, Robin May. “The Gender of Enlightenment”, in Schmidt, James. What Is
Enlightenment?: Eighteenth-Century Answers and Twentieth-Century Questions. University of
California Press, 1996, pp. 471-487.
Landes, Joan B. Women and the Public Sphere in the Age of the French Revolution.
Cornell University Press, 1988, pp. 21-38.
Schor, Naomi. Bad Objects: Essays Popular and Unpopular. Duke University Press
Books, 1995, pp. 3-27.
Goodman, Dena. “Difference: An Enlightenment Concept”, in Baker, Keith, and Peter
Reill. What’s Left of Enlightenment?: A Postmodern Question. Stanford University Press, 2002,
pp. 129-147.
!
Final Projects Due December 11
8