Jill
Gordon Office: Lovejoy 251
Office
Hours: T: 4:00-5:00; W: 1:00-2:30 Extension
4554
Texts: (1) Marx: Selected Writings, edited by Lawrence Simon,
Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company; (2) Karl Marx, by Allen W. Wood, New York:
Routledge; (3) The Cambridge Companion to
Marx, edited by
Terrell Carver, Cambridge University Press; (4) Marxism 1844-1990: Origins,
Betrayal Rebirth,
by Roger S. Gottlieb, New York: Routledge; (5) Some readings on reserve at
Miller Library and others available electronically through my web page:
http://www.colby.edu/profile/jpgordon/PHIL. Click on the name of this course and an electronic syllabus
will open. The titles of some articles
will appear as hyperlinks; click on them and you will get a PDF version of the
readings.
Daily Classroom Activities: The readings for this course will be challenging. My expectation is that your preparation
for each class meeting will entail slow, methodical reading (and rereading), constructive note
taking, formulating questions along the way about things that are unclear, and,
ideally, filling in the gaps in your own historical understanding (see
below). For the most part, we will
proceed through question and answer, so students should come prepared each day
to discuss the basic ideas presented in readings as well as philosophical
questions which the readings motivate.
Much in this course will be clarified and better
understood the greater one¹s familiarity with history. I would therefore like to encourage all
students in the course to take the responsibility for understanding some of the
historical and cultural background of each reading, especially during the
second part of the course. I would
urge all students to take the time to search out basic historical knowledge of
the people and events around which the theory springs. I will randomly ask various students
from time to time to help fill in this background information, and our combined
understanding will greatly enhance the educational experience for
everyone. The success of the
course will depend largely on all of us meeting our respective
responsibilities.
Assignments:
€First
Short Paper: 20% of final grade
(5-6 pages)
€Second
Short Paper: 30% of final grade (7-9 pages)
€Term
Paper: 50% of final grade (15-18
pages)
I have devised the questions/topics for the shorter
papers, and they appear on the syllabus below on their due dates. These shorter papers will take time to
prepare; they will have to be concise and clear in order to answer the
questions asked in the allotted space.
For each assignment you will have a choice between two topics. You will come to class with your paper
in its completed form, and we will discuss them in that day¹s class. It will be essential for you to attend
class on the days that papers are due; absences from class on paper due dates
will result in a lowering of a full grade on that paper (e.g., a paper earning
a B+ will receive a C+).
The development of your thesis for your term paper is completely up to you. It is intended to be a research
paper, and you will find that using the Philosophers¹ Index database is your
best source for scholarly work. If
you are unfamiliar with the Philosophers¹ Index, I or a reference librarian can
show you the basics in just a few minutes. (Note: J-Stor is NOT a research database, but rather a
storehouse for a select few journals in philosophy. It will not be adequate for the purposes of researching your
term paper.) Please consult the
³Survival Kit² for tips on formulating a thesis and writing a philosophy
paper. You are encouraged to write
critically about anything we¹ve discussed in class or to take what we¹ve talked
about beyond the readings into new and synthetic areas. [All papers should be double spaced, 1²
margins, 12 point font. Please
number your pages.] I will provide
more details for this assignment later in the semester.
Plagiarism: Any use of
ideas not your own, whether you quote them directly or paraphrase them, must be
cited. Not doing so is plagiarism,
one form of academic dishonesty.
The standard for plagiarism holds for all written work for this and any
other course at Colby, and it includes books, journals, magazines, videos, web
pages, spoken communication, and all other sources, regardless of medium. Cases of plagiarism will result in an
automatic ŒF¹ in this course and a report sent to the Dean of Students Office. Additional penalties can include
suspension or expulsion. See Colby
College Catalogue for further details.
Cell Phones: Do not bring
your cell phones to class. Any
student whose cell phone rings during class will be asked to leave class for
that day.
1. Marx¹s
(and Engels¹) Theory In His (Their) Own Context (February 7 through March 9)
Hegelian
Roots and Early Writings
Ideology,
Labor and Alienation
Theory
of History and Revolution, Critiques of Capitalism
2. Marxist Revolutionary Thinkers (March
14 through April 13)
Bernstein,
Kautsky, Luxemburg
Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin
Gramsci
Mao, Guevera
3. Applying and Using Marxist Theory
(April 18 through May 4)
Art
and Literary Theory
The Frankfurt School and Cultural Critique
African Americans and Marxism
Feminism and Marxism
T 7 Feb Introduction to the
course. Hegelian background. Read (a) Handout, ³Marx: Getting Started,²
and (b)
Gottleib, first half of Chapter 1, pp. 3-22.
Th 9 Feb Marx
& Engels: Read (a) Marx, excerpts from ³The German
Ideology,² (co-authored with Engels) pp. 102-104; 107-112; 129-132 and 153-156;
and (b) Wood,
Chapter 2, ³The Human Essence,² pp. 16-30.
T 14 Feb Marx: Read (a) Wood, Chapter 3, ³Human
Production,² pp. 31-43 and (b) Marx, ³Excerpt-Notes of 1844,² pp. 40-53.
Th 16 Feb Marx: Read Marx, Economic and Philosophical
Manuscripts, pp.
54-79 and (b)
Wood, Chapter 1, The Concept of Alienation,² pp. 3-15.
T 21 Feb Marx & Engels: Read (a) Marx, The Communist Manifesto, pp. 157-169, (b) ³Preface to the Critique of
Political Economy,² just the very long paragraph that begins at the bottom of
p. 210 and ends at the top of p. 212, and (c) Wood, Chapter 7, ³Materialist
Explanations,² pp. 101-111.
Th 23 Feb Marx & Engels: Read (a) The Communist Manifesto, pp. 169-186 (b) Wood, Chapter 8, ³Materialism,
Agency, and Consciousness,² pp. 112-124.
T 28 Feb Marx: Read Capital, pp. 214-255 and (b) Wood, Chapter 16, ³Capitalist
Exploitation,² pp. 242-264.
Th 2 Mar Marx: Read, Wilde, ³Logic: Dialectic
and Contradiction,² in Cambridge Companion, pp. 275-295.
T 7 Mar Marx: Read Gottleib, second half of
Chapter 1, pp. 2238 and Chapter 2, pp. 39-56
Th 9 Mar First
Short Paper Due: Choose 1. Explain what it might mean to claim that Marx¹s critique of
capitalism has important psychological aspects. Why are Marx¹s psychological insights politically and or
economically significant? How does
Marx¹s ³human psychology² either strengthen or weaken his larger theoretical
project? or 2. Explain what it might mean to claim
that Marx¹s theories rest on a view of human ³nature,² including but also in
addition to his views on homo faber and our species being. What is that view of human ³nature² and what specific,
though perhaps not explicitly stated, role(s) does it play his theory? Hint: Both of these questions are asking you not only to explain what
is articulated in the texts, but to do a careful and attentive reading of what
the texts imply or presume but do not say explicitly. DISCUSSION OF YOUR PAPERS; CATCH-UP, REVIEW, SYNTHESIZE
T 14 Mar Revolutionary Thinkers: Read (a) Gottleib, Chapter 3, pp. 59-76,
and (b) Eduard
Bernstein from my web page.
Th 16 Mar Revolutionary Thinkers: Read Karl Kautsky, and Rosa Luxemburg from my web page.
T 21 Mar Revolutionary Thinkers: Read (a) Gottleib, Chapter 4, pp. 77-105
and (b) V.I.
Lenin from my web page.
Th 23 Mar Revolutionary Thinkers: Read Trotsky and Stalin,
from my web page.
T 28 Mar SPRING BREAK
Th 30 Mar SPRING BREAK
T 4 Apr Revolutionary Thinkers: Professor Alec Campbell, Department of Sociology,guest
lecturer, ³Socialism & Communism as Social Movements²
Th 6 Apr Revolutionary Thinkers: Read Gramsci from
my web page.
T 11 Apr Revolutionary Thinkers: Read Mao and Guevara, from my web page.
Th 13 Apr Second
Short Paper Due: Choose 1. Contrast the views of two revolutionary thinkers on the
issue of ³development² and its role in communist revolution. What (ideological?) role does this
concept play in their respective theories? How might you compare this concept¹s function in their
theories to views of ³development² in contemporary capitalist societies? or 2. Choose two revolutionary thinkers
and contrast their views on the issue of which class(es) can or cannot serve
the interests of revolution (e.g., the proletariat, the peasantry, the
intellectuals), paying special attention to their reasoning behind either
excluding certain classes from revolution or explicitly outlining some class¹s
role in revolution. How is each
thinker¹s view related to, if at all, a philosophical view about conflict,
opposition, or contradiction (in the Marxist technical sense) in society?
DISCUSSION OF YOUR PAPERS, CATCH-UP, REVIEW, SYNTHESIZE.
T 18 Apr Marxism, Art, and Literature: Read Adams, ³Aesthetics: Liberating the Senses,² in
Cambridge Companion, pp. 246-274.
Th 20 Apr Marxism, Art, and Literature: Read Theodor Adorno ³On Jazz² and
Lewandowski, ³Adorno on Jazz and Society,² ON RESERVE.
T 25 Apr Marxism and Cultural Critique: Read (a) Gottleib, pp. 126-129 and (b) Marcuse, from my web page.
Th 27 Apr Marxism & the ³Negro² in the Early and Mid-
20th Century: Read excerpts from (a) E. Franklin Frazier, ³La Bourgeoisie Noire,² (b) W.E.B. DuBois, ³Marxism and the
Negro Problem,² and (c) Ralph J. Bunch, ³Marxism and the Negro Question,² ON RESERVE.
T 2 May Marxism & Feminism: Engels, Read (a) ³Origins of the Family, Private
Property, and the State,² excerpt ON RESERVE and (b) Gottleib, Chapter 6, pp. 130-145.
Th 4 May Marxism & Feminism: Read (a) Hartmann, ³The Unhappy Marriage
of Marxism and Feminism,² ON RESERVE and (b) Himmelweit, ³Reproduction and the
Materialist Conception of History: A Feminist Critique,² in Cambridge
Companion, pp.
196-221.
T 9 May Student Presentations and
discussion of term papers.
Th 11 May Student Presentations and discussion of term
papers. Abstracts and
bibliographies due.
Term Papers Due: Friday, 19 May
2006, 5:00 p.m.
********
Colby
also owns several relevant films that you might find of interest.
€Hegel and Marx (DVD B2948 .B79
2003) Bryan Magee talks to Peter Singer about Hegel and Marx, BBC Production.
€Marxist Philosophy (BBC
Worldwide), (Video # 3260), BBC-produced film of an interview between Bryan
Magee and Charles Taylor, founder of the New Left movement in Britain.
€Karl Marx and Marxism, (Video #
1990). Written by Stuart Hall,
this film explores the roots of Marxist theory and traces it through the fall
of the Soviet Union.
€Interview with Terry Eagleton,
(Video # 4534 ), an interview between Bryan Magee and Terry Eagleton, one of
the key spokespersons for introducing Marxist and Continental theory to
Britain.
€Marcuse and the Frankfurt School
(Video # 4432 ), BBC-produced film of an interview between Bryan Magee and
Herbert Marcuse.
€Point of Order (Video # 484),
Documentary about the HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee) and Senator
McCarthy¹s drive to rid the US of the ³Communist Menace,² including many
excerpts from actual HUAC hearings.
€Philosophy in the Epoch of
Ideology (Video#1776, vols. 1, 2).
The Teaching Company, Superstar Teachers Series. Lectures 1-3 cover Hegel and Marx.
€Modern Times, Charlie Chaplin¹s
classic.
€Good Night and Good Luck (DVD
PN1995.9.B55 G663 2006). David
Strathairn and George Clooney in a film for which Clooney wrote the
script. Deals with CBS television
newsman and American icon, Edward R. Murrow and his conflict with Senator
Joseph McCarthy over reporting on the communist ³witch hunts² McCarthy
spearheaded in the 1950s.