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CORE 101
Dr. McWhorter, Professor
Department of Philosophy
University of Richmond, VA 23173
Fall, 2009
Mahfouz, Fountain and Tomb
Plato, Five Dialogues
Plato, Symposium
Darwin, On Evolution
Coetzee, Age of Iron
Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals
Marx, Selected Writings
Wharton, The House of Mirth
PLEASE NOTE: Each student is expected to bring a copy of the text to be discussed to every class meeting.
**All assignments in this course are detailed on the assignments page.
***All course policies are detailed on the policies page.
UNIT ONE: THE SHAPE OF SOCIETY: KNOWLEDGE, CULTURE, AND SOCIETY
August 24: Introduction to the Course; Mafouz, Fountain and Tomb, chapters 1-22.
August 26: Mafouz, Fountain and Tomb, entire.
August 28: Plato, Apology from Five Dialogues, entire.
August 31: Plato, Apology and Phaedo from Five Dialogues, entire.
September 2: Plato, Phaedo; Optional Paper #1 Due!
September 4: Plato, Symposium, entire.
September 7: Plato, Symposium; Optional Paper #2 Due!
September 9: Darwin, On the Origin of the Species, in On Evolution, 160-85.
September 11: Darwin, On the Origin of the Species, in On Evolution, 189-200.
September 14: Darwin, On the Origin of the Species, in On Evolution, 205-15.
September 16: Darwin, The Descent of Man, in On Evolution, 242-56
September 18: Darwin, The Descent of Man, in On Evolution, 260-76.
September 21: No Class: Professor attends liberal arts conference at Washington and Lee University.
September 23: Discussion of Darwin, Plato, and Mahfouz; review all reading and class notes. Optional Paper #3 Due!
September 25-28: No Class: Professor speaks at University of Memphis and Vanderbilt University..
September 30: Coetzee, Age of Iron, 3-51.
October 2: Coetzee, Age of Iron, 51-108.
October 5: Coetzee, Age of Iron, 108-151.
October 7: Coetzee, Age of Iron, 151-98.
October 9: MID-TERM EXAM!
October 12: Fall Break!
UNIT TWO: THE SHAPE OF SOCIETY: RE-IMAGINING SOCIETY
October 14: Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals, preface and introduction; Optional Paper #4 Due!
October 16: Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals, essay 1.
October 19: Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals, essay 2.
October 21: Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals, essay 3.
October 23: No regular class meeting; required afternoon visit to the Virginia State Capitol: This officially sanctioned field trip takes precedence over any other activities, including any other course meetings between 3:00 and 6:00 pm. Students will receive a written noticeof this trip from their college deans to show other instructors, if necessary. All students must be in the Robins Center parking lot no later than 3:20. The bus will depart promptly at 3:30 so that it will arrive at the state capitol in downtown Richmond by 4:00. The class will be given a special tour of both the interior and the exterior of the building that will last until 5:00, when the bus will leave the capitol for the return trip to campus, arriving at the Robins Center parking lot by 5:45 pm. It would be wise to bring a small note pad and pen, and you may want to bring a camera, if you have one. Optional Paper #5 Due!
October 26: Discussion: The State Capitol.
October 28: Optional
Paper #6 Due!
October 30: No Class! Meetings of the Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy.
November 2: Locke, Second Treatise of Government, chapters 1-5.
November 4: Locke, Second Treatise of Government, chapters 8 and 9.
November 6: Marx, The Communist Manifesto from Selected Writings, 157-69. Optional Paper #7 Due!
November 9: Marx, The Communist Manifesto from Selected Writings, 169-76 and 185-86.
November 11: Marx, The German Ideology from Selected Writings, 102-12 and 115-21.
November 13: M arx, Capital, Vol. 1, from Selected Writings, 214-16, 220-25, and 230-43.
November 16: Marx, Capital, Vol. 1, from Selected Writings, 264-73 and 294-300.
November 18: Discussion: Locke and Marx; Optional Paper #8 Due!
November 20: Wharton, House of Mirth, 1-77.
November 23: Wharton, House of Mirth, 77-145; Optional Paper #9 Due!
November 25-27: Thanksgiving Break!
November 30: Wharton, House of Mirth, 146-219.
December 2: Wharton, House of Mirth, 219-275.
December 4: Wharton, House of Mirth, 275-350.
December 11 at 9:00 am & December 14 at 2:00 pm: Final exam.
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