Dr. Mark Shiffman Fall 2004
Office: SAC 073
Email: mark.shiffman@villanova.edu
Understanding Love and Friendship
Aim of course: This course is meant to introduce us to ourselves, both to what we already are and to previously unexamined possibilities for what we may be. A study of classic texts in the western tradition contributes to this aim in two ways. First, it allows us to enter thoughtfully into a conversation that has been going on for many centuries about what human life is all about, what its possibilities and limitations are, what is best and worst in it, and what is most important for us to do and know. The very fact that we are at a university, studying a liberal arts curriculum, proves that we have been shaped to some extent by that tradition.
Second, then, the study of these classic texts introduces us to more complete statements or depictions of visions and ways of life of which we are usually only dimly aware and only in partial echoes. There are fundamental differences among the varieties of human possibilities that have inspired the cultural adventure of the west, and these confront us with fundamental choices about how we understand ourselves. Ignorance of these fundamental issues may doom us to spend our lives evading these choices without knowing it, causing ourselves unnecessary confusion and misery.
Focus of Course: We will examine a number of texts that revolve in large part around the human experience of love and friendship. These relationships are among the most important in our lives, and responding to them wisely may be one of the most valuable contributions to a happy life. One of the central questions of the course will be what it means to respond to love and friendship wisely, and different authors will provide different answers. We will try to understand what those answers are and to consider why they make sense to each author and whether and why they do or do not make sense to us. Any view of love and friendship makes sense within a larger view of the way the world is, what it means to be human in a world so understood, and accordingly what our priorities should be. These will be the aspects of each text we will try to clarify.
How the Course Works: The main elements of the course are reading, discussion, and writing.
Reading does not mean merely passing your eyes over every word of the assigned text. Our aim is to read thoughtfully. That means approaching each text with questions in mind, stopping to consider what it has to say about our questions, being alert to the different and unexpected questions it raises for us, taking notes and underlining. Make sure you have plenty of time for the reading.
Discussion begins already with reading. You should think of the questions and thoughts that arise while you read as the beginning of the discussion we will have in class. Almost all our time in class will consist of discussion, and if you are prepared for that discussion, the class will be enjoyable and interesting. If not, it will be tedious and largely a waste of your time. And not all discussion takes place in class. Feel free to talk to me after class or come to my office to continue the conversation, and remember that your friends in Moriarty, Fedigan and Simpson are all reading and discussing the same texts and issues. Discussions in the dorm can contribute enormously to your understanding of the material, and can help develop more solid friendships.
Writing flows from both reading and discussion. It brings into sharper focus the thoughts and questions we have been circling around. You usually don’t know whether you’ve understood something until you try to write about it, and the writing process usually brings new insight and understanding.
The more you can make these three elements work together, the more rewarding the course will be for you.
Requirements: The first requirement is preparation, attendance and participation. Participation means first of all paying attention and not doing distracting things like eating in class or carrying on side conversations. Anyone who misses no more than 4 classes and pays polite attention will get a passing grade for participation. But beyond that, participation means contributing to discussion, which includes: raising questions, responding to questions raised by others, supporting or disputing arguments put forward by others, and everything else that a good conversation involves.
The second requirement is the written assignments. We will have five graded essays and a number of short, ungraded assignments. Once a week you must write a one-page paper (“reaction paper”) responding thoughtfully to the reading for the day. You may choose which day, and you only have to do 10 (i.e. 4 weeks you don’t need to do it). All your written work must be kept in a portfolio; keep hard copies in a folder and all electronic copies in a desktop folder.
The third requirement is attending three cultural events, which may be movies on campus, field trips, concerts or lectures. We will discuss your options. You will need to write a one-page reflection on each of these.
There will also be a final exam, format yet to be determined.
You are also required to take the online Academic Integrity Tutorial and to visit the Writing Center for your first big paper assignment.
Grade breakdown – Papers: 50%; Participation: 30%; Final exam 20%.
8/26 Intro
8/31 Homer, Iliad 1
9/2 Iliad 3,6
9/7 Iliad 9,12
9/9 Iliad 16,18; St. Thomas of Villanova Convocation
9/14 Iliad 22,23 (lines 1-258),24
9/16 I Samuel 8-11, 15-20; Psalm 4
9/21 I Samuel 21 – II Samuel 2.7; Psalms 18, 34
9/23 II Samuel 2.8-7.29, 11-19.15; Psalm 50; I Kings 1-2.10
9/28 Plato, Symposium (handout)
9/30 Plato, Phaedrus 227a-235b
10/5 Phaedrus 235c-242a
10/7 Phaedrus 242a-257b
BREAK
10/19 Seneca (handout)
10/21 Aristotle, Nicomeachean Ethics 8.1-6 and handout
10/26 Nicomeachean Ethics 8.12-9.3
10/28 Nicomeachean Ethics 9.4-8, 12
11/2 Gospel of John 1-12
11/4 Gospel of John 13-21
11/9 Augustine, Confessions Books 1-2
11/11 Confessions Books 3-4
11/16 Confessions Books 5 (8-14), 6, 7 (1, 9-21)
11/18 Confessions Books 8-9
11/23 Chaucer, Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale
Thanksgiving Break
11/30 Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida Prologue, Act I
12/2 Troilus and Cressida Act II
12/7 Troilus and Cressida Acts III and IV
12/9 Troilus and Cressida Act V