CSLC 315 Nature, Science, and Subjectivity in the Age of Goethe
This course will focus on an in depth investigation into the philosophy of nature, culture, and theory of subjectivity developed by the often overlooked late 18th century thinker Johann Gottfried Herder (. First student and later arch-enemy of Immanuel Kant, Herder developed a theory of nature, culture, and human subjectivity that stood in stark contrast to the universalist, mechanistic, and teleological theories of nature and culture so characteristic of the period we know as the Enlightenment. Herder, by contrast, utilized cutting edge discoveries in the emerging field of biology to develop a cosmological theory that saw both nature and human culture as wrapped up in the process of dynamic transformation. The consequence, for Herder, was that nothing that exists carried with it a singular essence but rather, that the very nature of being was change and that all things, therefore, came be what they are in and through the dynamic interaction with a natural, historical, and cultural environment. This ontological principle allowed Herder to develop a number of radical theories, which we will examine in turn. First, a proto-evolutionary theory of nature that proved highly influential on Charles Darwin (through Alexander von Humboldt) and which viewed organisms and environments as historically contingent and wrapped up in a process of co-adaptation. Second, Herder's theory of subjectivity, which viewed human thought not as strictly universal but as grounded in language and culture and hence, as necessarily diverse as the manifestations of human language and culture itself. And finally, after investigating both of these concepts, we will investigate impact of Herder's philosophy both historically, as a forerunner of existentialism, as well as its possibilities for contemporary theory. For it seems to follow from Herder's supposition that the essence of being is transformation that we should not hold on to any form of essentialism. Rather, Herder seems to suggest that we should affirm, in Nietzsche's language, the diverse manifestations of existence as well as their historical transformation both subjectively in ourselves and objectively in the cultures in which we live.
The course will have the following structure: I: An investigation into the context of the natural sciences (mechanism vs vitalism) out of which Herder's theory emerges. II: Herder's response this crisis of the mechanistic sciences (vs Kant's) and the development of Herder's philosophy of nature and subjectivity. III: The influence of Herder's theories on his contemporaries J.W. von Goethe and Alexander von Humboldt. IV: Contemporary theory and Herder.
Second-stage writing requirement: Students may satisfy the Second-Stage Writing Requirement by submitting a substantial (12-15 page) writing assignment that addresses a subset of the primary texts studied in this course. Students satisfy the Second Stage Writing Requirement by obtaining a grade of "C" or higher on this paper.
Prerequisite
At least one course in CSLC or Philosophy, or permission of the instructor.