The Modern and the Postmodern (Part 2)

About this course: This course examines how the idea of "the modern" develops at the end of the 18th century in European philosophy and literature, and how being modern (or progressive, or hip) became one of the crucial criteria for understanding and evaluating cultural change. Are we still in modernity, or have we moved beyond the modern to the postmodern?

Created by:  Wesleyan University

• Taught by:  Michael S. Roth

Commitment 3-5 hours/week Language English How To Pass Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. User Ratings 4.7 stars Average User Rating 4.7See what learners said Coursework

Each course is like an interactive textbook, featuring pre-recorded videos, quizzes and projects.

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Syllabus


WEEK 1


Course Pages



2 readings expand

1. Reading: Syllabus
2. Reading: Course Logistics

WEEK 2


Intensity and the Ordinary: Sex, Death, Aggression and Guilt
With a focus on Civilization and its Discontents, we examine how Freud’s theories tried to expose profound instincts as they appeared in daily life.


4 videos, 1 reading expand

1. Reading: Intensity and the Ordinary: Sex, Death, Aggression and Guilt--Freud
2. Video: Intensity and the Ordinary: Sex, Death, Aggression and Guilt I
3. Video: Intensity and the Ordinary: Sex, Death, Aggression and Guilt II
4. Video: Intensity and the Ordinary: Sex, Death, Aggression and Guilt III
5. Video: Intensity and the Ordinary: Sex, Death, Aggression and Guilt IV

WEEK 3


Intensity and the Ordinary: Art, Loss, Forgiveness
A reading of Virginia Woolf’s modernist novel To the Lighthouse shows how giving up the search for the “really real” can liberate one to attend to the everyday.


4 videos, 1 reading expand

1. Reading: Intensity and the Ordinary: Art, Loss, Forgiveness--Woolf
2. Video: Intensity and the Ordinary: Art, Loss, Forgiveness I
3. Video: Intensity and the Ordinary: Art, Loss, Forgiveness II
4. Video: Intensity and the Ordinary: Art, Loss, Forgiveness III
5. Video: Intensity and the Ordinary: Art, Loss, Forgiveness IV

Graded: First Writing Assignment

WEEK 4


The Postmodern Everyday
We go back to Ralph Waldo Emerson and forward to Ludwig Wittgenstein to consider how forms of life and language games need to foundation to be compelling.


4 videos, 1 reading expand

1. Reading: The Postmodern Everyday--Emerson and Wittgenstein
2. Video: The Postmodern Everyday I
3. Video: The Postmodern Everyday II
4. Video: The Postmodern Everyday III
5. Video: The Postmodern Everyday IV

Graded: Second Writing Assignment

WEEK 5


From Critical Theory to Postmodernism
Through a consideration of Max Horkheimer & Theodor Adorno along with Michel Foucault, we confront the philosophical effort to escape from totality in order to understand the politics of control.


4 videos, 1 reading expand

1. Reading: From Critical Theory to Postmodernism
2. Video: From Critical Theory to Postmodernism I
3. Video: From Critical Theory to Postmodernism II
4. Video: From Critical Theory to Postmodernism III
5. Video: From Critical Theory to Postmodernism IV

Graded: Third Writing Assignment

WEEK 6


Paintings II
A very brief consideration of how artists are responding to the loss of foundations to produce work that redefines art.


2 videos expand

1. Video: Paintings II, Part I
2. Video: Paintings II, Part II

WEEK 7


Postmodern Identities
We examine short pieces by Judith Butler and Slavjo Zizek to understand how identities get formed (and performed) in a world without foundations.


4 videos, 1 reading expand

1. Reading: Postmodern Identities--Butler and Zizek
2. Video: Postmodern Identities I
3. Video: Postmodern Identities II
4. Video: Postmodern Identities III
5. Video: Postmodern Identities IV

Graded: Fourth Writing Assignment

WEEK 8


Late-term Review
Review of all the thinkers we have studied in Parts I and II of the class, along with some complementary material.


4 videos expand

1. Video: Late-term Review I
2. Video: Late-term Review II
3. Video: Late-term Review III
4. Video: Late-term Review IV

WEEK 9


Postmodern Pragmatisms
After postmodern playfulness, or alongside it, we see the resurgence of the pragmatic impulse to return philosophy to real human problems.


3 videos, 1 reading expand

1. Reading: Postmodern Pragmatisms
2. Video: Postmodern Pragmatisms I
3. Video: Postmodern Pragmatisms II
4. Video: Postmodern Pragmatisms III

Graded: Fifth Writing Assignment

Extra (Optional) Writing Assignment



1 item expand

1. Peer Review: Extra (Optional) Writing Assignment