THE RATIONALIST TRADITION-Fall, 2000

This course is an interdisciplinary study of those aspects of our Western civilization which are related to the development of rationalism. It emphasizes the important and continuing impact the rationalist tradition has had in the shaping of our Western civilization and of our contemporary world. The foundations of this tradition were laid by the brilliant thinkers and artists of ancient Greece; it was modified, or at least interpreted for the rising Western world, by the Romans; some of it was absorbed, some of it was rejected in the growing ascendancy of the Christian Church; and a renewed knowledge of it achieved by thinkers like Thomas Aquinas, encouraged by a "Twelfth-Century Renaissance" in the Christian West.

The rationalist tradition was fully revived in Western Europe during the Renaissance, which sought at first to balance its claims with those of the medieval Christian Church. But by the Eighteenth Century--often called the Age of Reason--the tradition had been elevated to a position of dominance. During this period other intellectual movements developed which tended to accept the great artistic accomplishments of the ancient Greeks and Romans as normative: humanism--which drew its meaning from the study of classical writing and art, and from these sources developed renewed appreciation of human beings and their accomplishments and capabilities; and empiricism--which emphasized experience and observable data, and prepared for the later burgeoning of modern science.

During the latter part of the Nineteenth Century and the early years of the Twentieth Century, this rationalistic tradition became prevalent in the Western world. It characteristically affirmed that people were reasoning beings who lived in an orderly, reasonable universe and whose problems could be solved by human reason, reinforced by scientific instruments. This optimistic view of humanity and the world has been confronted by a growing challenge during the Twentieth Century. Encouraged by such Nineteenth-Century thinkers as Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Freud, and finding expression in many currents of modern life including post-structuralism, multi-culturalism, and feminism, new criticisms of the assumptions and affirmations of the rationalist tradition have emerged..

The term "irrationalism" is vague, inclusive, and difficult to define. In its place we will use the term "nonrationalism." In general, by nonrationalism we mean the denial of optimistic faith in human reason which assumes that human beings are guided by reason and that, because the universe is reasonable and orderly, knowledge and wisdom can be achieved by formal rational processes. Nonrationalism not only denies some of these basic assumptions of rationalism, but also stresses instincts, drives, impulses, emotions and feelings.

Because of the crisis of reason in our contemporary world, a study of the place which human reason has played in our development and continues to play in life today would seem to be a necessity for anyone who seeks to understand the present age so as to live in it intellectually and constructively. To that end, this study of the rationalist tradition is dedicated.

II. OBJECTIVES

1. An understanding of rationalism--and the various criticisms of that tradition--as represented by the major concepts and thinkers in Core 250.
2. An understanding of the relationship of the rationalist tradition to the problems and prospects of the present age.
3. A further development of critical thinking skills.
4. An improvement of written communication skills.
5. To expose students to primary source texts of great thinkers in the rationalist tradition.

III. BASIC INFORMATION

1. Textbooks:

Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

Forrest Baird and Walter Kaufmann. From Plato to Derrida. Third Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000. ("PTD" on the assignment sheet.)

-------. CD-ROM. A class CD-ROM with virtual reality tours, timelines, maps, and readings will be distributed in class. For those who want a paper copy of the readings, a Core 250 Supplemental Readings packet is available for purchase in the bookstore. NOTE: All the items marked "CD-ROM" are also available here

2. Papers: There will be two brief essays due during the term. Detailed paper topics will be distributed one week before the papers are due. There will also be an optional paper which can replace the grade for one of the two papers if the original papers were turned in on time. If either of the assigned papers are turned in late, the student has sacrificed the opportunity for the optional paper. See policies below for late paper penalties.

3. Exams: There will be four exams during the semester, one at the conclusion of each unit. The exams will include both essay and short answers. The Core 250 team is not allowed to change the time of the final exam. Any student desiring to change the time must receive permission from the Academic Affairs Office.

4. Reading Responses: Students are to do all the readings before the class day for which they are assigned. In addition, students will complete up to ten (10) reading responses during the semester (out of 24 possible). Each acceptable response is worth 1% of the total grade. To be acceptable, a reading response must (1) be turned in at the beginning of the class session for which the reading was assigned (i.e., before the lecture on the subject), (2) follow the required format (see the follow), and (3) demonstrate that the student read the text and did some thinking.

Format: Reading responses must be typed, one page single-spaced. The first one-half of the page (approximately) should be objective overview of the entire primary source reading assignment listed after "Reading Response #...." (Do not include summaries of the introductory material.) The second one-half page (approximately) should be thoughtful intellectual reflection based on the topic assigned. Please note that this is a change from previous semesters. (The Core team is well aware that many of the readings are difficult and that students will occasionally misinterpret what is said. Responses need not be entirely accurate to be accepted--but they do need to exhibit some attempt to understand and reflect.)

5. Participation: Periodically there will be session responses in discussion group and/or in lecture. These cannot be made up for any reason whatsoever.

6. Outlines, study questions, and other printed materials: Nearly every day, some material will be distributed in class.

7. Class Sessions: Class will meet Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9:20-10:30 a.m. for lectures.

8. Discussion Groups: In addition to the general sessions, all students will be assigned to a discussion group. Groups will meet at various times on Thursdays for 40 minutes.

9. Faculty:

10. Grades: Grades will be determined on the basis of the four exams (about 50% of the grade), the two papers (about 34% of the final grade), the reading responses (10% of the grade), and participation session responses (about 6% of the final grade).

Grading scale:

IV. THE RATIONALIST CREDO

1. The universe is orderly.

2. This orderly universe is knowable.

3. The universe can be known best by means of the ability to reason that is unique to human beings.

V. THE FINE PRINT (Policies and Practices):

Over the years the Core 250 team has developed a series of working policies. To insure fairness and to counter-act misinformed peer advising, these policies are spelled out below. (NOTE: Most students need not read these policies. If you are able to take all the exams when scheduled, turn in papers you wrote yourself on time, and score at least 50% over-all and 50% on one of your exams, none of this applies to you.)

Papers:
1. Papers will be penalized 2 points if turned in after 9:20 a.m. on the day they are due and an additional 1 point for each class period thereafter unless excused by a faculty member for documented illness, family emergency, or school sponsored activity. In the case of school sponsored activity, the student must notify the appropriate professor before the event. In all cases, the faculty member shall set an alternative deadline which, if missed, will result in the same penalties.
2. Under no circumstances will a paper be accepted after the other papers have been returned to the class (usually one week).
3. Computer or typewriter malfunctions, problems finding a typist, etc. are not acceptable excuses.
4. All cases of plagiarism will result in an automatic "F" for the course if discovered by the Core 250 team or a "0" for the assignment if reported by the student at fault. All disputes regarding charges of plagiarism will be arbitrated by the office of the Academic Vice-President.
5. The Core 250 team will use the definition of plagiarism found in the Student Handbook.

Exams:
1. All exams must be taken at the time scheduled unless the student is excused by a faculty member for documented illness or school sponsored activity. In the case of school sponsored activity, the student must notify the appropriate professor before the event and make arrangements to take the exam before the event or while on the road. In the case of documented illness or family emergency, the student shall contact a faculty member of the team before or during the examination and make arrangements to make up the exam as soon as possible.
2. Under no circumstances will a student be allowed to make up an exam after the other exams have been returned to the class (usually one week).
3. Final exams cannot be changed without written approval from the Academic Vice-President's Office. (This is a college-wide policy.)
4. Any student caught cheating on an exam will receive an automatic "F" for the course. The office of the Academic Vice-President will arbitrate any disputes about allegations of cheating.

General:
1. To pass Core 250 a student must receive a passing grade (50% or better) on at least one unit examination in addition to maintaining a 50% average.
2. Any student who wishes to "withdraw passing" from the course must have a cumulative average of at least 50% at that point in the course. (To establish an interim grade for this purpose, papers and exams will each count as 50% of the grade.)
3. Students who are passing, but need to withdraw from the class for personal reasons, will be given a choice between a "withdraw passing" or an "in progress." Students selecting an "in progress" must make up whichever of the four units in the course they did not complete during the next long semester. Students who take an "in progress" will be allowed to keep the grades from any complete units and simply make up the units they missed. (So, for example, a student who takes an "in progress" in the middle of the unit 2 in the Spring may use the grades from exam #1 and paper #1 and re-enter the class at the beginning of unit two in the Fall.) The student may, of course, select to take the entire course over and use the new grades, but must declare which he or she will do before beginning the make-up semester.

V. COURSE OUTLINE AND READING ASSIGNMENTS-Fall, 2000

PTD = From Plato to Derrida. Third Edition