Course Description: What is postmodernism? Can postmodernism be described as a consistent philosophical position? How does the question of postmodernism relate to other significant questions of contemporary intellectual life? Is God dead? Can the human subject master its own destiny? Can meaningful claims to truth still be made? What is the relationship between subjectivity, sexuality, discipline and power? Is there a possibility of ethics in our "postmodern" condition? And finally what are the implications of postmodernism for interaction among different cultures, specifically interaction between Western culture and its others?
The aim of this course is to understand the significance and the origins of these questions. We will also investigate the relationship of postmodernism to feminism and postcolonial theory. The initial focus of the course will be to survey the philosophical origins of 20th Century intellectual movements. In this context, we will read the works of some modern philosophers and try to understand the notions of modernity and the Enlightenment. Next we will read the works of so-called postmodern thinkers, Michel Foucault, Jean Baudrillard, and Jean-François Lyotard. We will then move to the question of the relationship between postmodernism and feminism and read the works of Judith Butler, and Luce Irigaray. Finally, we will investigate the relationship between postmodernism and postcolonial theory. 
 

Required Texts: (available in the Earlham College bookstore)
Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality: An Introduction. Vol.1 (New York: Vintage Books, 1978).
Lawrence Cahoone (ed). From Modernism to Postmodernism, (Oxford: Blackwell, 1996).

I will also provide photocopied material throughout the semester.
 

Reading Assignments: The amount of reading you will be doing throughout the semester is not much. Therefore, I expect you to read every text assigned for the week very carefully at least twice. As you will see, some of the passages we will read are very difficult. An important aim of this class is to learn how to read and think about a text.
 

Course Requirement and Evaluation: You are expected to write three 5-6 page papers: I will provide paper topics for each assignment. You are also allowed to decide on your own topic provided that you discuss your topic with me at least a week before the deadline. Along with the paper topics I will also provide specific guidelines for each topic. Besides this, for every paper (including papers on topics of your own choice) you are responsible for following the general guidelines provided. (See "Comments and Suggestions for Papers").
 

For each class, each student will prepare a worksheet. (See "Instructions for the Worksheets")

There will be announced or unannounced quizzes either at the beginning or at the end of the sessions. There will be no make-ups for the quizzes.

There will be no final examination! 

Your grade will be calculated according to the following distribution: 
 

Paper I: 10%, 
Paper II: 15%, 
Paper III: 25%, 
Quizzes: 20%, 
Worksheets: 20%, 
Class Participation and Attendance: 10%.
 

Participation and Attendance: Even though participation counts for only 10% of your grade, it may still mean a lot if you are between two grades, e.g., A and A-. However, I expect you to participate not simply for the sake of your grade, but hopefully because you will be interested in what will be discussed in class. The success of this course depends heavily on your contribution. You need to come to class prepared (having read the assigned readings, and ready to answer questions) and ready to participate in the discussions.

If you miss more than five (5) classes you will fail this course regardless of your grade.

Our sessions will start at 1:00 pm. Students are expected to come on time. Walking into the classroom while the session is in progress is extremely disruptive for everybody; so is walking out while the session is in progress. I ask you not to do these. I will mark late students absent, and reduce their grade. 

Office hours are for students to discuss ideas, assignments and questions. You are encouraged and welcome to come by my office or make appointments for times other than scheduled office hours. You should take advantage of office hours and appointments not simply to discuss your papers (you are obviously welcome to do that too) but also to understand ideas, and texts discussed in class.

Any student with a documented disability (e.g., physical, learning, psychiatric, vision, hearing etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations must contact the instructor and Disability Services Office (Academic Support Services) at the beginning of the semester. Accommodation arrangements must be made during the first-two weeks of the semester.
 

Calendar: There will be some modifications to this calendar. It is your responsibility to be aware of these changes. These changes may be announced in class. If you miss a class you should make sure that you are informed about the assignments for the next session.
 

Week 1. August 25: Introduction

PART I: MODERNITY AND THE RISE OF HUMAN SUBJECT
Week 2.     August 29: Descartes, Meditations. 
September 1: Descartes, Meditations.

Week 3.    September 5: Kant, "What is Enlightenment?" 
September 8: Kant, "What is Enlightenment?"
 

PART II: CRITICS OF MODERNITY

Week 4. September 12:    Marx, "Bourgeois and Proletarians"; Nietzsche, "The Madman," "The Natural History of Morals";
September 15: Marx, "Bourgeois and Proletarians"; Nietzsche, "The Madman," "The Natural History of Morals";

Week 5. September 19: Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents; Adorno, Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment.
September 22: Freud,Civilization and Its Discontents; Adorno, Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment.

PART III: POSTMODERNISM

Week 6. September 26: Lyotard, "The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge"
September 29: Ihab Hassan, "Toward a Concept of Postmodernism."(photocopy)

Week 7. October 3: Jameson, "Postmodernism or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism."
October 6: Bell, "The Coming of Post-Industrial Society."

Week 8. October 10: Giroux, "Towards a Postmodern Pedagogy."
October 13: (Midsemester Break)

Week 9. October 17: Baudrillard, "The Implosion of the Social in the Media." (photocopy)
October 20: Vattimo, "The Postmodern: A Transparent Society?" (photocopy)

PART IV: SEXUALITY, POWER AND THE SUBJECT

Week 10. October 24: Foucault, The History of Sexuality.
October 27: Foucault, The History of Sexuality.

Week 11. October 31: Foucault, The History of Sexuality.
November 3: Foucault, The History of Sexuality.

PART V: POSTMODERNISM AND FEMINISM

Week 12. November 7: Butler, "Contingent Foundations" (photocopy);Bordo, "The Cartesian Masculinization of Thought."
November 10: Butler, "Contingent Foundations"; Bordo, "The Cartesian Masculinization of Thought."

Week 13. November 14: Butler, "Contingent Foundations"; Bordo, "The Cartesian Masculinization of Thought."
November 17: Butler, "Contingent Foundations"; Bordo, "The Cartesian Masculinization of Thought."

November 21-24: Thanksgiving Break

PART VI: POSTMODERNISM AND POSTCOLONIALISM

Week 14. November 28: During, "Postmodernism or Post-colonialism Today." (photocopy)
December 1: Said, Orientalism. (photocopy)

Week 15. December 5: Spivak, "The Post-modern Condition." (photocopy)
December 8: Review and Evaluation
 
 

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