Earlham College, Fall Semester 2004-2005
Monday, Wednesday, Friday 11:00-11:50, Carpenter 316 and Monday 4:00, Bolling Center 105
Instructor: Ferit Güven
Office: Carpenter 328
Office Hours: Monday, Thursday 1:00-2:00, and by appointment
Office Phone: 983-1399 (voice mail)
e-mail: guvenfe@earlham.edu
web page: http://www.earlham.edu/~guvenfe/

Course Description: This seminar aims to introduce you to philosophy through film. We will explore two sets of interrelated questions: First, how are philosophical problems depicted and dealt with in motion pictures? Are visual narratives effective ways of processing philosophical ideas? Second, how does philosophy help us understand and interpret visual narratives? Does a familiarity with philosophical problems allow us to see various conceptual layers of visual narratives? In addition to reading several texts concerning philosophical problems we will discuss movies. The general concentration of this course will be the question of the self that emerges in modernity and its relationship to existence and ethics. We will start our readings with Descartes' Discourse and Meditations. Descartes is considered to be the father of modern philosophy, as he confronts the question of truth as certainty from the perspective of the ego. We will start our Monday evening film screenings with the Matrix. Next we will read two short selections from two British empiricists, John Locke and David Hume, on the question of personal identity. We will see that this theme is pervasive in the movies we view, including Memento and Open Your Eyes. Next, we will read Kant's Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, which is an example of the Enlightenment's idea of morality based on individuality and human reason. In reading Kant we will observe the intersection of individual existence and the question of ethics. During this period we will watch Crimes and Misdemeanors and The Business of Strangers. Next we will read Marx's The Communist Manifesto, where Marx presents a critique of modernity and questions the role of the individual in it. In this context we will watch Chaplin's Modern Times. For Marx, the individual is not a free moral subject, but a product of the class to which he or she belongs. After Marx, we will read Simone de Beauvoir's Ethics of Ambiguity. De Beauvoir is an important representative of what came to be known as the existentialist movement in philosophy. Her book complicates the question of ethics developed by Kant and underlines the predicament of human existence in modernity. While reading The Ethics of Ambiguity, we will watch The Seventh Seal. After de Beauvoir we will read essays from Judith Buther (and watch The Cring Game) Frantz Fanon (and watch the Battle of Algiers) and Malcolm X (and watch Spike Lee's Malcolm X). Finally, we will focus on Michel Foucault's Discipline and Punish to question the traditional understanding of the relationship between society and the individual. In this context we will watch Truffaut's The Wild Child and 1984.

Required Texts: (available in the Earlham College bookstore)
Rene Descartes, Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy, trans. Donald A. Cress, (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1998)
Immanuel Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1981)
Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto, (New York: Signet Classic, 1998)
Simone de Beauvoir, Ethics of Ambiguity, (New York: Philosophical Library, 1995)
Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish, (New York: Vintage Books, 1976)
In addition to these texts, there will be the following reading material placed on reserve at the Lilly Library:
John Locke, "Of Identity and Diversity" from An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, ed. K. Winkler, (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1996), 133-150.
David Hume, "Of Personal Identity" from A Treatise of Human Nature, ed. L.A. Selby-Bigge, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978), 251-263.
Judith Butler, "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory," Theatre Journal, (December 1988), 49(1):519-531.
Frantz Fanon,"Algeria Unveiled" and "This is the Voice of Algeria" from A Dying Colonialism, (New York: Grove Press), 35-97.
Malcolm X,"The Second Rally of the OAAU" (July 5, 1964; NYC) from By Any Means Necessary, (New York: Pathfinder, 1970), 98-129.
"At the Audubon" (Dec 13, 1964; NYC) from Malcolm X Speaks: Selected Speeches and Statements, (New York: Grove Press, 1965), 88-104.

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 two 5-8 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 that will be provided.

For each week, every student will prepare a one (to two) paged review of the film we view on Monday. These reviews will be due on every Friday. The aim of these assignments is to think explicitly about the connection between the movies we view and the texts we read. I will provide specific guidelines for this assignment.
You also will fulfill a library assignment, where you have to find reviews of the movies we watch and discuss them. The library staff will help you with this assignment.
There may 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: 25%,
Paper II: 25%,
Review Essays: 30%
Library Assignment: 10%
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 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 six classes you will fail this course regardless of your grade.

Our sessions will start at 11:00 am. Students are expected to come on time. Walking in and out of the classroom while the session is in progress is extremely disruptive for everybody. 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 may be some modifications to this calendar. It is your responsibility to be aware of these changes. These changes will 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
August 27: Descartes, Discourse on Method, Part One

Week 2:
August 30: Descartes, Discourse on Method, Part Two
September 1: Descartes, Discourse on Method, Part Three
September 3: Descartes, Discourse on Method, Part Four

Week 3:
September 6: Descartes, Meditations 1 and 2; FILM: THE MATRIX
September 8: Descartes, Meditations 3 and 4
September 10: Descartes, Meditations 5 and 6

Week 4:
September 13: John Locke, "Of Identity and Diversity"; FILM: MEMENTO
September 15: John Locke, "Of Identity and Diversity" and David Hume, "Of Personal Identity"
September 17: David Hume, "Of Personal Identity"

Week 5:
September 20: Immanuel Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, Preface and First Section; FILM: OPEN YOUR EYES
September 22: Kant, Grounding, First and Second Sections
September 24: Kant, Grounding, Second Section

Week 6:
September 27: Kant, Grounding, Second Section; FILM: CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS
September 29: Kant, Grounding, Second and Third Sections
October 1: Kant, Grounding, Third Section

Week 7:
October 4: Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto, pp. 49-65; FILM: MODERN TIMES
October 6: Marx, The Communist Manifesto, pp. 65-91
October 8: Midsemester Break

Week 8:
October 11: Simone de Beauvoir, Ethics of Ambiguity; FILM: THE SEVENTH SEAL
October 13: de Beauvoir, Ethics of Ambiguity
October 15: de Beauvoir, Ethics of Ambiguity

Week 9:
October 18: de Beauvoir, Ethics of Ambiguity; FILM: THE BUSINESS OF STRANGERS
October 20: de Beauvoir, Ethics of Ambiguity
October 22: de Beauvoir, Ethics of Ambiguity

Week 10:
October 25: Butler, "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory"; FILM: THE CRYING GAME
October 27: Butler, "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory"
October 29: Butler, "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory"

Week 11:
November 1: Frantz Fanon,"Algeria Unveiled" and "This is the Voice of Algeria" ; FILM: BATTLE OF ALGIERS
November 3: Fanon, "Algeria Unveiled" and "This is the Voice of Algeria"
November 5: Fanon, "Algeria Unveiled" and "This is the Voice of Algeria"

Week 12:
November 8: Malcolm X, "The Second Rally of the OAAU" and "At the Audubon"; FILM: MALCOLM X
November 10: Malcolm X, "The Second Rally of the OAAU" and "At the Audubon"
November 12: Malcolm X, "The Second Rally of the OAAU" and "At the Audubon"

Week 13:
November 15: Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish ; FILM: MALCOLM X (continued)
November 17: Foucault, Discipline and Punish
November 19: Foucault, Discipline and Punish

November 22 -November 26: Thanksgiving Break

Week 14:
November 29: Foucault, Discipline and Punish; FILM: THE WILD CHILD
December 1: Foucault, Discipline and Punish
December 3: Foucault, Discipline and Punishw

Week 15:
December 6: Review and Evaluations; FILM: 1984
December 8: Review and Evaluations

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