"Self: Discovery and Transformation." I want to include philosophical, literary, and some "pop" readings. I'm thinking I'll structure it around: discovery of the self, the self in action, the embedded self, and transforming the self. I have a list of readings that is way too long as it is:
·
St.
Augustine, Confessions
·
Descartes,
Rene, Selections from the Meditations
·
Hume,
David, Selections from An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
·
Perry, A Dialogue On Personal Identity And
Immortality
·
Frankfurt,
Harry, “Freedom of the Will and the Concept of
a Person”
·
Velleman,
David, “So It Goes”
·
Taylor, Charles, “Responsibility for Self”
·
DuBois,
W.E., Selections from The Souls of Black Folk
·
Malcolm
X, The Autobiography of Malcolm X
·
Beauvoir,
Simone, Selections from The Second Sex
·
Walpola,
Rahula, Selections from What the Buddha Taught
·
Dennett, Daniel “Self as the Narrative Center of Gravity
·
Nietzsche,
Selections
·
Nehamas,
Selections from Nietzsche: Life as Literature
·
Sartre,
Jean-Paul, Nausea
·
Gilbert,
Margaret, Eat Pray Love
I would appreciate any other additions/suggestions/thoughts about this reading list. It should be accessible to first semester first-year college students and the class is linked to a composition section, so the focus will be on college writing.
J. Velleman builds off of Dennett's fictionalism in a neat way. See "The Self as Narrator" in Self to Self: Selected Essays.
ReplyDeleteWell, actually, the whole of Self to Self is pretty neat.
I'm using an article in a class I'm teaching on good and evil, dealing with the transformation of the self. I think it might fit well with what you are doing, as it is accessible and I think offers a lot for discussion:
ReplyDeleteJames Gould, "Becoming Good: The role of spiritual practice," Philosophical Practice 1 (2005): 135-147.
Thanks for the suggestions!
ReplyDeleteSections from Plato's Republic seem to be well received by first years.
ReplyDeleteFrom a more 'pop' perspective, I'd go with a movie like Fight Club. If film wasn't an option, perhaps Conrad's Heart of Darkness.
I see a variety of selections here from various cultures, can I suggest the Tao Te Ching.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Marya Schechtman's "The Constitution of Selves", the 2nd part of it on her narrative self-constitution view. Not totally easy, but pretty clear and inspiring.
ReplyDeleteRorty's book on Irony, especially his bit on overcoming the anxiety of influence and the sublimation of blind-impresses.
ReplyDelete-dmf
Charles Guignon's little book "On Being Authentic" (Routledge) may contain some useful stuff. I used to use it in a course called 'Search for Authenticity' (now defunct). Probably useful mostly as optional background reading. But as I recall he makes some interesting connections between philosophical and psychological traditions and current 'pop' self-help themes as well.
ReplyDeleteGuignon's book is superb as an analysis of the concept of authenticity, but I'm trying to recall what use it is as a guide for self-improvement..
DeleteRecommend- Galen Strawson's essay, which I'm sure will fascinate,
ReplyDelete"Against Narrativity" and his chat with "Philosophy Bites" podcast
(got me thinkin' about "the self" and all this narrative business)
http://lchc.ucsd.edu/mca/Paper/against_narrativity.pdf
I think John Stuart Mill's Autobiography would probably be one of the best texts you could use in a course like this.
ReplyDeleteYou mention you might use literature: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen shows how individuals can discover their own faults, learn and change.
ReplyDelete