LITS2306 HISTORY OF CRITICISM

MODULE TWO: THE 'PHILOSOPHICAL' TRADITION
 

WEEK FIVE: EARLY MODERN PHILOSOPHY: THE ENLIGHTENMENT (c.1600 - c.1785)
(Week of October 3)
 

REQUIRED READINGS:

• René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy [1641]:
  • Meditations I and II: see extract entitled "New Foundations for Knowledge," pp. 22-26 in Cottingham
  • Meditations II and VI: see extract entitled "The Incorporeal Mind," pp. 145-152 in Cottingham

• 05A Descartes Meditations (Books I and II)

• John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding [1690]:
  • Book I Ch. 2 and Book II Ch. 1: see extract entitled "The Senses as the Basis of Knowledge," pp. 26-32 in Cottingham
  • Book II:
    • Ch. 8: see extract entitled "Qualities and Ideas," pp. 80-85 in Cottingham
    • Ch. 27: see extract entitled "The Self and Consciousness," pp. 187-192 in Cottingham
  • Book III (pp. 254-268 in Adams):
    • Ch. 2 "Of the Signification of Words"
    • Ch. 3 "Of General Terms"
    • Ch. 9: "Of the Imperfection of Words"
    • Ch. 10: "Of the Abuse of Words"

• 05B Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (Books I, II and III)

• Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason [1781]: see extract entitled "Experience and Understanding," pp. 41-45 in Cottingham

• 05C Kant, Critique of Pure Reason (Selections)

RECOMMENDED READINGS:

• Bristow, William: The Enlightenment (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
• Hatfield, Gary: René Descartes (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
• Lennon, Thomas M., and Shannon Dea: Continental Rationalism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
• Markie, Peter: Rationalism vs. Empiricism (Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy)
• Rohlf, Michael: Immanuel Kant (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
• Uzgalis, Bill: John Locke (Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy)

PHILWEB RESOURCES:

• Early Modern Thought:
  • Descartes
  • Locke
  • Kant

• Please bring 05A to Tuesday's Lecture, 05B to Thursday's lecture and 05C to your tutorial this week.

WEEK SIX: ANGLO-AMERICAN THEORY I:
THE AUTHOR / THE LITERARY TRADITION
(Week of October 10)
 

REQUIRED READINGS:

• Matthew Arnold, "The Study of Poetry" [1880] (pp. 603-607 in Adams)

• 06A Arnold, "The Study of Poetry"

• T. S. Eliot, "Tradition and the Individual Talent" [1917] (pp. 761-764 in Adams; pp. 1092-1098 in Leitch)

• 06B Eliot, "Tradition and the Individual Talent"

• W. K. Wimsatt and Monroe C. Beardsley, "The Intentional Fallacy" [1946] (pp. 945-952 in Adams; pp. 1374-1387 in Leitch)

• 06C Wimsatt and Beardsley, "The Intentional Fallacy"

RECOMMENDED READINGS:

PHILWEB RESOURCES:

• 'Victorian' Literary Theory:
• Arnold
• Anglo-American Theory:
  • Modernism:
    • Eliot
  • New Criticism:
    • Beardsley
    • Wimsatt

WEEK SEVEN: ANGLO-AMERICAN THEORY II:
THE READER
(Week of October 17)
 

REQUIRED READINGS:

• Matthew Arnold, "The Function of Criticism at the Present Time" [1864] (pp. 592-603 in Adams; pp. 806-824 in Leitch)

• 07A Arnold, "The Function of Criticism at the Present Time"

• I. A. Richards, Practical Criticism [1929]:
  • Part I "Introductory" (pp. 1-16)
  • Part III "Analysis": Chapter 1 "The Four Kinds of Meaning" and Chapter 7 "Doctrine in Poetry" (also pp. 827-837 in Adams)

• 07B Richards, Practical Criticism

• W. K. Wimsatt and Monroe C. Beardsley, "The Affective Fallacy" [1949] (pp. 952-959 in Adams; pp. 1387-1403 in Leitch)

• 07C Wimsatt and Beardsley, "The Affective Fallacy"

RECOMMENDED READINGS:

PHILWEB RESOURCES:

'Victorian' Literary Theory:
• Arnold
• Anglo-American Theory:
  • Modernism:
    • Richards
  • New Criticism:
    • Beardsley
    • Wimsatt

WEEK EIGHT: ANGLO-AMERICAN THEORY III:
REPRESENTATION AND FORM
(Week of October 24)
 

REQUIRED READINGS:

• John Crowe Ransom, "Criticism as Pure Speculation" [1941] (pp. 874-883 in Adams)
• Cleanth Brooks, "The Heresy of Paraphrase" [1947] (pp. 961-968 in Adams; pp. 1353-1366 in Leitch)

• 08A Ransom, "Criticism as Pure Speculation"
• 08B Brooks, "The Heresy of Paraphrase"

• Emile Zola, "From The Experimental Novel" [1880] (pp. 645-655 in Adams)

• 08C Zola, The Experimental Novel

• Ian Watt, The Rise of the Novel [1957]: "Realism and the Novel Form"

• 08D Watt, "Realism and the Novel Form"

RECOMMENDED READINGS:

PHILWEB RESOURCES:

• 'Victorian' Literary Theory:
  • Zola
• Anglo-American Theory:
  • New Criticism (Representation / Poetry):
    • Brooks
    • Ransom
• Representation / Prose Fiction:
  • Watt