European Intellectual History since Nietzsche Marci Shore
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- History
Ideas matter. They cross borders; they are cosmopolitan by their nature. Intellectual history is a history of intertwining conversations, a history of posing questions not easily—or ever—answered. HIST 271 is a survey of modern European intellectual history, sketching a narrative arc from the late 18th century transition to modernity through the late 20th century transition to post-modernity. (Modernity is largely about replacing God. Postmodernity begins when we give up on replacing God.) With Marci Shore, Associate Professor of History.
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Class 1: Introduction to the Course
“In general modern man has no solutions.”—Alexander Herzen, From the Other Shore. HIST 271/HUMS 339: European Intellectual History since Nietzsche is a survey course designed to introduce students to the dominant trends in modern European intellectual history. The class aims to sketch a narrative arc from the late 18th century transition to modernity through the … Read More Read More
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Class 2: The Heritage of the Enlightenment
“Our Western heritage is reason—reason, analysis, action, progress!” –Settembrini the organ-grinder in Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain. HIST 271/HUMS 339: European Intellectual History since Nietzsche is a survey course designed to introduce students to the dominant trends in modern European intellectual history. The class aims to sketch a narrative arc from the late 18th century … Read More Read More
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Class 3: The Legacy of Romanticism
“You see, gentlemen, reason is unquestionably a fine thing, but reason is no more than reason, and it gives fulfillment only to man’s reasoning capacity, while desires are a manifestation of the whole of life. . .”—Fyodor Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground. HIST 271/HUMS 339: European Intellectual History since Nietzsche is a survey course designed to … Read More Read More
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Class 4: Hegel and the Historicist Chronotope
“The truth is the whole.” –G. W. F. Hegel, Phenomenology of the Spirit. HIST 271/HUMS 339: European Intellectual History since Nietzsche is a survey course designed to introduce students to the dominant trends in modern European intellectual history. The class aims to sketch a narrative arc from the late 18th century transition to modernity through … Read More Read More
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Class 5: Marxism
“A specter is haunting Europe—the specter of communism.”—Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto. HIST 271/HUMS 339: European Intellectual History since Nietzsche is a survey course designed to introduce students to the dominant trends in modern European intellectual history. The class aims to sketch a narrative arc from the late 18th century transition to … Read More Read More
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Class 6: Nietzsche and the Death of God
“God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we, the murderers of all murderers, comfort ourselves?”—Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science. HIST 271/HUMS 339: European Intellectual History since Nietzsche is a survey course designed to introduce students to the dominant trends in modern European intellectual history. The class aims to sketch … Read More Read More