Fall 2011, Morse Academic Plan UA.0400 Texts and Ideas: Animal humans New York University Lecture: TR 11 am- 12:15 pm, Cantor 200

Transcription

1 Sometimes we're animals. How else to account for a man who approaches a female chimp nursing its wide- eyed newborn, takes aim amid howling protests from nearby apes and blasts the mother with a tranquilizer dart - - then snatches the sobbing infant and delivers it to an otherwise thoughtful, loving woman, who whisks the creature off to her New York brownstone? It was science, this was the '70s, and the gauntlet had been thrown down by none other than Noam Chomsky. While nonhumans may communicate with one another, the MIT linguist said, they are fundamentally incapable of language. From Chris Colin, The chimp who thought he was a boy < > Bonobo Bambi Wolf-man Fall 2011, Morse Academic Plan UA.0400 Texts and Ideas: New York University Lecture: TR 11 am- 12:15 pm, Cantor 200 Professor Jacques (<jl174@nyu.edu>) Department of Comparative Literature Rm. 303, University Place, ph Office Hours: T 1-3 pm and by appointment Preceptors: Juan Carlos Aguirre <jca302@nyu.edu> Nienke Boer <nb1105@nyu.edu> Kevin Daniel Goldstein <kdg245@nyu.edu> Benedict Hunting <bh826@nyu.edu> Ceci Moss <clm406@nyu.edu> Mert Bahadir Reisoglu <mbr304@nyu.edu> Ozen Nergis Dolcerocca <nergis@nyu.edu>

2 Page 2 Sections: MAP-UA 400 Class#: 9838 Session: 09/06/ /16/2011 Section: /06/ /16/2011 Fri 8.00 AM AM at SILV 506 with Moss, Cecilia MAP-UA 400 Class#: 9839 Session: 09/06/ /16/2011 Section: /06/ /16/2011 Fri 9.30 AM AM at TISC LC6 with Moss, Cecilia MAP-UA 400 Class#: 9840 Session: 09/06/ /16/2011 Section: /06/ /16/2011 Fri AM PM at 145F 210 with Hunting, Benedict MAP-UA 400 Class#: 9841 Session: 09/06/ /16/2011 Section: /06/ /16/2011 Fri PM PM at 145F 210 with Hunting, Benedict MAP-UA 400 Class#: 9842 Session: 09/06/ /16/2011 Section: /06/ /16/2011 Fri AM PM at SILV 518 with Dolcerocca, Ozen MAP-UA 400 Class#: 9843 Session: 09/06/ /16/2011 Section: /06/ /16/2011 Fri 8.00 AM AM at SILV 512 with Goldstein, Kevin MAP-UA 400 Class#: 9844 Session: 09/06/ /16/2011 Section: /06/ /16/2011 Fri 9.30 AM AM at TISC LC5 with Goldstein, Kevin MAP-UA 400 Class#: 9845 Session: 09/06/ /16/2011 Section: /06/ /16/2011 Fri 9.30 AM AM at TISC LC4 with Dolcerocca, Ozen MAP-UA 400 Class#: 9846 Session: 09/06/ /16/2011 Section: /06/ /16/2011 Fri AM PM at 25W4 C-5 with Aguirre, Juan MAP-UA 400 Class#: 9847 Session: 09/06/ /16/2011 Section: /06/ /16/2011 Fri PM PM at 145F 207 with Aguirre, Juan MAP-UA 400 Class#: 9848 Session: 09/06/ /16/2011 Section: /06/ /16/2011 Mon 8.00 AM AM at BOBS LL142 with Reisoglu, Mert MAP-UA 400 Class#: 9849 Session: 09/06/ /16/2011 Section: /06/ /16/2011 Mon 9.30 AM AM at 25W4 C-12 with Reisoglu, Mert MAP-UA 400 Class#: Session: 09/06/ /16/2011 Section: /06/ /16/2011 Fri AM PM at 12WV L114 with Boer, Nienke

3 MAP-UA 400 Class#: Session: 09/06/ /16/2011 Section: /06/ /16/2011 Fri PM PM at 12WV L114 with Boer, Nienke Page 3 One might go so far as to define man as a creature that has failed in its effort to keep its animalness So writes the German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk. What sort of animal were we? Where, how and by whom has the line between the human and the animal been drawn? With what consequences for our human understanding of the world? Of concepts like the soul, society, politics, the family? Is the line between the human and the animal drawn differently in different genres in literary works, theological treatises, natural histories, paintings, films? We will come at these questions from different angles, following them in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, pre-socratic and other classical works (Ovid, Pliny, Euripides), in early modern responses to these questions (in works by Marie de France, Shakespeare, Montaigne, Descartes, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Titian), in essays by contemporary philosophers and advocates (Singer, Derrida), and in films that treat the blurring of borders between humans and animals (Walker, Wylie). Course requirements: Attendance at lecture and recitations. Militant participation in discussion. Two essays (4-5pp double spaced), the first essay to be rewritten and resubmitted if the preceptor indicates. In-class midterm OR Visual Assignment (4-5 pp. double spaced), and final exam. Readings: The texts listed on this syllabus should be read for the lecture in which they will be presented, not after! Grading: Attendance, discussion, and short weekly recitation assignments: 20 % Two essays: 40 % Mid-Term OR Visual Assignment: 20 % Final: 20 % Unpleasant observation regarding computer use in lecture and in section: You may use your laptop to take notes during lecture. Computers may not be used in section. It is highly disrespectful insulting, in fact to your teacher to check , play games, watch films, go on Facebook, etc. during lecture. Worse other students find it distracting. Lecture halls, however, are not police-states in small. We will not parade the aisles constantly, checking that you are making appropriate use of your laptops. If, however, we receive complaints or notice that students are abusing, I will prohibit the use of laptops in lecture altogether. Course books are available at the University Book Store. Screening times for the films will be announced. Blackboard: A good number of the class readings are posted on the class Blackboard site, and all of the images we use in class will be there as well. (On the Schedule below, posted items are marked Bb.) I encourage you to visit the site often. The TAs and I will rely on the Blackboard function to relay information about

4 the course. These s go to your NYU.edu account. If you do not use that account, you should right away give your TA your preferred address. Page 4 Schedule of readings and assignments September 6 T Introduction: Animal humans Genesis 1 and Genesis 22 (Bb) Caravaggio, Sacrifice of Isaac (Bb) Yeats, Leda and the Swan (Bb) 8 Th Plato, Phaedrus 13 T Plato, Phaedrus 15 Th Euripides, The Bacchae 20 T Euripides, The Bacchae **Essay 1 due in lecture** 22 Th Ovid, Metamorphoses Aristotle, On the Motion of Animals (Bb) 27 T Ovid, Metamorphoses Titian, The Rape of Europa (Bb) Velázquez, Las Hilanderas (The Fable of Arachne) (Bb) 29 Th Apuleius, The Golden Ass Pliny, Naturalis Historia (Bb) October 4 T Apuleius, The Golden Ass Pliny, Naturalis Historia (Bb) 6 Th **No class visit Metropolitan Museum or another museum on your own in preparation for Visual Assignment 11 T **No class** 13 Th The Gospel of Luke 18 T Aquinas, Summa Theologica 1, q. 75 (Bb) 20 Th Marie de France, Bisclavret Agamben, The Ban and the Wolf (Bb) 25 T Marie de France, Bisclavret Agamben, The Ban and the Wolf (Bb) 27 Th **In-Class Midterm Examination OR **Hand in Visual Assignment November 1 T Walker, Werewolf of London (1935) 3 Th Walker, Werewolf of London (1935)

5 8 T Cervantes, The Dialogue of the Dogs (Bb) 10 Th Montaigne, Of Cannibals (Bb) Page 5 November 15 T Montaigne, Apology in Defense of Raymond Sebond (Bb) 17 Th Montaigne, Apology in Defense of Raymond Sebond (Bb) 18 F **Essay 2 due by the end of the day on Friday, Nov. 18** 22 T Descartes, Discourse of Method Derrida, The Animal That Therefore I Am (Bb) Singer, All Animals Are Equal (Bb) Thanksgiving 29 T Descartes, Discourse of Method Derrida, The Animal That Therefore I Am (Bb) Singer, All Animals Are Equal (Bb) Hearne, How to say Fetch! (Bb) December 1 Th Shakespeare, Midsummer Night s Dream Bibliography: 6 T Shakespeare, Midsummer Night s Dream 8 Th H.G. Wells, The Island of Dr. Moreau and Island of Lost Souls (Wylie, 1933) 13 T H.G. Wells, The Island of Dr. Moreau and Island of Lost Souls (Wylie, 1933) 15 Th Conclusion: Beyond Nim Chimpsky? **Take-Home Final Exam Prompts Distributed** 19 M Final Exam period begins 20 T ** Take-Home Final Exam Due** These are the editions I have ordered. You should try to make use of them, since the class readings will be keyed to page numbers in these translations. Plato, Phaedrus, Albert Keith Whitaker (Editor), Stephen Scully (Translator). Focus Publishing/R. Pullins Company Euripides, Bacchae (Cambridge Translations from Greek Drama), David Franklin (Editor). Cambridge University Press Ovid, Metamorphoses, Denis Feeney (Introduction), David Raeburn (Translator). Penguin Classics Apuleius, The Golden Ass, E. J. Kenney (Introduction, Translator). Penguin Classics New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, augmented 3rd College Edition.

6 The Lais of Marie de France, Glyn S. Burgess (Introduction, Translator), Keith Busby (Introduction, Translator). Penguin Page 6 Classics; 2nd edition Descartes, Rene. Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy (Paperback). BN Publishing Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night's Dream, A. R. Braunmuller (Editor), Stephen Orgel (Editor), Russ McDonald (Introduction). Penguin Classics Wells, H.G. The Island of Dr. Moreau. Bantam Classics