216/316. Aristotle's Politics (=Fndmtl 256, Hum 256). Special attention is given to the problems Aristotle thought important to consider and why they continue to be problems which are worthy of attention. Of particular interest is the manner in which politics is distinct from but interrelated with many other enterprises and the shaping of the inquiry as a deliberation which is meant to eventuate in choices by the readers. Another more recent text in the same general tradition, most probably J. S. Mill's On Representative Government, is read for comparative purposes. D. Smigelskis. Spring.

219/319. Milton's Paradise Lost (=Fndmtl 219, Hum 208). This course is based on a close reading of Milton's Paradise Lost with emphasis on the poem's redefinition of heroic virtue and on the text's engagement with issues of family, politics, history, psychology, and theology. W. Olmsted. Winter.

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252/352. Aristotle's Poetics (=Fndmtl 290, Hum 262). Courses about art are usually concerned with aesthetic and critical questions and rarely pause to consider questions about how to make works of art. Aristotle's Poetics would seem to be, in large part at least, about the latter with the primary focus being certain types of stories. The relation between aesthetic/critical and poetic strategies will be discussed. In addition, the text we have is filled with ambiguities. Rather than being a liability, these ambiguities are an occasion to explore various possibilities of what a poetic enterprise might involve. Furthermore, various types of stories either mentioned by Aristotle or which are seeming counterexamples to what he says will also be part of the course readings and class discussion. D. Smigelskis. Autumn.

269/369. Hegel's Philosophy of Right (=Fndmtl 230, Hum 247). The course first focuses on "translating"--becoming more familiar with--what is to many the peculiar language of Hegel, a language which has set and still sets the most important boundaries and questions for many thinkers, not merely about politics but also about economics, sociology, and jurisprudence. More importantly, a concern with particular arguments and the general strategies of his argument understood broadly is also stressed and pushed as far as time and student interest permit. In particular, once some comfort with the language is attained, a somewhat critical stance is adopted, if for no other reason than to guard against the possible bewitchment by what is probably for many a somewhat new language of thought. D. Smigelskis. Autumn.

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270/370. Kant: Ethics, Politics, History, and Religion (=Fndmtl 272, Hum 245). Kant's writings on the practical are often called formalist and deontic. This reading is usually based solely on the Grundlegung (the English title of which is normally either Fundamental Principles or Groundwork), an early "critical" work written for a very specific purpose. The assumption in this course is that Kant is much more interesting than this reading indicates and than attention to the Grundlegung alone allows. Some of the course readings, consequently, are his Metaphysics of Morals, Religion within the Limits of Reason Alone, and various essays on "history." These in combination provide subtle and consciously interrelated reflections on the problems of practice. D. Smigelskis. Spring.

290/390. Augustine's Confessions and The Life of Teresa (=Fndmtl 276, Hum 207). The course examines confession and autobiography as ways of orienting lives and selves toward alteration. Focusing in particular on love and discourse as agents of transformation, it consists of a close reading of the texts in English translation. We spend about seven weeks on the Confessions and about three on The Life of Teresa. Class consists of brief lectures and discussion. Students may choose to write papers on one or both of the texts. W. Olmsted. Autumn.

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