The Great Philosophers course is an opportunity to study a philosopher, or a pair of philosophers, in depth and in relation to the context of his/her biography and historical period. In this way, we can truly see the development of a philosopher's thinking as determined by personality, growth, and social influences.
Friedrich Nietzsche was one of the greatest, if not also most controversial, of the philosophers of the 19th Century. While it is, perhaps, presumptuous to base an entire course on his philosophy, there are increasingly rich resources relating to his life, associations, and correspondence. Also, the interpretation of Nietzsche's thought has been an object of philosophical investigation by many thinkers in the contemporary period. There are, indeed, few philosophers whose lives have been subjected to such close scrutiny; and this is largely because there are few other philosophers for whom life and philosophy were so closely driven by each other.
In both Nietzsche's philosophy and his life we find a critique of modern Western Civilization and, with it, the final phase of Western philosophy. To study these things, we must confront the not-so-well-defined differentiation between sanity and insanity, science and art, growth and decay. As we come to understand the problems that Nietzsche posed, we must also ask how these dilemmas of Western Civilization can or should be dealt with responsively.
Personal Information
My office is Rm 249 in Parson's Hall. You can contact me by phone at 607-3148; but you can contact me more quickly by e-mail at Tad_Beckman@hmc.edu .
Resources for this course are on the Web and are found at http://www4.hmc.edu/humanities/phil170/ .You may want to create a bookmark here so that you can return easily. For this course, you will find a copy of the syllabus, a schedule (which will be updated throughout the semester), paper assignments, course notes (which take the place of background lectures), and resources (which point to a number of philosophically interesting sites on the Web).
We also have an e-mail list at Phil-170-L@hmc.edu . I hope that you will take advantage of this form of communication to ask questions that haven't been adequately answered in class discussions, make comments about readings and discussions, etc.
Attendance and participation in class discussions are expected. If there is any reason why you cannot attend this class regularly, please see me immediately. Since the bulk of class time will be devoted to discussion of the texts, it is essential that everyone finish the assigned reading before class and be prepared to talk about it and ask questions, intelligently. See the reading schedule. This class will be attended by both HMC undergraduate students and CGU graduate students.
Since critical thinking about a text should begin with the reading and prior to sitting in class, I will ask each student to contribute a discussion of some point that comes out of each day's reading. The discussion site can be reached from the Course Home Page. You will find further directions there.
There will be three writing assignments during the semester, the last of which will be a culminating term paper. Due dates are indicated on the schedule. See the separate page for paper assignments.
Grading will be based on the following approximate distribution of emphasis:
Participation in class discussions (20%)
Web discussion submissions (30%)
Papers:
--- midterms (2) (15% each)
--- term paper (20%)
Bibliography
AUTHOR: Nietzsche, Friedrich W. TITLE: The Birth of Tragedy IMPRINT: New York : : Random House, Incorporated, , April 1967 ISBN 0394703693
[please confirm that The Case of Wagner is still included in this edition; if not also order
AUTHOR: Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm TITLE: The Case of Wagner IMPRINT: New York : : Gordon Press Publishers, ,
Aug. 1974 ISBN 0879682035]
AUTHOR: Nietzsche, Friedrich TITLE: Untimely Meditations IMPRINT: New York : : Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521585848
AUTHOR: Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm TITLE: The Gay Science IMPRINT: New York : : Random House, Incorporated, , March 1974 ISBN 0394719859
AUTHOR: Nietzsche, Friedrich W. TITLE: Thus Spoke Zarathustra IMPRINT: New York : : Random House, Incorporated, , Sept. 1995 ISBN 0679601759
AUTHOR: Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm TITLE: Beyond Good & Evil; Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future IMPRINT: New York : : Random House, Incorporated, , Dec. 1989 ISBN 0679724656
AUTHOR: Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm TITLE: On the Genealogy of Morals IMPRINT: New York : : Random House, Incorporated, , Dec. 1989 ISBN 0679724621
[please check whether Ecce Homo is included in this edition and if not also order
AUTHOR: Nietzsche, Friedrich W. TITLE: Ecce Homo IMPRINT: New York : : Random House, Incorporated, , Oct. 1967
ISBN 0318554577]
AUTHOR: Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm TITLE: The Antichrist & Twilight of the Gods IMPRINT: New York : : Gordon Press Publishers, , Aug. 1974 ISBN 0879682108
Updated on January 14, 1998; return here to 
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