Millennialism and Philosophies of History in Western Culture

 (Govt.329:002; Hist.388:007; Reli.376:005; Soci.413:002)

Spring 2003
 M/W 3:00-4:15.  Robinson A Room 206
Professor Hugh Heclo: Office Phone: 993-2184.  E-Mail: hheclo@visuallink.com

 

This seminar examines systems of ideas that have sought to describe and explain the meaning of human existence in historical time. In Western civilizations, this mystery has entailed special attention to what is called millennial (or chiliastic) perspectives.

Readings: We will read four volumes that are available in bookstore:
Normal Cohn, Cosmos, Chaos and the World to Come; Karl Lowith, Meaning in History;
R. G. Collingwood, The Idea of History; Reinhold Niebuhr, The Nature and Destiny of Man, vol.II.
Additional reading assignments will be handed out in class, send to you via e-mail, or are on e-reserve at the Library (password: "Washington"). You should study and take notes on each assignment and come prepared to discuss it in class. Since this is a seminar, discussion of the material is an integral part of the term's work.
             

 

Expectations: All members of the seminar—instructor and students alike—are expected to:

1)      appear punctually for the class meetings;

2)      prepare conscientiously by reading and studying the assigned material,  and,

3)      communicate with respect, honesty and intellectual seriousness of purpose.

 

No formal record of attendance will be kept, but it will be difficult to pass—and probably impossible to excel—in this course without attending the meetings each week.  “Seminar Participation” (20% of course grade) is not meant to suggest that you should feel presssured always to have something to say, but it does mean you are evaluated on how faithfully and seriously you engaged in our work throughout the semester.

Should medical conditions or other responsibilities make it impossible for you to take an examination or complete an assignment on the scheduled date, you must inform me in advance. Unless you have received permission before or (in the case of an emergency) on that scheduled date, there will be no opportunity for make-up work.  Voice mail is available to you at the number above, as is my e-mail address.  If we fail to speak in person, be sure to leave a message.

 

Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday 1:30-3 in room 207 of the East Building.   If you cannot come to my office during that time, please speak with me in advance to make an appointment. It is very important to talk with me whenever you feel you have questions or difficulties in the course. 

 

Evaluation: The course is divided into three parts, with an examination at the end of each part. The third of these examinations (given on May 5t,h) will include the work of the entire semester.

Except for graduate students, there is no required research paper in the course. (Graduate students are required to prepare and present papers April 23 and 28).  However, undergraduate students may prepare a special topics paper for extra credit toward their final course grade. This topic must be chosen by February 26th, after consultation with the instructor. The final course grade is weighted as follows:

First Examination: 20%; Second examination: 20%; Third Examination: 40%

Seminar Participation: 20%    Optional Extra Credit Paper: 20%

The Extra Credit Paper:  In the normal special topics paper, the student will choose one western thinker relevant to this subject and investigate and report on his or her life, times and ideas in substantial depth. The following list includes paper topics chosen by students in the past.  It is meant to be merely suggestive of the very wide range of choices that are open to you:

Marcus Aurelius/ Augustine /Machiavelli/Calvin/ Bossuet /Burkhardt/ Marx/ Nietzsche/ Tolstoy/ Dostoevsky/ Kierkegaard/ Simone Weil/Hannah Arendt/ Leo Strauss/Hans Jonas/ Michel Foucoult /Jean Paul Sartre/William James/ O. W. Holmes/ Reinhold Niebuhr/ Eugene Rosenstock-Huessy/ Daniel Quinn/ Paulo Coehlo/ Francis Fukiyama/Jared Diamond

 

Extra Credit Paper Specifications   Length: minimum 15 pages ( approximately 4000 words).

Margins: 1 inch.      Font: 12 point, Times Roman.    Justification: left margin only.

Spacing: double.  Grammatical Standard:  Strunk and White, The Elements of Style

Citations: footnotes & bibliography following any standard academic reference format

 

 

READING ASSIGNMENTS

PART I:

 

Approaches to the Philosophy of History. The Religious Point of Departure

Wed. Jan. 22.            Introduction: Who Doesn’t Have a Philosophy of History? 

           

Mon. Jan.27.  Walsh, An Introduction to Philosophy of History,extracts,chapters.1 & 6 (handout)

Collingwood, The Idea of History, “Introduction” (pp.1-13)

Lowith, Meaning in History, “Introduction” pp. 1-19

           

Wed. Jan.29   Rudolf Otto, The Idea of the Holy, extract, chapters 1-4. (handout)

                                    Mircea Eliade, The Myth of the Eternal Return, extract, pp.3-5.(handout)

                                    Niebuhr, Nature and Destiny of Man, pp.1-15.

 

 In the Cycles of Time:               

Mon. Feb.3.   Cohn, chapters 1-2

Wed. Feb.5.   Cohn, chapters 3-5

 

The Jewish Origins of Universal, Providential History

Mon. Feb 10:             Collingwood, Part I. Greco-Roman Historiography, pp.14-45.

Dawson, “The Dynamics of World History” (one page handout)

Eliade, “The Myth of the Eternal Return” (handout)

 

Wed. Feb 12.            Heritage: Civilization and the Jews: Episode 1 “A People is Born” (DVD)

Cohn, chapters 7

           

            Mon. Feb. 17.            Heritage: Civilization and the Jews: Episode 2 “The Power of the Word” (DVD) Cohn, chapter 8

 

            Wed. Feb. 19.            Cohn chapters 9-10    

 

            Mon. Feb.24.            Examination

 

PART II:

 

Incarnational History: the Christian Worldview

Wed. Feb.26.             Cohn, chapters 11-12

                                    Lowith, Meaning in History, chapter 11, pp. 182-90

Dawson, “Dynamics of World History (The Christian View of History) (e-reserve)

                                     “The Didache” (on e-reserve under the entry “Burghardt, Walter and T.C. Lawler,

J.Quasten, Ancient Christian Writers Series: no. 6”)

                                    Collingwood, The Idea of History, pp.46-56

 

            Mon. March 3.            Niebuhr, The Nature and Destiny of Man, pp.15-97

 

Wed. March 5.            Niebuhr, The Nature and Destiny of Man, chapters 4 and 5, pp.98-156

 

Week 8: Spring Recess

 

Millennialism Unleashed: Renaissance and Reformation

            Mon. March 17. Hill,“Why the Early Church Finally Rejected Premillennialism (handout)

                                    Wainwright, “Millenarianism in the Early Church” chapter 2 (handout)

                                    Augustine, selections from Book 20, The City of God (on e-reserve under the entry

 “Robert Hutchins, Great Books of the Western World” (City of God XX))

                                    Lowith, Meaning in History chap. 9 & 10, pp.160-81

 

            Wed. March 19.            Lowith, Meaning in History chap. 8 and appendix I, pp.145-59 and 208-13

                                    Dawson, “The Kingdom of God and History” (handout)

                                    Wainwright, “The Revival of Millennialism” chapter 5 (e-reserve)

                                    Cohn, “The Pursuit of the Millennium (Egalitarian Millennium)” (e-reserve)

 

Mon. March 24. Niebuhr, The Nature and Destiny of Man, chapters 6 and 7, pp.157-212

 

            Wed. March 26. Examination

 

 

 

PART III:

 

The New World, Enlightenment and German Romanticism

Mon. March 31.            Collingwood, The Idea of History pp.57-85.

                        Lowith, Meaning in History, chapters 6 and 7, pp.115-44

Grafton, Bring Out Your Dead “Introduction to the New Science of Giambattista Vico” (e-reserve)

 

Wed. April 2.  Sweet, “Christopher Columbus & the Millennial Vision” (e-reserve)

                                    Persons, “The Cyclical Theory of History in 18th c. America” (e-reserve)

                                    Lienesch, “The Role of Political Millennialism in American Nationalism” (e-reserve)

 

 

            Mon. April 7.  Lowith, Meaning in History, chapter 5, pp.104-114

                                    Collingwood, The Idea of History, pp.86-113

 

The 19th century Rise of Modern Political Ideologies

 

Wed. April 9. Walsh, An Introduction to Philosophy of History,  “Hegel” (e-reserve)

                                    Gardiner, Theories of History, (Philosophical History), pp.60-72e)

                                    Collingwood, The Idea of History “ Hegel” pp. 113-122

                        Lowith, Meaning in History, chapter 3, pp.52-59

           

Mon. April 14:             Lowith, chapter 4, pp.60-103

                        Gardiner, Theories of History, (Positive Philosophy & Study of Society) (e-reserve)

           

            Wed. April 16:            Collingwood, The Idea of History, pp.122-133

                                    Lowith, Meaning in History, chapter 2, pp. 33-51

                                    Gardiner, Theories of History, (Materialist Conception of History) (e-reserve)

 

            Mon. April 21:             Lowith, Meaning in History, chapter 1 and Appendix 2, pp. 20-32, 214-22 

 

            Wed. April 23: Student presentation      

 

            Mon. April 28: Student presentation      

 

            Wed. April 30:            Niebuhr, The Nature and Destiny of Man, chapter 10, pp. 287-321

                                    Lowith, Meaning in History, Conclusion and Epilogue, pp. 191-207

 

Mon. May  5: Examination