Cyberseminar » Nietzsche and Objectivism »
Spring 2000 Cyberseminar in Objectivist Studies:
Nietzsche and Objectivism
Faculty-in-Residence: Stephen Hicks, Ph.D.
Moderator: William Thomas
Email: cybersem@objectivistcenter.org
The Spring Cyberseminar in Objectivist Studies is taught by
Stephen Hicks, TOC Senior Fellow and Associate Professor of Philosophy at
Rockford College. The topic is the philosophy of Friedrich
Nietzsche and its influence on Ayn Rand (See the syllabus below for more details).
In Nietzsche we have a thinker of great direct significance for
Objectivism due to the similarity often drawn between his ethics and
Rand's and his probable influence on Rand.
Spring 2000 Cyberseminar Schedule and Syllabus:
Introduction and Goals: Jan. 24-Jan. 30
Part One: On Human Nature and Values: Jan 31-Feb. 20
Genealogy of Morals: Preface and First Essay
Beyond Good and Evil: Part IV sections 68 and 158; all of Part IX
Topics addressed in Part One:
On master and slave psychologies and moralities
On slave morality and Judeo-Christian history
Philological evidence
Assignments for Part One (by due date):
Monday Jan. 31 [Part One Opening Essay by Stephen Hicks posted]
Friday Feb. 4: Jason Ticknor-Schwob First Review Essay
Tuesday Feb. 8: Eyal Mozes 1st Commentary on First Review Essay
Tuesday Feb. 8: Diana Mertz Hsieh Second Review Essay
Wednesday Feb. 9: Thomas Gramstad 2nd Commentary on First Review Essay
Friday Feb. 11: Christopher Robinson 1st Commentary on Second Review Essay
Sunday Feb.13: William Dale 2nd Commentary on Second Review Essay
Thursday Feb. 17: Will Thomas Summary of Part One Discussion
Part Two: On Metaphysics and Epistemology: Feb. 21-Mar. 19
The Will to Power: Book Three, Part I, (sections 466-617); and section 1067
Genealogy of Morals: "Preface" section 2, Third Essay sections 12 and 25.
Beyond Good & Evil: sections 207 and 211
The Gay Science: section 354
Topics addressed in Part Two:
On reason
On philosophers and systematic philosophy
On science
On will
On reality
Assignments for Part Two (by due date):
Monday Feb. 21: [Part Two Opening Essay by Stephen Hicks posted]
Friday Feb. 25: Shawn Klein First Review Essay
Monday Feb. 28: Michal Fram-Cohen 1st Commentary on First Review Essay
Tuesday March 7: William Dale Second Review Essay
Wednesday Mar. 8: Jason Walker 2nd Commentary on First Review Essay
Friday Mar. 10: David Potts 1st Commentary on Second Review Essay
Sunday Mar. 12: Will Wilkinson 2nd Commentary on Second Review Essay
Thursday Mar. 16: Christopher Robinson Summary of Part Two Discussion
Part Three: On History and Culture: Mar. 20-Apr. 16
The Will to Power: "Preface," and Book I.
Beyond Good & Evil: "Part One: On the Prejudices of Philosophers"
Topics addressed in Part Three:
On socialism and religion
On decline
On the Germans and the Jews
Nietzsche and the National Socialists
Assignments for Part Three (by due date):
Monday Mar. 20: [Part Three Opening Essay by Stephen Hicks posted]
Saturday Mar. 25: D.J. Glombowski First Review Essay
Tuesday Mar. 28: Eyal Mozes 1st Commentary on First Review Essay
Thursday Mar. 30: Jason Ticknor-Schwob 2nd Commentary on First Review Essay
Thursday Mar. 30: David Potts Second Review Essay
Sunday Apr. 2: Christopher Robinson 1st Commentary on Second Review Essay
Tuesday Apr. 4: Shawn Klein 2nd Commentary on Second Review Essay
Sunday Apr. 9: Michal Fram-Cohen Summary of Part Three Discussion
Sunday Apr. 9: Jason Walker Summary of Part Three Discussion
Part Four: Nietzsche and Ayn Rand: Apr. 17-May 14
Will to Power: sections 246 and 369
Twilight of the Idols: section 33
Schopenhauer as Educator (Second Untimely Meditation): "The Challenge of Every Great Philosophy" (Excerpted in Walter Kaufmann's Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre)
Human, All-too-Human, "A Glance at the State"
Chris Sciabarra, "The Influence of Nietzsche in Russia," pp. 31-35 of Ayn
Rand, The Russian Radical
Ronald Merrill's The Ideas of Ayn Rand: Chapter 3
Ayn Rand, pp. 90-96 of the 1936 edition of We the Living (TOC will provide copies)
Ayn Rand, First Philosophical Journal. Chapter 3 of Journals of Ayn Rand, ed. David Harriman.
Topics addressed in Part Four:
Metaphysics
Epistemology
Human Nature
Ethics
Politics
Sense of Life
Assignments for Part Four (by due date):
Monday Apr. 17: [Part Four Opening Essay by Stephen Hicks posted]
Saturday Apr. 22: Will Wilkinson First Review Essay
Tuesday Apr. 25: Jason Ticknor-Schwob 1st Commentary on First Review Essay Thursday Apr. 27: Diana Mertz Hsieh 2nd Commentary on First Review Essay
Thursday Apr. 27: Eyal Mozes Second Review Essay
Sunday Apr. 30: Will Thomas 1st Commentary on Second Review Essay
Tuesday May 2: Michal Fram-Cohen 2nd Commentary on Second Review Essay
Tuesday, May 2: D.J. Glombowski 3rd Commentary on Third Review Essay
Sunday May 7: Thomas Gramstad Summary of Part Four Discussion
Wrap-up: May 10-20
FORMAT OF WINTER/SPRING 2000 CYBERSEMINAR:
The syllabus is broken into four major topical sections, with assigned readings associated with each section. We will devote three weeks to each of these sections.
At the start of a new section, Stephen Hicks will post an opening essay touching on the major themes he sees raised in the readings. His opening essay will pose questions for further discussion and set the groundwork for the discussion to follow.
FORMAL POSTS:
There are THREE kinds of formal posts that address the reading and follow up on Stephen Hicks' opening essay. These are: major review essays, commentaries, and summaries. Active participants must commit to writing two formal posts (more on this below).
For each reading, there will be two REVIEW essays, that comment directly on the reading. Each review essay should be 1500-3500 words in length, and should analyze the work in question employing the insights of the Objectivist philosophical system. Review essays are posted early in each section. Each review essay has a specific due date in the syllabus. Please scrupulously observe these dates: the entire section depends on the timeliness of these essays.
In addition to the review essays, there will be four COMMENTARIES for each three-week cycle. Comments should be 500-1500 words in length, and respond to the review essays. The comments also have due dates, and are generally posted in the second week of the section.
Finally, there will be one SUMMARY essay for each section. This will be posted in the last week of the section. Summaries essays should be 1000-3000 words in length, and should attempt to draw together the discussion. They can do this in several ways, including: 1) seeing how well Stephen Hicks' opening questions have been addressed (this may involve attempting to address a neglected question); 2) Identifying the major threads of discussion and assessing the arguments that were offered (this may involve creative work addressing those arguments); 3) Writing an integrated interpretive essay on the readings that draws explicitly on the preceding discussion; 4) Reflecting on the discussion in terms of its implications for the development of Objectivism.
Writers of formal posts are encouraged to place a brief abstract at the beginning of the message, and to cite sources in a scholarly fashion (since we are exchanging email, the best format for page citations is parentheses in the text, with other notes confined to the end of the document).
INFORMAL POSTS:
Informal posts should be succinct and to the point. These will be limited to no more than 500 words in length, to encourage efficient writing. Exceptions to this length rule will only be allowed for well-integrated, concise essays that cannot be broken up into 500-word topics.
COPYRIGHT: All posts are copyright their authors, but posting the material grants permission for TOC to archive the posts on its website and for participants to exchange and comment on the posts for purposes of scholarly discussion.
PARTICIPANTS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTRIBUTE TWO FORMAL POSTS, no more than one of which can be a commentary. To maintain a discussion based on a shared context, only active participants and faculty may post to the cyberseminar.
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