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Saturday, April 5, 2025

MALA 6010: Engaging the Liberal Arts/American Philosophy (Spring 2025)

MALA students: this is the site I've created to support courses in American philosophy. Feel free to browse here, and comment on anything you find of interest. jpo

Engaging the Liberal Arts MALA course (my block Apr 17, 24)--

Block Title: Engaging American Philosophy

Block Description: This block introduces the classical American philosophical tradition of William James, John  Dewey, Richard Rorty and others. It is a broadly pragmatic, humanistic, melioristic, and interdisciplinary tradition, oriented to action (not merely contemplation) in the public arena. It insists that thought without action is vacuous, while action without thought is reckless. It demands relevance from philosophy and the other liberal arts disciplines, and is unwilling to sacrifice meaning or happiness in the fight for a better world. We'll investigate the philosophers' views and how they might apply to our present situation and circumstances.

Week 1 Readings/assignments: Selections from classic sources James, Dewey, Rorty... tba


Week 2 Readings/assignments: Selections from contemporary sources like Martha Nussbaum, Rebecca Solnit, Louis Menand, Doug Anderson... tba


Grade Distribution: 75 points participation (attendance, blog posts), 75 points report (classroom presentation on an assigned topic)

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