Metaphysics in Philosophy and Literature
Seminar: Metaphysical Poets
Fall 2011, Saturday, 9:00 - 11:00 AM
TEXTS:
John Donne. The Major Works, including Songs and Sonnets and Sermons. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199537945.
George Herbert. The Complete English Poems. Penguin Classics. ISBN 9780140424553.
Charles C. Taliaferro. Cambridge Platonist Spirituality. Paulist Press. ISBN 9780809140381.
A note on the schedule: No class October 8 and 29, and November 26; double session on October 15. In addition, I will be out of town for academic conferences on November 5 and 19, so the seminar section will not meet. The Kant tutorial will meet as regularly scheduled on those dates.
A note on the readings: Though our focus is on the poetry of Donne and Herbert, the prose selections from Donne and from the Cambridge Platonists are included to provide another window on philosophical and theological developments in seventeenth century England -- important for a clear picture of the evolution of both epistemology and metaphysics in this critical period. And there is a good deal of poetry to be found in this prose, particularly in Donne's sermons.
Some additional resources:
- "Five Mystical Songs," a setting by Ralph Vaughan Williams of poetry by George Herbert (Thomas Allen - baritone, BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symhony Orchestra,
Leonard Slatkin - conductor): Part One | Part Two.
- A setting of John Donne's "At the round earth's imagined corners..." (Holy Sonnet 4) by Hubert Perry (Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge conducted by Richard Markow).
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| 9/17
John Donne
From Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions, 333-350
A Litany, 161-169
Holy Sonnet 15, 179-180
An Anatomy of the World, 207-218
A Hymn to God the Father, 333
George Herbert
Antiphon, 47
Providence, 108-113
Discipline, 168-169
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| 9/24
John Donne
Sermons, 318-321 (from "That then there is damnation" through ..."and that is a Type of Heaven."), 360-361 (from "God hath made man so equal..." through "Man is all..."), 376-381 (from "What can be certain in this world..." through "incorruptible blood. Amen.")
To Sir Henry Wotton, 47-48
Resurrection, imperfect, 154-155
Holy Sonnet 2, 174
Holy Sonnet 5, 175
Holy Sonnet 12, 178
Good Friday, 1613. Riding Westward, 241-242
George Herbert
Christmas, 74-75
Man, 83-85
Jordan, 94-95
The Cross, 154-155
Love, 178
Henry More (Cambridge Platonism)
Charitie and Humilitie, 165
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| 10/1
John Donne
Sermons, 271-272 (from "What soul amongst us shall doubt" through ..."a fit time to seek him?"), 292-298 (Easter Term 1620?" (through "...upon that pretence."), 365-376 (through "that way of transubstantiation."), 382-387, 395-396 (from "Let men see that thou doest..." through "...the rich without the poor.")
Satire 3, 29-31
Elegy 13, 59-61
The Relic, 130
Holy Sonnet 6, 175-176
Holy Sonnet 10, 177-178
Holy Sonnet 13, 179
To Sir Edward Herbert, 200-201
Holy Sonnet 17, 270
Holy Sonnet 19, 288-289
George Herbert
The Temper, 49
Anagram, 71
An Offering, 138-139
The Call, 147
Bitter-Sweet, 161
Ralph Cudworth (Cambridge Platonism)
A Sermon Preached Before the Honorable House of Commons, 55-94
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| 10/15 (9:00 - 12:45)
(9:00 - 11:00)
John Donne
Sermons, 272-278 (through ..."but yet his foresight is no cause of them."), 310-312 (from "The first book of the Bible..."), 352-354 (from "Had God company enough..." through "a multitude that no man can number")
The Flea, 89
The Good Morrow, 89-90
A Valediction: forbidding Mourning, 120-121
The Will, 125-127
Holy Sonnet 8, 177
Elegy on the Lady Markham, 180-182
Hymn to God my God, in my Sickness, 332-333
George Herbert
Jordan, 50-51
Divinity, 126
Henry More (Cambridge Platonism)
In the Divine Dialogues The Song Concerning Divine Providence, 167-168
(11:15 - 12:45)
John Donne
The Cross, 143-144
Upon the Annunciation and Passion falling upon one day, 155-156
Holy Sonnet 1, 173-174
Holy Sonnet 3, 174
Holy Sonnet 7, 176
Holy Sonnet 16, 180
A Hymn to Christ, 283-284
George Herbert
Sepulchre, 36
Easter Wings, 38
The Holy Scriptures, 52
The Quiddity, 63
Colossians 3:3, 78
Mortification, 90-91
Longing, 139-142
The Twenty-third Psalm, 162-163
Anne Conway (Cambridge Platonism)
The Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy, Chapter 5, 187-192
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| 10/22
John Donne
Elegy 10, 56-57
Elegy 15, 63-64
Holy Sonnet 4, 175
Holy Sonnet 9, 177
Holy Sonnet 11, 178
Holy Sonnet 14, 179
Of the Progress of the Soul, 218-231
Holy Sonnet 18, 288
George Herbert
The Altar, 23
Ephesians 4:30, 127-128
The Collar, 144-145
The Priesthood, 151-152
Aaron, 164
To the Lady Elizabeth, 196-198
Nathaniel Culverwell (Cambridge Platonism)
The Light of Reason, 137-149
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| 11/12
John Donne
The Progress of the Soul - Metempsychosis, 70-86
The Good Morrow, 89-90
The Triple Fool, 96-97
The Ecstasy, 121-123
George Herbert
The Church Militant, 179-186
Henry More (Cambridge Platonism)
An Explanation of the Divine Mystery of Godliness Books VIII and X, 169-177
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| 12/3
John Donne
La Corona, 171-173
George Herbert
Good Friday, 34-35
Easter, 37
Affliction, 41-43
The Church-Floor, 60
Benjamin Whichcote (Cambridge Platonism)
Aphorisms, 135-136
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| 12/10
Circling back -- poems to be determined.
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contact: schroeder_at_uchicago.edu
The University of Chicago Graham School
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