Course Description

This is an upper division online course in the history of philosophy, focusing on the role of reason as a catalyst for political, social, cultural, scientific and industrial/economic revolutions. The course readings will be structured according to the generally accepted Enlightenment movement beginning at the end of the 17th century, through a selection of representative materials from a variety of disciplines assigned to students during the semester. At the conclusion of this course, students should have an understanding not only of the general features of the philosophical problems that attach to reasoning about revolution, but also about reasoning and rationality themselves.  

Meeting Place and Times

Online

Instructor(s)

Jeffrey Stephenson. Jeffrey holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and has research interests in ancient philosophy (esp. Aristotle), philosophy of technology, and Existentialism. He lives on a small ranch in Butte, Montana, along with his wife, three dogs, and nine chickens.

Tuition and Fees

If you are accepted into a qualified online program, see the appropriate MSU Online Only Tuition and Fee table.

If you are also taking a face-to-face course, please refer to the MSU Fee Schedules.

Required Books/Materials

The following texts are available for purchase from online vendors: 

  • Arendt On Revolution
  • CamusThe Rebel
  • EvansLiberal Terror
  • FukuyamaThe End of History and the Last Man
  • GoldstoneRevolutions: A Very Short Introduction
  • Kuhn The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

The following texts are provided for students online:

  • Burke Reflections on the Revolution in France (selections to be posted to D2L)
  • Foucault “What is Enlightenment?” [https://www.libarts.colostate.edu/leap/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2017/01/Foucault-What-is-enlightenment.pdf]
  • Kant “What is Enlightenment?” [http://www.columbia.edu/acis/ets/CCREAD/etscc/kant.html]
  • Locke “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding” selections from Book IV Chapters 17 and 18 [http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Philosophy/Locke/echu/]
  • Locke “Two Treatises on Government” selections from Essay Two Chapters 7, 19  [http://socserv2.socsci.mcmaster.ca/econ/ugcm/3ll3/locke/government.pdf]
  • Marx “Manifesto of the Communist Party” [https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/]
  • Paine “Common Sense” (selection at http://www.ushistory.org/paine/commonsense/sense4.htm)
  • Rude The French Revolution (selection to be posted to D2L)

Computer Requirements:

  • Internet access
  • A device and browser that pass the system check for Brightspace LE, MSU's learning management system.

 

This course uses a learning management system. You will learn more closer to the course start date.

For More Information

For course information: TBA

How to Register

You must be accepted as a student to Montana State University to take this course.

Learn how to apply.

After your application has been accepted, you will register via MSU's online registration system, MyInfo.

Registration requires a PIN number. Learn how to find your PIN.

Once you have your PIN, learn how to register through MyInfo.