More on the Books
Plato:
Crito
Why would an innocent, brilliant, and just man
choose to stay in prison and face execution rather than escape?
Was he obeying the will of God? Or was it something else?
Come join us and find out. A version of
the Crito that you can print
out is at
http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/crito.html.
Dewey:
The
Virtues
No writer has had a more profound
influence on American ideas about schools and learning than John Dewey.
And no topic receives more critical attention perennially than American
education. So although the essay is a century old, it still speaks to us
today.
John Dewey's tract on the virtues has not been found online. The reading
is from Ethics, volume 5 (1908) of John
Dewey: The Middle Works, 1899-1924, available
from Lincoln Libraries, call no.
170 D51.
Euripides: Iphigeneia at Aulis
This play is a story about sacrificing a
child to appease a god, in this case the goddess Artemis. But
Agamemnon is no Abraham [see Exodus below]. He tricks his daughter Iphigenia into
coming to Aulis in order to marry the hero Achilles.
Perhaps the most important line in the play is
given to Iphigenia. "To hell with all wars," she says upon her
arrival.
Material on Euripedes' play is at
Tufts University/Perseus.
Or try
http://www.4literature.net/Euripides/Iphigenia_at_Aulis/
Aristotle:
Politics
A free online translation is available from
the Gutenberg Project:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6762
Dostoevsky:
Notes from the
Underground
Are humans naturally good? Are normal
people stupid? What is free will? These are some of the
questions that arise from Dostoevsky's portrayal of the underground man.
For an online version, go to
Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library.
The Bible:
Exodus
The story of Moses commanding the Red Sea to part while the Israelites
escaped from the Egyptian tyrant has been the subject of sermon, song,
film, triumph, and speculation for over 2,000 years. There are countless
web sites that make the Bible available to readers.
Here is one with several
translations.
Hobbes:
Origin of Government
In our present national quandary over whether or how
democracy can be built in developing countries, the question arises over
the foundations of free and just societies. As the first modern
political scientist, Hobbes created a concept of the social contract
that seems as relevant today as it was 400 years ago. Our reading
comes from his larger work, Leviathan. You can read and
search it
here.
Melville:
Billy Budd, Sailor
Melville's last novel. The entire short book is available online at
Bibliomania.
Smith:
Wealth of Nations
As colonial America was beginning her struggle
for independence from her mother country, Scottish economist Adam Smith
was completing his foundation work on free trade and capitalism. The
book has had a significant influence on government economic policies of
both mother and daughter nations.
Like all our other readings, The Wealth of
Nations is still being debated and discussed. For a recent
overview of how Smith has held up over the years, try
P.J. O'Rourke Takes On 'The Wealth of Nations.'
The complete book is online at
http://www.econlib.org/LIBRARY/Smith/smWN.html.
Shakespeare: Antony and Cleopatra
The course of true love never did run smooth,
not for Shakespeare's characters, at any rate. This great
historical love story, one that has fascinated the world for twenty
centuries, has great public and private themes: passion, power,
politics. And in Shakespeare's hands it has poetry as well.
For a copy of the play, there are many sites.
Here is one at MIT. If you
want to search this play, try
http://www.online-literature.com/shakespeare/antony/. Good
modern paperback copies of the play, including copious notes and
explanations, can be had at local bookstores. For example, the SparkNotes version ($4.95) gives motifs, summaries, and historical
context.
Kierkegaard: The Knight of Faith
"To express the sublime in the
pedestrian–that only the knight of faith can do." -
Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling.
Who is a knight of faith? A person
willing to place absolute trust in God. The supreme example is the
Biblical role model Abraham. Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son
Isaac, not for guilt, not for blood payment, not for riches and honor,
but simply because God had commanded it, allows Kierkegaard to assign to
the Old Testament patriarch a unique spiritual heroism.
For biography, quotes, and a summary, see
http://neft.dk/e-kierke.htm.
Also
http://www.stolaf.edu/collections/kierkegaard/aboutkierk.html.
There are many courses and commentaries. One of the most
interesting for the nonphilosopher is at the
Religious
Society of Friends (Denmark). There does not appear to be a
source for an online translation of the reading.
Herodotus: The Persian Wars
For an online text, see
http://classics.mit.edu/Herodotus/history.mb.txt
Locke: Of Civil Government
In his "Essay Concerning the True Original,
Extent and End of Civil Government," published in 1689, John Locke
puts forth an idea that later Americans adopted: that is,
all people are created by God as natural equals. Along with this
argument Locke also discusses the law of nature (i.e., what people must
do even in the absence of government), property, civilization, the right
to revolution, and slavery.
The Online Library of Liberty
provides a free online copy of
the treatise (Book II):
http://oll.libertyfund.org/Texts/Locke0154/TwoTreatises/0057_Bk.html
Swift: Gulliver’s Travels
Swift was 60 years old when this fantasy-satire, the
greatest of his works, was published. Have you ever met anyone trying to
get sunshine out of cucumbers? Or something equally silly?
You have? Well, then, you should follow Gulliver to the lands of Lilliput,
Brobdingnag, and Laputa.
. . .
And you can, for free. Biblomania provides the entire book
online.
Thoreau: Civil Disobedience
Henry David Thoreau, writer, reformer, and recluse,
lectured in Concord, Mass., on January 26, 1848. The speech was later
published as "Civil Disobedience." Thoreau's best-known work was
Walden, but the essay on "Civil Disobedience" has exerted a greater
influence, indeed becoming a primary inspiration for the reform
movements of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. For a
biographical sketch and selections from his works, see
http://thoreau.eserver.org/default.html |
