HTP1101 TRENDS IN WESTERN THOUGHT: FRIENDSHIP, IMAGE AND

TRANSCENDENCE

SYLLABUS


Fall 2014
Friday, 13:30 to 16:30
3 credits


Prof. Rajesh C. Shukla,
Office 228 Guigues Pavilion, Monday 4-5 pm. Wed. 11.00 am -12.00 pm. Or by
appointment. Email: rshukla@ustpaul.ca
Prof. G. Peter Pandimakil, Email : ppandimakil@ustpaul.ca
Prof. Frank L. Emanuel, Email: femanuel@sympatico.ca



COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course addresses multiple aspects of the evolution of western thought, from
Antiquity to current times, and the impact of major events and thinkers, and the
influence of other civilizations on the contemporary understanding of human nature,
culture and society.

COURSE CONTENT
This course is part of the Common Core of Saint Paul Universitys civil undergraduate
programs. As such it contributes in students search of meaning to the following
questions:
What does it mean to be human?
What does it mean to live a life of meaning and purpose?
What does it mean to understand and appreciate the natural world?
What does it mean to forge a more just society for the common good?
LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of this course the student will be able to:
identify notions of friendship in Western thought;
explain the role of friendship in human life and culture;
comprehend the meaning and context of human self-assertion;
realize the impact of image in shaping individual action and thought;
understand the relationship between theological ideas and social movements;
evaluate the influence of theological ideas.
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
The students are expected to participate in three sets of lectures dedicated to trends in
Western thought. The lectures will orient the students to key texts, thinkers, patterns of
argumentation and reflection in the course of Western intellectual tradition. Learning
activities include:
class discussions,
class presentations,
reports,
research papers.

ACTIVITIES SCHEDULE
R. Shukla: Sept. 5; Sept. 12; Sept. 19, Sept. 26: 1
st
set of lectures
Peter Pandimakil: Oct. 3; Oct. 10, Oct. 24, Oct. 31: 2
nd
set of lectures
F. Emanuel: Nov. 7; Nov. 14; Nov. 21, Nov. 28, Dec. 3: 3
rd
set of lectures.

EVALUATION
Assignment- 30% (R. Shukla: Assignment goes out on Sept 12 and will be due on
Sept. 17. Students will be asked to answer 1 question, answer must be
approximately 3 pages, typed and double spaced)
Assignment 35% (P. Pandimakil: Details will be given on October 3
rd
in class, and
shall be placed on the Blackboard site)
Final paper 35% (F. Emanuel)

REQUIRED TEXTS & BIBLIOGRAPHY
R. Shukla: Michael Pakaluk (ed.), Other Selves. Philosophers on Friendship
(Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1991).
P. Pandimakil: Ingrid D. Rowland, Giordano Bruno. Philosopher/Heretic (Chicago:
The University of Chicago Press, 2008.
Frank Emanuel: Stanley Grenz & Roger Olsen, 20th Century Theology : God & the
World in a Transitional Age (IV Press, 1992).
A reading list will also be made available at the beginning of the lectures

READING PLAN
Week 1 (Sept. 5): Introductory Remarks & Platos Lysis, Pakaluk, 1991, pp. 1-27.
Week 2 (Sept. 12): Aristotles Nicomachean Ethics (Book VIII & IX), Pakaluk, 1991, pp.
28-69.
Week 3 (Sept. 29): Ciceros On friendship and Senecas On Philosophy and
Friendship and On Grief of Lost Friends, Pakaluk, 1991, pp. 77-128.
Week 4 (Sept. 26): Montaignes Of Friendship and Kants Lectures on Friendship,
Pakaluk, 1991, pp. 185-199 & 208-217.
Week 5 (Oct. 3): Ernst Cassirer, Ficinos place in intellectural history, A Journal of the
History of Ideas, 6 (1945) 483-501; Ernst Cassirer, The Individual and the Cosmos in
Renaissance Philosophy (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1972), pp. 73-
122.
Week 6 (Oct. 10): Ernst Cassirer, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, A Journal of the
History of Ideas, 3 (1942) 123-144 & 319-346; Pico della Mirandola, Of the Dignity of
Man, A Journal of the History of Ideas, 3 (1942) 347-354.
Week 7 (Oct. 24): Ingrid D. Rowland, Giordano Bruno and Neapolitan Neoplatonism,
in: Hilary Gatti (ed.), Giordano Bruno. Philosopher of Renaissance (Burlington, VT:
Ashgate, 2002), pp. 97-119; Hans Blumenberg, The Legitimacy of the Modern Age
(Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1985) pp. 549-596.
Week 8 (Oct. 31): Ingrid D. Rowland, Giordano Bruno. Philosopher/Heretic (Chicago: The
University of Chicago Press, 2008), pp. 139-187; Hilary Gatti (ed.), Giordano Bruno and
Renaissance Science (Ithaca & London: Cornell University Press, 1999), pp. 43-77; G. P.
Pandimakil, Giambattista Vicos philosophy of order, Estudio Agustiniano, 32 (1997)
324-376.
Week 9 (Nov. 7): Post-enlightenment Theological Ideas; The Social Gospel as theology of
Immanence. Ch. 1-2
Week 10 (Nov. 14): Immanence of the Transcendent God: Teilhard to Berry. Ch. 3-4
Week 11 (Nov. 21): Immanence of the Transcendent Future: Theologies of Hope.
Ch. 5-6.

Week 12 (Nov. 28): Seeking the Balance: New Catholic theologies. Ch. 7-9.