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Syllabus (Revised) CMPL/PHIL 482: Philosophy and Literature Spring 2016 Lesher
CMPL/PHIL 482 is a three-credit course with no pre-requisites. It meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30
to 10:45 in Caldwell room 0208. The instructor is Professor James Lesher (jlesher@email.unc.edu). His office
is located in Caldwell room 112B.
Course Description: In CMPL/PHIL 482 we will read and discuss a number of works at the intersection of
philosophy and literature. Our main objective will be to understand the function of the literary aspects of
selected philosophical works and the philosophical aspects of selected works of literature. We will explore the
degree to which the inclusion of philosophical material can either enhance or diminish the success of the literary
work as well as the degree to which a literary format can either aid or hinder the pursuit of philosophical
understanding. One question touched on in many of the works we will be reading, ancient and modern, is
whether the exercise of our rational faculties provides the key to knowing the nature of reality and living well.
Required Texts:
Patricia Curd, The Presocratics, 2nd edition (Hackett, 2011). Sophocles, Oedipus the King in Sophocles: The
Three Theban Plays (Penguin Classics, 1982).
Aristophanes, Clouds (available at http://classics.mit.edu/Aristophanes/clouds.html).
Plato, The Symposium, trans. C. Gill (Penguin, 1999).
J. H. Lesher, D. Nails, and F. Sheffield, Plato’s Symposium: Issues in Interpretation and Reception (Harvard U.
P., 2007).
Voltaire, Candide and Related Texts, trans. D. Wooten (Hackett, 2000).
Tom Stoppard, Jumpers (Grove Press, 1972).
Friedrich Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy (available on line at
http://seas3.elte.hu/coursematerial/TimarAndrea/Nietzsche__The_Birth_of_Tragedy_and_Other_Writings__Ca
mbridge_Texts_in_the_History_of_Philosophy_.pdf)
Thomas Mann, Death in Venice (Dover Publications, 1995).
Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway (Harcourt, 1925/2005).
Walter Kaufman, Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre (Penguin Publishing, 1956/2004).
Albert Camus, The Stranger (Vintage International, 1989).

Schedule of readings and topics: Jan 12: Philosophy and literature: Some Distinctions and Initial
Questions (handout 2)
Part I: Ancient Greek Philosophy and Literature

Jan 14-19: Xenophanes of Colophon (late 6th-early 5th BC)

Xenophanes in Curd, pp. 31-38. J. Lesher, “Xenophanes of Colophon” in the Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy (Available at http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/xenophanes). Philosophical poetry: the case of
Xenophanes (handout 3)
Jan 21-26: Heraclitus of Ephesus (late6th-early 5th BC)
Heraclitus in Curd, pp. 39-54.
1Heraclitus’ use of poetic language (handout 4)
Jan 28-Feb 2nd: Parmenides of Elea (late 6th-early 5th BC)
Parmenides in Curd, pp. 55-65. The Proemium of Parmenides’ Poem (handout 5)
Feb 4: Aristophanes, Clouds (c. 423) BC) Aristophanes, Clouds (available at
http://classics.mit.edu/Aristophanes/clouds.html). Fact and Fiction in Aristophanes’ Clouds (handout 6)
Feb 9-11: Sophocles, Oedipus the King (c. 425 BC) Sophocles, Oedipus the King Philosophical aspects of
Oedipus the King (handout 7) 1st Reading Reflections due on Feb 9 th
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Mid-term exam on February 16th

Feb 18, 23, 25, Mar 1 and 3: Plato’s Symposium (c. 380 BC)
Plato, The Symposium, trans. C. Gill.
Frisbee Sheffield, “The role of the earlier speeches in the Symposium: Plato's endoxic method?” (summary on
handout 8)
Ruby Blondell, “Where is Socrates on the "ladder of love"?”
G. Vlastos, “The Individual as an Object of Love in Plato” (summary on handout 9)
Part II: Modern Philosophy and Literature
Mar 8-10: Voltaire, Candide
Voltaire, Optimism, and Leibniz (handout 10)
On the meaning of “Il faut cultiver notre jardin” (handout 11)
2nd Reading Reflections due on March 8th
Mar 15-17: No classes (Spring Break)
Mar 22: Tom Stoppard, Jumpers “Philosophical aspects of Stoppard’s Jumpers” (handout 12)
3rd Reading Reflections due on Mar 22nd
Mar 24-29: Heraclitean ideas in modern poetry
“The Modern Poetic Reception of Heraclitus” (handout 13)
Presentation of Papers (see handout 14)
Mar 31: Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy
Apr 5-7: Thomas Mann, Death in Venice
Apr 12-14: Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway
Apr 19-21: Jean Paul Sartre, “The Wall,” “Existentialism is a Humanism” and Being and Nothingness
Apr 26: Albert Camus, The Stranger
The final exam for this course is scheduled for 8:00 a.m on Tuesday, May 3rd. It will be a two-hour exam.
Course requirements and grading policy: There will be a mid-term exam, an 8-10 page term paper, and a
final exam. The grades you receive on these three items will be averaged together to produce your semester
grade. In the event that your average falls on a near a borderline, some adjustment may be made on the basis of
the faithfulness of your class attendance and the extent of your participation in class discussions. Since your
paper may be scheduled for presentation to the class, no late papers will be accepted.
Each of you will also be asked to write three (un-graded) Reading Reflections—one or two paragraphs
containing your reflections on the reading assigned for that day. These materials will not be graded, but each of
you will be called upon to present one Reading Reflections in class.
Excused Absences: If you have special needs or plan to be absent from class on a particular date, please send
me an e-mail in advance to explain your situation. Otherwise I expect you to attend every class and take the
exams as scheduled.
Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursdays 11:00 a.m. to noon, and by appointment. I would also be happy to meet
with you at any mutually convenient time. E-mail me at jlesher@email.unc.edu.
Honor Code: Your work in this course must comply with the provisions of the UNC Honor Code. If you have
any questions about the Code, consult the guidelines at http://honor.unc.edu. (Note: you are not permitted to use
a paper written for one course to satisfy the requirements of another course.
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Some movies/TV programs related to works listed on the syllabus:

Sophocles, Oedipus Rex (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ngdl0vcFo4) F. Nietzsche
(documentary):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EGOwduWVKA Camus, The Stranger (documentary):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJCjVcaRCos Virginia Woolf (documentary):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Hnlsh8WyPE Mrs. Dalloway
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOE5nzvU9a0), also available on Netflix (DVD) (full movie) Thomas
Mann, Death in Venice (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8Zws83AxSQ) (also available on Netflix DVD)
(full movie) Leonard Bernstein, Violin Concerto after Plato’s Symposium
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpROC4gsZhQ) Leonard Bernstein, Candide (“The best of all possible
worlds”) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlIUXvAdpcw The Drinking Party (BBC program)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al9u1lal6KY Voltaire, Candide (BBC Radio 4)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5OfTn16Oxo