Legacy Course Catalog
ENGL 341A - Paradigms Of Modern Thought: Literary, Philosophical And Scientific
| Effectivity: | 01/07/2008 - 05/03/2008 @ Purdue West Lafayette Traditional |
|---|---|
| Credits: | 3 |
| Instructional Types: | Lec |
| Usually Offered: | fal spr |
| Short Title: | Paradigm Modrn Thought |
| Description: | This course will consider the relationships among literary, philosophical, and scientific paradigms of modern thought, the ways we see the world of nature and humanity in the 20th and by now the 21st century. No knowledge of mathematics and science is required for this course. However, the participation of mathematics and science students is welcome. First of all, this participation will enable a productive and mutually beneficial dialogue between students representing diverse facets of Purdue. Secondly, the aim of this seminar is to explore as much the contribution of the humanities, in particular, literature to mathematics and science as that of mathematics and science to the humanities. From Galileo to Einstein, literature (in their cases, specifically, Dante and Dostoevsky) has helped to shape the scientific vision of the world, just as science has shaped the artistic vision of it. We will begin with the Copernican revolution, and a joint reading of selections from the works of Galileo, Giordano Bruno, and Milton, as examples of scientific and literary visions of the post-Copernican world of nature and humanity. We will then consider some of the key developments in all three areas in the 18th and 19th centuries, which also shaped the 20th-century understanding of the world, in particular, thermodynamics and modern biology in science, and the idea of the novel in literature. Among the literary works to be discussed are Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Dostoyevsky's Crime and Panishment. Finally, we will discuss such 20th-century developments as post-Darwinian biology and genetics, physics, and mathematics, on the scientific side, and the works of such authors as Bertold Brecht, Tom Stoppard and Thomas Pynchon, on the literary side. We shall also examine the work of key philosophers of science, in particular Thomas Kuhn and Paul Feyerabend. |
| School: | College Of Liberal Arts |
| Department: | English |
| Credit By Exam: | NO |
| Repeatable Flag: | YES |
| Max Repeatable Credits: | 9.00 |
| Temporary Flag: | YES |
| Full Time Privilege Flag: | NO |
| Honors Flag: | NO |
| Variable Title Flag: | NO |
Fall 2007 *** indicates the course was still an active course and was transferred to the Banner Catalog effective Spring 2008. This course was not expired Fall 2007.
