ENGL 4999

Transformations of Sense and Early Modern Thought

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2014-2015.

This seminar investigates concepts of sensation in classical and early modern literature and philosophy, with a particular focus on 16th and 17th century writers. On the one hand, changing ideas of sensation may reflect significant shifts in western histories of physiology and selfhood, and the seminar will attend to these familiar themes. But on the other hand, the topic of sensation suggests ways of reading classical and early modern literature as transhistorical works of art, following Deleuze and Guattari's claim that "Art thinks no less than philosophy, but it thinks through affects and percepts" that form "compounds of sensations." We'll focus on the interweaving of sensation with physiology and environment, through attention to Metamorphosis, Humoral Embodiment, and Darkness. Readings include Aristotle, Ovid, Seneca, Shakespeare, Spenser, Milton, Hobbes, Descartes, Spinoza, Deleuze & Guattari, Foucault, Heidegger, and Cassirer. For longer description and Fellows' bios please visit www.arts.cornell.edu/sochum/index.html.

When Offered Fall.

Permission Note Enrollment limited to: 15 students.

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