Syllabus

Course Meeting Times

Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session

Course Description

In the Origin of Species (1859), Charles Darwin gave us a model for understanding how natural objects and systems can evidence design without positing a designer: how purpose and mechanism can exist without intelligent agency. Texts in this course deal with pre- and post-Darwinian treatment of this topic within literature and speculative thought since the eighteenth century. We will give some attention to the modern study of feedback mechanisms in artificial intelligence. Our reading will be in Hume, Voltaire, Malthus, Darwin, Butler, H. G. Wells, and Turing.

Course Requirements

Class Format

Our format will be two 1 1/2 hour general meetings with in-class discussion of readings and exploration of issues raised by them. This is primarily a reading course, with a special emphasis on writing. Our focus is on books and interpretation.

This course consists of four topics:

1. William Paley's problem: Does the existence of design (organized, self-sustaining, or self-reproducing systems) argue that there is a designer or organizer, an intelligent agency responsible for its creation?

2. Alan Turing and John Searle's problem: Can such allegedly designed systems be credited with intelligence themselves?

3. The place of Darwin's Origin and his idea of Natural Selection in the course of debates on the first two problems.

4. The implication of Darwin and Darwinism for ideas of nature and of mankind's place therein, as well as collateral, and often independent, manifestations of such undesigned worlds in literary texts.

Readings

Readings consist of textbooks and selections. Your reading and discussion of authors who have considered this question will help provide you with a historical foundation for understanding a rich literary tradition, as well as many assumptions held by people in many contemporary cultures.

Assignments

There will be about 100 pages of weekly reading - sometimes less, sometimes more.

The class will place extra emphasis on writing and speaking. There will be 3 papers: two 5-page, and one 10-page. You will be asked to revise the 10 page paper. Suggested topics for writing are given below. Late papers will be penalized unless extensions are granted in advance of the paper deadline.

Discussion will be our main means of exploring the class topic. Everyone should contribute to class discussions. To encourage discussion, we will hold panel discussions and break into small discussion groups from time to time.

You will also be asked to introduce a class discussion during the term, to participate in a panel discussion, and to give a short class oral presentation on your main paper.

Attendance

Two unexcused absences are ok, but more will result in a lower grade.

Grading

There may be occasional quizzes to help you maintain your reading discipline.
There will be no final exam in the class.
Class participation will be factored into your final grade as a plus, minus, or neutral.

MIT Literature Statement on Plagiarism

Plagiarism—use of another's intellectual work without acknowledgement—is a serious offense. It is the policy of the Literature Faculty that students who plagiarize will receive an F in the subject, and that the instructor will forward the case to the Committee on Discipline. Full acknowledgement for all information obtained from sources outside the classroom must be clearly stated in all written work submitted. All ideas, arguments, and direct phrasings taken from someone else's work must be identified and properly footnoted. Quotations from other sources must be clearly marked as distinct from the student's own work. For further guidance on the proper forms of attribution, consult the style guides available at the Writing and Communication Center and the MIT Web site on Plagiarism.

Course Calendar