Program Syllabus

Institute Overview

This two-week NEH institute explores the disputatio as a tool for engaging wisdom questions in the humanities.  The first week focuses on understanding the various features of disputatio and the nature of the wisdom questions it was developed to address.  The project of the second week is to explore the potential of disputatio to aid in the pursuit of wisdom in the humanities.  In this connection, institute participants will engage a variety of literary and philosophical texts that address a variety of wisdom questions about the nature of justice.  In consultation with the Project Team, participants will also develop a curricular application of disputatio suited to their own teaching needs.  

Institute Objectives:

The activities of this institute will be oriented toward the accomplishment of the following objectives.

• To foster intellectual growth among participants by engaging in humanistic inquiry
• To promote the humanities by developing a strategy for strengthening the instruction and teaching in the humanities
• to advance civic education by mastering a pattern that prepares citizen for self-government in a pluralistic society 

Institute Outcomes:

Participants that complete this institute should be able to

• define wisdom and contrast it with knowledge
• recognize wisdom questions as they arise in the context of the humanities
• identify the elements of disputatio and explain what each element contributes to constructing well-reasoned responses to wisdom questions 
• engage the philosophical themes of literary texts by means of disputatio
• engage philosophical essay and debates by means of disputatio
• develop curricular applications of disputatio suited to individual needs

Institute Discussion Guidelines

This institute explores an effective means of pursuing wisdom in the humanities.  Wisdom questions are always disputed, and the disputes concern foundational matters.  Institute discussion will therefore involve disagreement among participants that represent a variety of perspectives on wisdom questions.  It will be vital therefore to conduct this institute on the basis of the Principles of Civility for NEH Seminars, Institutes, and Workshops.  According to these principles, institute discussion should be rigorously grounded, free from partisan advocacy, respectful of divergent views, free of ad hominem commentary, and devoid of ethnic, racial, religious, gender, and disability bias.  All participants should expect to abide by these principles at all times.  

Reading Assignments

One of the chief aims of this institute is to foster intellectual growth through the engagement of the humanities.  In order to accomplish this objective, participants are expected to read assigned materials in advance of each session.  The institute schedule allows ample time to complete reading assignments. Optional group reading time is included in the schedule.  

A note on readings: Institute Participants will receive hard copies of required readings immediately after acceptance.  Readings marked in blue are to be read before Institutes meetings; other readings will be read together during Institute meetings.  Suggested Readings offer further context for required readings; they are optional.  Participants will receive reading packets (along with guided reading questions) immediately after confirming acceptance and are strongly encouraged to read as much as possible before the Institute begins.

Institute Accommodations

Participants with special needs that require accommodation are asked to communicate in advance with the co-directors.  

Primary Sources

These sources are required reading according the daily schedule below.  Required readings will be distributed prior to the start of the seminar.

• Primary sources related to the nature of wisdom questions and the development of disputatio
  • Plato, Euthyphro
  • Plato, The Apology of Socrates
  • Plato, Meno
  • Plato, Republic Book 1
  • Epicurus, Outlines of Pyrrhonism
• Primary ources related to the form of disputatio and its application in the pursuit of wisdom
  • Thomas Aquinas, Disputed Questions on the Virtues (selections)
  • Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae (selections)
• Primary sources related to the use of disputatio to engaging wisdom questions in literary texts
  • Sophocles, Antigone
  • Shakespeare, Hamlet
• Primary sources related to the use of disputatio to engage wisdom questions in social history
  • Booker T. Washington, “The Atlanta Exposition Address” 
  • W.E.B. DuBois, “Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others”
• Primary sources related to the use of disputatio to engage wisdom questions in philosophy 
  • Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from Birmingham City Jail"
  • John Rawls, “The Definition and Justification of Civil Disobedience”

Secondary Sources 

These sources are recommended for establishing context for assigned primary source readings, and guiding further exploration of the topics addressed; participants are encouraged to consult as needed.

• On Wisdom Questions
  • Todd Buras, “On the Nature of Wisdom Questions,” unpublished manuscript. 
  • Ryan, Sharon, "Wisdom", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2020 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), forthcoming URL = .
• On Plato, Socrates, and the Elenchus
  • Kraut, Richard, "Plato", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = .
  • Nails, Debra, "Socrates", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2020 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), forthcoming URL = .
  • Griswold, Charles L., "Plato on Rhetoric and Poetry", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2020 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), forthcoming URL = .
• On Thomas Aquinas
  • McInerny, Ralph and O'Callaghan, John, "Saint Thomas Aquinas", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2018 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = .
• On Ancient Skepticism 
  • Vogt, Katja, "Ancient Skepticism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2018 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = .
• On Reflective Equilibrium
  • Daniels, Norman, "Reflective Equilibrium", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2018 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = .
• On Philosophical Engagement of Literary Texts
  • Martha Nussbaum, Poetic Justice:  The Literary Imagination and Public Life, Beacon Press, 1997.  
• On Antigone 
  • Kevin Hawthorne, “The Chorus as Rhetorical Audience:  a Sophoklean Agon Pattern,” American Journal of Philology 130 (2009): 25-26.
  • Lukas van den Berge, “Sophocles’ Antigone and the Promise of Ethical Life:  Tragic Ambiguities and the Tragedy of Reason,” Law and Humanities 11 (2017): 205-227.  
• On Hamlet
  • William Franke, “Prophesy Eclipsed:  Hamlet as Tragedy of Knowledge,” Secular Scriptures, The Ohio State University Press, 2016.  
  • Bernice W. Kilman, ed., Approaches to Teaching Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Modern Languages Association of America, 2002.  
• On the DuBois-Washington Debate
  • Robert Gooding-Williams, “The Du Bois-Washington Debate and the idea of Dignity,” in To Shape a New World:  Essays on the Political Philosophy of Martin Luther King, Jr., Brandon M. Terry and Tommie Shelby, eds., (Cambridge, MA:  Harvard University Press, 2018) pp. 19-34. 
• On King's Civil Disobedience
  • “Statement by Alabama Clergymen” 
  • Malcolm X, “Message to the Grass Roots” 
  • Plato, Crito
  • Hugo Adam Bedau, ed., Civil Disobedience in Focus, (New York: Routledge, 1991)