Bart Schultz

In This Section

Bart Schultz is Senior Lecturer in Humanities (Philosophy), Special Programs Coordinator for the Graham School of General Studies, and Director of the Humanities Division's Civic Knowledge Project. He has been teaching in the College at the University of Chicago since 1987, designing a wide range of core courses as well as courses on John Dewey, Political Philosophy, and Happiness. He has also published widely in philosophy, and his books include "Essays on Henry Sidgwick" (Cambridge, 1992), "Henry Sidgwick: Eye of the Universe" (Cambridge, 2004), and "Utilitarianism and Empire" (Lexington, 2005). He has, through the Civic Knowledge Project, developed a number of public ethics programs affording rich opportunities for students, staff, and faculty to get involved, in educationally relevant ways, with the larger South Side community. The CKP is particularly involved in designing and running philosophy programs for disadvantaged adults and for underserved public elementary and middle school students in the neighborhoods around the University of Chicago. See http://civicknowledge.uchicago.edu/winningwords.shtml. Bart is also on the newly formed Board of Directors of PLATO (Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization), which is one of the main professional groups out there devoted to precollegiate philosophy. See http://plato-philosophy.org/.

CV (DOC)

Contact

office: Gates-Blake 126
office hours Spring quarter: 1 pm - 2:30 pm on Fridays
office phone: 773/702-6007
email: rschultz@uchicago.edu

Selected Publications

"Go Tell It on the Mountain" in Philosophy of the Social Sciences, August 13, 2012 - (Link)
“Pragmatist in Chief,” a talk given to the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy on March 11, 2010 (Link)
Obama's Political Philosophy: Pragmatism, Politics, and the University of Chicago, Sage Journals Online (Feb., 2009) (Link)
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/sidgwick/
http://www.utilitarian.net/sidgwick/about/200703--.pdf
Bertrand Russell in Ethics and Politics
Ethics, Vol. 102, No. 3 (Apr., 1992), pp. 594-634 (Link)
Persons, Selves, and Utilitarianism
Ethics, Vol. 96, No. 4 (Jul., 1986), pp. 721-745 (Link)
Larmore and Rawls
Philosophy of the Social Sciences, Vol. 29, No. 1, 89-120 (1999) (Link)
Comment: The Private and Its Problems-Pragmatism, Pragmatist Feminism, and Homophobia
Philosophy of the Social Sciences, Vol. 29, No. 2, 281-305 (1999) (Link)
Introduction: Bertrand Russell in Ethics and Politics, the Vicissitudes of Growth and Power
Philosophy of the Social Sciences, Vol. 26, No. 2, 157-161 (1996) (Link)
Bertrand Russell in Ethics and Politics, Philosophy and Power
Philosophy of the Social Sciences, Vol. 26, No. 3, 317-321 (1996) (Link)
Voice, Gender, Sex: Pragmatism Old and New
Philosophy of the Social Sciences, Vol. 29, No. 2, 206 (1999) (Link)
Introduction
Russell Hardin; Bart Schultz
Ethics, Vol. 104, No. 1 (Oct., 1993), pp. 4-6 (Link)
Essays on Henry Sidgwick
Utilitarianism and Empire (with G Varouxakis)
Henry Sidgwick, Eye of the Universe

Please see my CV (PDF) for a complete list of publications.

Selected Reviews by Bart Schultz

Underivative Duty: British Moral Philosophers from Sidgwick to Ewing
British Journal for the History of Philosophy, Vol. 20, Iss. 6, 2012 - Link
Reviewed work(s): Phillips, David. Sidgwickian Ethics
New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. Pp. xii+163 in Ethics
Vol. 123, No. 1 (October 2012), pp. 174-179, The University of Chicago Press - Link
G. E. Moore, G. E. Moore: Early Philosophical Writings, Cambridge University Press, Thomas Baldwin and Consuelo Preti (eds.), 2011, lxxxv+251pp., $110.00 (hbk), ISBN 9780521190145. Reviewed by Bart Schultz, University of Chicago (Link)
Author(s) of Review: Bart Schultz
Reviewed Work(s): Rawls and Rights by Rex Martin
Ethics, Vol. 99, No. 1 (Oct., 1988), pp. 155-159 (Link)
Author(s) of Review: Bart Schultz
Reviewed Work(s): Realizing Rawls by Thomas W. Pogge
Political Theory, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Feb., 1991), pp. 118-123 (Link)
Author(s) of Review: Bart Schultz
Reviewed Work(s): Patterns of Moral Complexity by Charles E. Larmore
Ethics, Vol. 99, No. 2 (Jan., 1989), pp. 423-426 (Link)
Author(s) of Review: Bart Schultz
Reviewed Work(s): Democracy and Technology by Richard E. Sclove
Ethics, Vol. 107, No. 2 (Jan., 1997), pp. 364-366 (Link)
Author(s) of Review: Bart Schultz
Reviewed Work(s): John Stuart Mill: A Biography by Nicholas Capaldi
Ethics, Vol. 115, No. 3 (Apr., 2005), pp. 601-605 (Link)
Author(s) of Review: Bart Schultz
Reviewed Work(s): Leo Strauss and the Politics of American Empire by Anne Norton
Ethics, Vol. 115, No. 4 (Jul., 2005), pp. 838-842 (Link)
Author(s) of Review: Bart Schultz
Reviewed Work(s): Practical Ethics: A Collection of Addresses and Essays by Henry Sedgwick by Sissela Bok
Ethics, Vol. 109, No. 3 (Apr., 1999), pp. 678-684 (Link)
Author(s) of Review: Bart Schultz
Reviewed Work(s): Jane Addams and the Dream of American Democracy by Jean Bethke Elshtain
Ethics, Vol. 113, No. 2 (Jan., 2003), pp. 407-410 (Link)
Author(s) of Review: Bart Schultz
Mill on Nationality (review)
Journal of the History of Philosophy - Volume 41, Number 4, October 2003, pp. 567-568 (Link)

Selected Reviews of Bart Schultz's Work

Author(s) of Review: Peter Singer
Reviewed Work(s): Essays on Henry Sidgwick by Bart Schultz
Ethics, Vol. 104, No. 3 (Apr., 1994), pp. 631-633 (Link)
Author(s) of Review: Marcus G. Singer
Reviewed Work(s): Essays on Henry Sidgwick by Bart Schultz
Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, Vol. 59, No. 2 (Jun., 1999), pp. 533-537 (Link)
Author of Review: Frank Turner, Henry Sidgwick, Eye of the Universe (Link)

Recent Courses

21400. Happiness. Open to college students. From Plato to the present, notions of happiness have been at the core of heated debate in ethics and politics. Is happiness the ultimate good for human beings, the essence of the good life, or is morality somehow prior to it? Can it be achieved by all, or only by a fortunate few? These are some of the questions that this course engages, with the help of both classic and contemporary texts from philosophy, literature, and the social sciences. This course includes various video presentations and other materials stressing visual culture (A) R. Barton Schultz. Spring 2003, Spring 2004, Spring 2002, 2005, Spring 2006, Spring 2007.

21600. Introduction to Political Philosophy. Open to college students. What would a just liberal democratic political order involve, and is that the best or only form of "legitimate" government? What are the best, reasoned justifications for such a political order, and how utopian or distant from present realities is the political philosophizing behind such justifications? Does a just liberal democratic society require that citizens be friends, or equals, or autonomous choosers, or free of particular identities or political passions? How would it reconstruct gender and sexuality? And what are the duties of citizens when the political order falls short of this ideal? How should this ideal guide current political practice and determine the role of countries such as the U.S. in world politics? In an age of terror and globalization, when many view the U.S. as a new empire, how optimistic can one be or should one be about the fate of the distinctively modern ideal of a just liberal democratic society? This course will address these questions and others, taking as a point of departure the political theories of John Stuart Mill, John Rawls, and Martha Nussbaum. Summer 2006, Winter 2006, Spring 2008, Spring 2009. Spring 2010, Winter 2011. Syllabus

23209. The Chicago School of Philosophy. From the 1890s to the present, the University of Chicago has been known for its prominent contributions to the
humanities and philosophy. Our rich philosophical legacy has come from such figures as John Dewey, James H. Tufts, George Herbert Mead, Mortimer Adler, and Richard McKeon. This course focuses on the original “Chicago School,” which was made famous in the 1890s by the pragmatist philosopher, educator, and reformer John Dewey and his circle (e.g., Mead; Tufts; such reformers as Jane Addams, the founder of Hull House). This School has had a profound effect on the shape of modern philosophy, and its influence continues to be felt both within and beyond the academy, not least in the political philosophy of President Barack Obama. Field trips and guest speakers enrich philosophical history. Winter 2010. (B) Syllabus

21006. What is Civic Knowledge? Chicago as Friend and Representation. (=BPRO 21500, HUMA 24906, LLSO 24906, PBPL 21500). What is civic knowledge? Although civic rights and duties are supposedly universal in “liberal democratic” nations, their recognition and realization often depend on the strength of community connections and the circulation of knowledge across racial, class, and social boundaries. Focusing on the city of Chicago – and on the University of Chicago – we examine a number of key historical episodes in democratic experimentation and community organizing in order to shed light on how citizens, in their roles as citizens, can or could make democracy a way of life, forge communities, devise urban plans, and participate in urban affairs. How does the city construct the public spheres of its residents? Are the social practices of Chicagoans truly “democratic”? Could they be? What does “Chicago” stand for, as a political and cultural symbol? For both Chicagoans and their representatives, the circulation of knowledge depends not only on conventional media but also on how the city is constructed and managed through digital media. Spring 2011. Syllabus.

22209. Philosophies of Environmentalism and Sustainability. What does “going green” really mean? What is “sustainability?” How do different fundamental ethical and political perspectives yield different approaches to and understandings of “environmentalism,” “conservation,” “stewardship,” and “sustainable development”? This course uses a combination of classic environmentalist texts (e.g., Thoreau, Leopold, Carson) and contemporary works to clarify and address the most hotly contested and urgent philosophical issues dividing the global environmental movement today. Various field trips and guest speakers help us philosophize about the fate of the earth by connecting the local and the global. B. Schultz. (A) Autumn 2009. Syllabus