MTWH 12:55 2:15 BuC 208 First Session, Spring Semester Office hours: After class and by appointment
This course is designed to advance an informed study of the most important worldly philosopher and economist of the 20th century: Lord Keynes, to encourage your participation in thoughtful classroom discussions, to improve your ability at organizing your thoughts and passions both orally and in written form and to engage in some enjoyable intellectual exercises.

I. TEXTS
John Maynard Keynes, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money [GT], 1936.
James M. Rock, Keynes on Paradox, Common Sense, Rationality & Passion [KPRCP], 2004.
William James Earle, Introduction to Philosophy, 1992.
*Robert L. Heilbroner, The Worldly Philosophers, 7th ed., 1999 (recommended).
*Deirdre N. McCloskey, Economical Writing, 2nd ed., 2000 (recommended).
These and other course readings are on physical and/or electronic reserve at Marriott Library.

II. COURSE OUTLINE

½ WEEKS
1 Keynes' Heretical Life: KPCRP, Introduction, Part I/chs. 1 & 2, and Appendix 1.

2 Methods and Methodology: KPCRP, Part I/chs. 3 & 4 and Appendices 2 & 3.

3 Human Logic: KPCRP, Part I/ch. 5. [MLK Holiday.]

4 Human Metaphysics and Applied Ethics & Aesthetics: KPCRP, Part I/chs. 6 & 7.

5 Introducing the General Theory: GT & KPCRP (Part II), Preface; Books I and II.

6 Consumption and Investment: GT & KPCRP (Part II), Books III and IV.

7 Money Wages and Prices: GT & KPCRP (Part II), Book V and Appendix 4.

8 Short Notes and Footnotes: GT & KPCRP (Part II), Book VI.

9 Memoir: Introduction and Rhetorical Persuasion (on reserve): KPCRP (Part III).

10 Memoir: Reality vs. Ideal & Human Logic (on reserve): KPCRP (Part III).

11 Progress & Common Sense: KPCRP, Part IV/chs. 1 and 2. [Take home paper due before Presidents Holiday.]

12 Vulgar Passions, Irrationality & Paradoxes: KPCRP, Part IV/chs. 3 and 4.

13 Keynes' Philosophy and Economics: KPCRP, Part IV/chs. 5 and 6.

14 Synergism of Economics and Philosophy: KPCRP, Part IV/ch. 7.

15 Summary and in class paper.

III. GRADING
(CW credit students have additional duties detailed under Term Papers)

Class attendance, intelligence, and participation requirements: 30%.
Because holidays have eliminated one week of classes and because you have to be in attendance to participate and to be educated, you will fail if you miss two more classes (in essence another week). Everyone is required to have an email address and to email me an one sentence personal essence acceptable for public viewing before the beginning of the second week of class. Failure to do so will count as a class absence. Fulfilling the essence, email, class attendance and intelligence participation requirements, and others that may be assigned are expectations on my part that are viewed as part of your class participation.
As you do your reading to prepare for class participation, try to put your notes into this form: What is the author's hypothesis? How does the author support the hypothesis? How good a case is made? Titles of chapters and subheadings are helpful in determining hypotheses. Sample questions are on reserve, both physically and electronically.

Term papers (2 parts): 70%.
Part 1 (40%): No more than a five page take home essay on the figures and tables of Part I: Philosopher and Economist due before February 17. Part 2 (30%): In class essay written last day of class. The potential in class essay questions will be available by the beginning of February. Those students enrolled for CW credit will also submit and resubmit a detailed outline and first and last paragraphs for the take home essay to me and to the writing TA for Econ 3905 1. You must write up a list of the primary revisions that you need to make to your draft of this essay (based on your meeting with the TA), and you must have the TA sign this list. Finally, you must turn in this list, along with a brief description of what you have done to incorporate these revisions, when you turn in the final version of your paper one copy to the TA and one copy to me. Be sure to meet with the TA early enough in the semester for her/him to read your outline and paragraphs and discuss them with you well before the take home essay is due. The TA will grade your performance in Econ 3905 1. All students are encouraged to read their University of Utah Class Schedules regarding Drop/Withdrawal policy, need for special assistance, and rights and responsibilities. The university provides accommodations for students with diagnosed disabilities. If you require accommodation, contact me and the Center for Disability Services, http://disability.utah.edu/, 162 Olpin Union Bldg., 581 5020 (V or TDD) to set up appropriate ones. Unscholastic behavior (e.g., excessive absences, plagiarism, disruptive behavior) will be dealt with promptly and appropriately. Such behavior may lead to expulsion from and to failure of the class.

GUIDELINES FOR WRITING PAPERS FOR PROFESSOR ROCK
These Guidelines attempt to construct a level writing and grading field for the papers.

• Papers must be typed, single spaced, and double spaced between paragraphs.

• Please do not use plastic folders! Provide on the "back" of the last sheet of paper the following information: title of the paper, your name, and date.

• All ideas not your own need to be attributed. Quotation marks must be placed around any statement that is taken directly from an article or book, etc. Include the page number in the citation. For example: "But, soon or late, it is ideas, not vested interests, which are dangerous for good or evil" (Keynes, 1936, p. 384). Failure to use quotation marks and to give proper credit to authors is plagiarism. Plagiarism is a serious offense, and will result in a failing grade.

• You must always cite the sources of your ideas within the body of the text. A list of references at the end is not adequate; please "plagiarize" the example above. The endnotes and references are to be typed on a second page. All pages are to have one inch margins all around and a 12 point (easily read) font.

• Avoid overuse of quotes. As a matter of style, use less than two quotes per page. Long quotes that need to be indented, typically two or more sentences, should be avoided, especially in short papers.

• Make sure your spelling and grammar are correct. If you have problems in these areas, have someone else proofread your work before handing it in. Use a dictionary when in doubt.

• Late papers are not acceptable under most circumstances. You have plenty of notice on due dates for papers, and you are fully responsible if something prevents completion of a last minute paper.

• If questions or problems arise when out of class, please email me your concerns: rock@economics.utah.edu

• Figurative language is encouraged.

USING FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE*
Sometimes the essays we write or the articles we read use all the words correctly, obey all the rules of grammar, are organized into proper paragraphs, and yet make dull reading. The writing, although correct, lacks flavor. We find ourselves plodding from word to word, from sentence to sentence. The words pile up on the page and run across our minds, but never excite our senses. Some of the meaning may even be lost as the unstimulating words glide right past us. At this point, the writing calls for figurative language.

Since the days of Homer, who wrote of "rosy fingered dawn," literature has been in the business of using figurative language. It is from literature, going back to the days of the ancient Greeks, that we get labels and definitions for these figures: analogy, metaphor, simile, symbol, and hyperbole. Analogy is defined as a similarity or likeness between things in some circumstances or effects, when the things are otherwise entirely different. In logic it is the inference that certain admitted resemblances imply probable further similarity. In linguistics, analogy is the process by which new or less familiar words, constructions, or pronunciations conform with the pattern of older or more familiar (and often unrelated) ones: as, energize is formed from energy by analogy with apologize from apology.

In his chapter in A Treatise on Probability on "Induction and Analogy," Keynes uses Hume's well known remark "Nothing so like as eggs; yet no one, on account of this apparent similarity, expects the same taste and relish in all of them. 'Tis only after a long course of uniform experiments in any kind, that we attain a firm reliance and security with regard to a particular event" (X, p. 217) to compare analogy and induction (X, p. 218): "This argument is based partly upon Analogy and partly upon what may be termed Pure Induction. We argue from Analogy insofar as we depend upon the likeness of the eggs, and from Pure Induction when we trust the number of the experiments."

Metaphor (from the Greek "transfer") is that figure of speech which superimposes one image on another. One image must be dissimilar to the other. The characteristics of one object or event are transferred to another even though literally this cannot be the case. Metaphor occurs only when the assertion is preposterous. "Man is a wolf" is a metaphorical statement that imposes the image of a wolf on that of a man. In literal fact, man is not a wolf. Wolf has been given a twist in meaning so that it can serve as metaphor for man. Some of the characteristics of wolf have been transferred to man. The statement that "Man is an animal," for example, is literally true. Thus it cannot be a metaphorical statement. Metaphor also shows new relationships and gives new insights. Have you ever seen the moon in the way the poet e. e. cummings calls it to our attention: "Notice the convulsed orange inch of moon perching on this sliver minute of evening."

We have all seen the orange sliver of a new moon in the sky at dusk, but this description helps us to see it in a new way. Because "perching" is a characteristic of birds, the image of a bird has been imposed on that of the moon and serves as metaphor. The skillful use of metaphor has created new relationships and deeper insights into this fleeting moment. The word convulsed, of course, intensifies the shape of the new moon. After long and repeated usage, a metaphor loses its original force, and, used literally, becomes incorporated in language. When you "thread your way" through the crowd you no longer think of the original image. The "legs" of a table belong to it as certainly as the legs of a dog; and the "head of state" or the head of any organization brings no image of heads to mind. After repeated use in a specific field, metaphor becomes the jargon of that field.

Mixed metaphors originate in those phrases in which original image has slipped away. Coming too quickly to the unwatchful writer's pen, unhelpful phrases are mixed with others. Now we may have two uncongenial images combined: You've buttered your bread; now lie in it. The hand that rocked the cradle has kicked the bucket. In some writing, mixed images may affect a misleading or, perhaps, an intensified impression of knowledge. In economics writing, for instance, phases like "unstable equilibrium," "unemployment equilibrium," "dynamic equilibrium" are of mixed imagery.

Clichés are overused metaphors. When the original image is lost, repeated phrases, emptied of meaning, strike hollowly at our ears. Spilled milk, dogged determination, ladders of success, sands of time are figureless phrases. When they serve as apt expressions to communicate meaning quickly, they may be regarded as a kind of shorthand. Their use should be carefully guarded; overdone, it may lead to boredom and even stranger results.

Simile is a figure of speech closely related to metaphor. Again, the characteristics of one object or event are joined to those of another in a way that is literally not true. Simile differs from metaphor in that the comparison made between two things is indicated by connectives such as like, as, or than; or by verbs such as resemble. "Man is a wolf" is a metaphor; "man is like a wolf" is a simile. In this case, the metaphor would be a more forceful statement than the simile. Often, however, the simile is preferred to the metaphor because it can state directly what the shared characteristic is. When someone writes: "Professor Rock is as crafty as a fox" or "Professor Rock is as swift as a fox," we know exactly what qualities Professor Rock shares with the fox. The Professor Rock who roars like a lion is different from the Professor Rock who is a king, like a lion. However, when we say, "Professor Rock acts like a harassed professor," we are no longer using figurative language because the statement may be literally true.

Attaching animal characteristics to human beings has long been a feature of figurative writing. After taking a humorous exception to figurative language, James Thurber cites a few similes of praise: "as brave as a lion, as proud as a peacock, as lively as a cricket, as graceful as a swan, as busy as a bee, as gentle as a lamb," and goes on to say: "We sometimes observe that he [generic man] has the memory of an elephant and works like a beaver. (Why this should make him dog tired instead of beaver tired I don't know.)" Some of the similes cited above have indeed become as dog tired as a limp worm. Yet similes have the potential power to make for vivid writing. A newspaper article says of a character at a neighborhood meeting that "he drifted through the shaded room like ectoplasm clothed in blue jeans."

A symbol, speaking literally, is anything that represents something else. In its general use, a symbol is a public convention, something that everyone agrees upon and recognizes. A flag is a symbol of automobile dealerships. The cross is a symbol of economic modeling. For some people a Ph.D. or a mountain bike are symbols of richness or fitness. We live in a world of symbols. Words are symbols. The word chair, for example, is not the chair itself. It is a symbol of power. Uniforms are symbols of professions, flowers are symbols of emotions, certain animals are symbols of strength. On the one hand, symbols like these are easily recognized by most of us. Literary symbols, on the other hand, are often more difficult to recognize because they usually deal with abstractions, such as wealth, power, greed, society, war.

Hyperbole (from the Greek, "overshooting") is a figure of speech that uses bold and obvious exaggeration: The sky's the limit; I'm the greatest of all time. These statements are obviously figurative. Even Muhammed Ali, given his religious faith, would not take himself seriously in claiming to be the greatest of all time. Although hyperbole is used to make something bigger than life, smallness too can be exaggerated: His brain is so small it could fit on the head of a pin. He's so thin no door is tight enough to keep him out. She's so tiny you'd miss her in a crowd of ants.

Hyperbole is not intended to deceive anyone, nor is it in any sense a realistic description. As propaganda, however, hyperbole may be an effective tool. F. M. Cornford defined propaganda as "that branch of the art of lying which consists in very nearly deceiving your friends without quite deceiving your enemies."
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*Adapted from Building English Skills, Evanston, IL: McDougal, Littell, 1977, pp. 189 203.