PHH 3100: Honors Ancient Greek Philosophy

In this course we shall cover the foundations of Western philosophy in ancient Greek thinking about humanity and nature, including the pre-Socratics, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. We shall consider the basic philosophical issues raised by the aforementioned thinkers, as well as the historical and cultural context in which their thought arises. We shall give special consideration, furthermore, to the different interpretations of Greek texts made possible by different interpretive frameworks. Thus we shall pay close attention not only to the Greek works themselves but also to the kinds of questions we ask about them and the consequences which our questions have for our interpretations. If we are successful, you will have become conversant with the fundamental questions of philosophy as they have been handed down from the Greeks as well as with the problems of textual interpretation raised by some recent and contemporary philosophers.

Course Requirements:

Gordon Rule Writing Requirement: At least 6000 words of writing are required of every student. Written assignments and their weights in the determination of the final grade appear below:

  1. Three essays, each at least 1000 words in length (3000 words total), each 20% of the final grade = 60%
  2. A minimum of 10 reading responses, each at least 200 words in length (2000 words total), altogether = 30%
  3. Class participation, including attendance, discussion, essay quizzes (1,000 words total):  =10 % of final grade.


Total written words to be completed in the course: 6000 words minimum.  

  1. An On-line style manual for MLA and other preferred formats will be employed.
  2. Writing will be graded for grammar, mechanics, organization, argumentation and style.
  3. Students enrolled in my section of Writing in the Humanities will turn in a series of rough drafts for papers due in Ancient Greek Philosophy; these are to be discussed and developed in the class’s weekly hour session.

Required Texts:

 

Baird, Forest E. and Walter Kaufmann.  Ancient Philosophy, 4th edition

Plato. Sophist.  Nicholas White trans.

Taylor, CCW, R M Hare, and Jonathan Barnes.  Greek Philosophers: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle

Recommended Texts and Reserve Readings

Barnes, Jonathan, Early Greek Philosophy
---. Ed. , Cambridge Companion to Aristotle
Burnet, J. Greek Philosophy: from Thales to Plato
Fine, Gail, ed. Plato I: Metaphysics and Epistemology
Heidegger, M. Early Greek Thinking
Gadamer, H.G. Dialogue and Dialectic
Kraut, R. Cambridge Companion to Plato.
Long, A.A. , Cambridge Companion to Early Greek Philosophy
Rice, D. A Guide to Plato’s Republic
Robinson,  John Mansley An Introduction to Early Greek Philosophy

Electronic Sources:

Some Guidelines for Writing Papers in Philosophy:

Williams College: "Paper Writing Strategies for Introductory Philosophy Courses": http://www.williams.edu/acad-depts/philosophy/jcruz/writingtutor/

Watson, Ellen, University of Queensland : "A Guide for Writing Papers in Philosophy": http://www.uq.oz.au/~pdgdunn/watessay.htm

Pryor, James, Harvard University: "Guidelines on Writing a Philosophy Paper": http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~jpryor/general/writing.html

Portmore, Douglas, College of Charleston: "Tips on Writing a Philosophy Paper":  http://www.cofc.edu/~portmord/tips.htm

"A Brief Guide for Writing Philosophy Papers": http://www.nwmissouri.edu/~rfield/guide.html

Franklin, R.L., University of New England: "On Writing Philosophy Assignments": http://www.uq.edu.au/~pdgdunn/rlfessay.htm

Studying Philosophy on the Internet:

American Philosophical Association: http://www.udel.edu/apa/

"Aristotle": Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/a/aristotl.htm

Biography of Aristotle: http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Aristotle.html

Biography of Plato: http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Plato.html

Exploring Plato’s Dialogues: http://plato.evansville.edu/

Greek Philosophy Archive: http://graduate.gradsch.uga.edu/archive/Greek.html

Internet Classics Archive: http://classics.mit.edu/index.html

Perseus Project: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/

Philosophy Resources on the Internet: http://www.epistemelinks.com/Main/MainPers.asp

Philosophy Text Collection: Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/philtext.htm

Pre-Socratic Philosophy: http://www.forthnet.gr/presocratics/indeng.htm

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http://plato.stanford.edu/


Syllabus

Week /Date                                                                            Assignments

1  Aug. 26-28
Course Introduction; Early Greek philosophy and cultural history; From Mythology to Philosophy: Homer, Hesiod and the Pre-Socratic, Baird and Kaufmann(BK), pp. 1-10; Sources of the Pre-Socratic fragments, BK 65-69.  Barnes, Early Greek Philosophy, ch. 1 (reserve).

2  Sept. 2-4 (Sept. 2nd, Labor Day Holiday)

The Milesians: Posting the question: "What one thing accounts for all other things?":  BC 6-10: Thales, Anixamander Anaximenes. Three Solitary Figures: Music, Mathematics and the Order of Things: Pythagoras, Xenophanes, Heraclitus. BK 10-18. Animated Proof of the Pythagorean Theorem , More Proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem , The Gnomon and the Pythagorean Theorem , Proof by Drag-and-Drop , Pythagoras in the History of Mathematics , Pythagorean Number and the Cosmos . Response 1 due.

3  Sept. 9-11
The Eleatics: The logic of being: Parmenides. In defense of Parmenides:  paradoxes of motion, the technique of reductio ad absurdum:       Zeno. “About the Nature of Reality,” Melissus.  BK 19-30.  The method of indirect proof or reductio ad absurdum .

4  Sept. 16-18
Pluralism: a changeless being versus phenomena in flux:  the great systematizer, Empedocles; an attempt at a theory of mind (nous), Anaxagoras; Atomism: Leucippus and Democritus. BK 31-42. Response 2 due.

5  Sept. 23-25
Three Sophists—Philosophy and Rhetoric:  Protagoras, Gorgias, Antiphon, BK pp. 43-48. History, Philosophy, and Politics: Two views of Athens, Thucydides and Pericles. BK 49-60. Women in early Greek philosophy: Aspasia, BK 61-64.  Essay I Due.

6  Sept. 30-Oct. 2
Rethinking the Greek Intellectual Tradition: Socrates and Plato: BK, pp. 71-76; Taylor, Hare & Barnes (TBE), chs. 1-4; What is piety? Euthyphro, BK 76-88;  Socrates’ self-defense:  Apology, BK pp. 88-105;  Gregory Vlastos, "The Socratic Elenchus," in Fine (on reserve) Ch. 1.  Response 3 due.

7  Oct. 7-9
Socrates on Death Row: civic duty and law: Crito, BK pp. 105-113. Socrates faces death: reflections on the immortality of the soul, Phaedo. The early development  of the Theory of Forms. Socrates and Plato. THB, Chs. 5-6. Response 4 due.

8  Oct. 14-16
Arguments for the immortality of the soul, the Phaedo continued.  The theory of recollection (anamnēsis), in Phaedo and Meno. BK 157-181. Recommended Reading:
Dominic Scott, "Platonic Recollection," Fine pp. 83-124.

9  Oct. 21-23
Introduction to Plato, THB chs. 1-3.  Plato on Power, Justice and the Ideal State, from Republic, Bks. I-IV, BK pp. 216-254. Response 5 due.

10  Oct. 28-30
On education, knowledge and reality, the divided mind:  from Republic, Bks. V-VII.  THB, Plato, chs. 4, 6, 7-9.    Essay II Due.

11  Nov. 4-6
A cosmological perspective:  Plato, from Timaeus, BK, pp. 307-310. Plato criticizes his own theory, and the history of Greek philosophy revisited.  From Plato’s Parmenides, BK pp. 288-295.  Toward a new theory of “ideas,” predication:  from Theaetetus, BK, pp.295-307. THB, Plato, ch. 5. Response 6 due.

12  Nov. 11-14 (Nov. 11, Veteran’s Day Holiday)
Angling to catch a sophistic opponent the waters of being and not-being; further toward a new theory of  “ideas”:  Plato’s Sophist.  G.E.L.Owen, "Plato on not-being," in Fine pp.275-297 (on reserve). Response 7 due.

13   Nov. 18-20
From Plato to Aristotle, Academy to Lyceum, BK, pp. 311-315; THB, chs. 1-5. Aristotle, from Categories, BK pp. 315-320. Response 8 due.

14   Nov.  25-27
Aristotle’s method:  natural science, logic, and the problems of knowledge:  from On Interpretation, Posterior Analytics, and Physics, pp. 320-340.   THB, Aristotle, chs. 6-8, 11-13, 16.  Aristotle on Causation Response 9 due [optional]

15   Dec. 2-4
Aristotle on external reality and the soul:  Aristotle, from Metaphysics, and On the Soul, BK 340-371; THB, Aristotle, complete.
Aristotle's Cosmology (Ramified by Ptolemy)   Response 10 due [optional]

 16  Dec. 6-12
Exam Week:  FINAL ESSAY DUE by class time, MONDAY, DEC. 9