6AANA040 Greek Philosophical Texts I: Plato Syllabus Academic year 2013/4

Transcription

1 School of Arts & Humanities Department of Philosophy 6AANA040 Greek Philosophical Texts I: Plato Syllabus Academic year 2013/4 Basic information Credits: 15 Module Tutor: Dr Will Rasmussen Office: PB/A702 Consultation time: Wednesdays, 12:00 13:00 Semester: First Lecture time and venue*: Tuesdays, 14:00 16:00 *Please note that tutorial times and venues will be organised independently with your teaching tutor Module description (plus aims and objectives) This module is intended for students who have studied ancient Greek for at least one year, and who wish to gain experience in the close examination of the works of Plato in the original language. Each week the students prepare a translation and a brief philosophical commentary on that week s portion of the set text. The emphasis is upon the student s own critical engagement with both the language and philosophical content of the text, primarily as an independent work, but also within its philosophical, historical and cultural contexts. To facilitate this, grammatical explanation of the Greek is offered whenever needed, and secondary literature is used to only to stimulate this student-centred discussion. In this way, the students are assisted in penetrating and elaborating the meaning of this text further than the study of it merely in translation could achieve. The text will be Plato s Meno. Assessment methods and deadlines 1

2 Formative assessment: weekly translation exercises, with a philosophical commentary. Summative assessment: 1 x 2-hour end of year examination, viz. translation and philosophical commentary on 2 passages of approximately 15 lines. NB Please note that for semester I-only Study Abroad students, assessment requirements may vary. In particular, May exams will be replaced by an exam at the end of term (date TBC). Outline of lecture topics (plus suggested readings) Page 2

3 The best edition of the Meno to use for this course, with its excellent notes and translation, is R. W. Sharples (1985) Plato: Meno, Aris & Phillips. The text is also available on the Perseus website at: Good preparatory reading for the course is Day, J. M. (ed.) (1994) Plato's Meno in Focus, London, Routledge. The suggested reading is not required, and is intended only to stimulate your personal engagement with the text. Week 1: Meno 70a1-72c5. o Kahn, Charles. H Plato and the Socratic Dialogue. Cambridge: CUP: esp. chapter 1. o McCabe, M. M Plato and His Predecessors: the Dramatisation of Reason. Cambridge: CUP: esp. chapter 1. Week 2: Meno 72c6-74e10. o Rasmussen, W. (2008) The Enigma of Socratic Wisdom : Resolving Inconsistencies in Plato, Saarbrücken, VDM Verlag Dr. Muller Aktiengesellschaft & Co.: esp. chapter 3. Available as PhD dissertation at < o Wolfsdorf, D. (2004) 'Interpreting Plato's Early Dialogues', Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy XXVII: Week 3: Meno 74e11-77e4. o Vlastos, G. (1991) 'Socrates contra Socrates in Plato'. In Vlastos, G. (ed.) Socrates: Ironist and Moral Philosopher, Cambridge, CUP. o Brickhouse, T. C. & Smith, N. D. (2000) The Philosophy of Socrates, Oxford, Westview Press: chapters 1 & 2. Week 4: Meno 77e5-80d4. o Burnyeat, M. F. (1977) 'Examples in Epistemology: Socrates, Theaetetus and G. E. Moore', Philosophy 52: o MacKenzie, Mary Margaret The Virtues of Socratic Ignorance. Classical Quarterly 38 (2): Week 5: Meno 80d5-84a2. o Fine, G. (1999) 'Inquiry in the Meno'. In Kraut, R. (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Plato, Cambridge, CUP: Week 6: Meno 84a3-86d2. o Gill, C. (2002) 'Dialectic and the Dialogue Form'. In Annas, J. & Rowe, C. (eds.) New Perspectives on Plato, Modern and Ancient, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press: Week 7: Meno 86d3-89c4. o Kahn, C. H. (1981) 'Did Plato Write Socratic Dialogues?' Classical Quarterly 31: o Annas, J. (2002) 'What Are Plato's 'Middle' Dialogues in the Middle Of?' In Annas, J. & Rowe, C. (eds.) New Perspectives on Plato, Modern and Ancient, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press: Week 8: Meno 89c5-92e2. o Frede, M. (1992 Supplement) 'Plato's Arguments and the Dialogue Form', Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy: Week 9: Meno 92e3-96d4. o Tarrant, H. (2005) Recollecting Plato's Meno, London, Duckworth: esp. chapter 4. Week 10: 96d5-100c2. o Stokes, M. C. (1986) Plato's Socratic Conversations, London, Athlone Press. NB The single Formative Essay is due on the Friday of Week Ten. Outline of lecture topics (plus suggested readings) continued if necessary Page 3

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5 Suggested essay questions N/A, as the assessment is based on the translation and philosophical commentary on selected passages of the set text. Page 5

6 Suggested additional readings Page 6