PHI 223 Topics In Ancient Philosophy

Transcription

1 PHI 223 Topics In Ancient Philosophy Stephen Makin Spring Semester Course Information and Recommended Reading

2 2 Plagiarism and unfair means It is extremely important that you are aware of what counts as Unfair Means (Plagiarism) in assessed work, and that you are aware of the serious consequences of using unfair means in your work. The University and Department take a strong stand against plagiarism, since we believe that it is unfair and disadvantages honest students (the overwhelming majority). There is a University online tutorial on what counts as plagiarism, and how to avoid it, at You can also consult the department s Level Two Students Handbook ( 32) for advice concerning plagiarism unfair means, and referencing. You can download this from the, which you can download from the Departmental website at or via the Philosophy UG Online MOLE page. The following four examples of unfair means are serious academic offences and may result in penalties that could have a lasting effect on your career, both at University and beyond. Plagiarism (either intentional or unintentional) is the stealing of ideas or work of another person (including experts and fellow or former students) and is considered dishonest and unprofessional. Plagiarism may take the form of cutting and pasting, taking or closely paraphrasing ideas, passages, sections, sentences, paragraphs, drawings, graphs and other graphical material from books, articles, internet sites or any other source and submitting them for assessment without appropriate acknowledgement Submitting bought or commissioned work (for example from internet sites, essay banks or mills ) is an extremely serious form of plagiarism. This may take the form of buying or commissioning either the whole assignment or part of it and implies a clear intention to deceive the examiners. The University also takes an extremely serious view of any student who sells, offers to sell, or passes on their own assignments to other students. Double submission (or self plagiarism) is resubmitting previously submitted work on one or more occasions (without proper acknowledgement). This may take the form of copying either the whole assignment or part of it. Normally credit will already have been given for this work. Collusion is where two or more people work together to produce a piece of work, all or part of which is then submitted by each of them as their own individual work. This includes passing on work in any format to another student. Collusion does not occur where students involved in group work are encouraged to work together to produce a single piece of work as part of the assessment process.

3 3 In any essay or exam answer submitted for assessment, all passages taken from other people's work, either word for word, or with small changes, must be placed within quotation marks, with specific reference to author, title and page. No excuse can be accepted for any failure to do so, nor will inclusion of the source in a bibliography be considered an adequate acknowledgement. If the marker decides that plagiarism has occurred, it becomes a matter of report to a University Committee. The student may be judged to have failed the essay and/or exam and/or module (depending on the degree of severity). The plagiarism will also be recorded on the student's record.

4 4 Timetable There will be two lectures each week at the following times. Tuesday Arts Tower LT 1 Wednesday Hicks Building LT B From week 3 onwards there will also be a weekly discussion class. There are two alternate hours booked for discussion. Details of discussion classes, and whether there will be one or two discussion class for this module, will be given once registration for the module has stabilized. The two alternate discussion slots are Wednesday 2.00 Jessop Building SR 215 Wednesday 3.00 Jessop Building SR 215 Week 12 of the Spring semester (May 19-23rd) is a reading week. There will be no lectures or seminars during that week. Course Outline Socrates has come to represent the ideal of a life devoted to philosophy. He engaged in searching discussion with his contemporaries. He was prosecuted for impiety, condemned to death, and accepted his sentence willingly. The main (but not the only) source for our knowledge of Socrates is Plato. This module examines the picture of Socrates that Plato presents in some of his early dialogues. We start with three short non-platonic works, intended to provide a background against which we can view Plato s presentation of Socrates. These works are Gorgias Encomium Of Helen Gorgias On What Is Not Anonymous Dissoi Logoi We will then read five early Platonic works. Three of these are dialogues representing Socrates in philosophical discussion Plato Laches Plato Charmides Plato Euthyphro The fourth is a speech, which Socrates is represented as offering at his trial Plato Apology The final piece is a dialogue set shortly before Socrates execution, concerning his attitude to the verdict passed on him. Plato Crito Finally we look at another of Plato s dialogues, in which he considers (among other things) the difference between philosophy as pursued by Socrates and the activity pursued by (such as) Gorgias (which Plato calls oratory) Plato Gorgias With this dialogue we have an explicit and reflective Platonic presentation of Socratic enquiry as philosophical. The material studied earlier in the module should help you to think critically about this presentation.

5 5 Library Resources The Library has considerable electronic resources. I intend in this module to make as much use as possible of material which is electronically available. My reasons for doing so are to reduce pressure on a limited number of print copies of books; to reduce paper consumption as much as possible; and to give you valuable experience in using and searching electronic sources. For a general overview of the Library s eresources see For a summary of the Philosophy resources available via the Library and online see You will find the following particularly useful The PastMasters ecollection (including the Complete Works of Aristotle) The alphabetical list of Philosophy ebooks held by the Library The FindIt@Sheffield ejournals A-Z index, which gives you access to the Library s ejournals, is available via the Library Star Plus Catalogue &vid=SFD_VU2&fromLogin=true The Philosophy Department website also has a resources page This gives a link detailing philosophers who have posted online papers, which includes a section on ancient philosophy Of course the Library also holds a wide range of printed material. If you are wanting to borrow books for this module, please note that the Library runs a variable loan status system. The loan period for a book becomes shorter whenever an item has multiple reservations, but revert back to standard loan when the level of demand falls. So, if there are books relevant to this module which you want to borrow from the library, make sure to reserve them if they are on loan. The Library will continue to provide reference only copies of key texts as appropriate For full details of the Library s borrowing arrangements see You may find it helpful, for easy and repeated access, to collect all these links in a bookmark folder in your web browser.

6 6 Reading (topic by topic) There is an electronic version of this topic-by-topic reading list, with direct links to electronic resources, on the Library s myresource List for this module. Go to and search for PHI 223 (Topics in Ancient Philosophy) I have provided reading information under six headings. Different parts of the module are best approached in different ways, and your reading strategies should probably be different depending on which primary texts you are reading. 1. Primary Texts 2. Background Reading E-Offprints 3. Reading on Encomium of Helen, On What is Not and Dissoi Logoi 4. Socrates: Background Reading 5. The Early Platonic Dialogues 6. Plato s Gorgias 1. Primary Texts The Platonic texts You will be reading six Platonic dialogues (Laches, Euthyphro, Charmides, Apology, Crito, Gorgias). They are contained in the set texts for the module (details below). There are some print copies of these books in the Library. But you would be well advised to purchase your own copies. It will not be possible to follow the module without easy access to these texts, and the Hackett editions listed below are fairly cheap. Blackwells have copies in stock. Plato Plato Plato Laches and Charmides translated Rosamond Kent Sprague (Hackett, Indianapolis, ISBN ) Five Dialogues: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo translated G.M.A.Grube revised John Cooper (2nd edition: Hackett, Indianapolis, ISBN Gorgias translated Donald J. Zeyl (Hackett, Indianapolis, 1987: ISBN ) You might be interested to know that translations of all these dialogues are taken from the Hackett edition of Complete Works of Plato (edited with Introduction and Notes by John M Cooper: Hackett, Indianapolis, 1997; ISBN ). That s available as a hardback at current RRP of 32. It s a weighty tome (over 1800 pages and hard covers), but also a great volume to have. It would give you everything you need for

7 7 this module, and may be useful in other modules also. Blackwells will have copies in stock. The non-platonic texts These are all accessible electronically. Gorgias Gorgias Encomium of Helen Go to the module MOLE site. You will find MS and pdf copies of a translation by George Kennedy of Gorgias Encomium of Helen On What Is Not (On the Non-Existent) This work has not survived in its original form. Instead we have two ancient summaries. One is due to Sextus Empiricus (from Adv Math ). Go to the Eoffprint list via the module MOLE site, and you will find a translation of the Sextus text in D.W.Graham The Texts of Early Greek Philosophy (Cambridge University Press, 2010: two volumes) Chapter 16 Gorgias pp Another version is in the pseudo-aristotelian On Melissus, Xenophanes and Gorgias (MXG). Go to the Library s Past Masters ecollection (see link above). For the MXG go to volume II of the Complete Works of Aristotle. The material you need (on Gorgias) starts at 979a12 and continues to the end of the treatise at 980b22. There is also a translation of this version in the extract from D.W.Graham The Texts of Early Greek Philosophy (Cambridge University Press, 2010: two volumes) Chapter 16 Gorgias pp on the module Eoffprint collection Anonymous Dissoi Logoi There is a translation by Rosamund Kent Sprague Dissoi Logoi or Dialexeis in Mind 77 (1968) pp [electronic access via 2. Background Reading E-offprints Frede M Plato s Arguments and the Dialogue Form in Methods of Interpreting Plato and his Dialogues eds J.C.Klagge, N.D.Smith (Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy Supplementary Volume Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1992) Kerferd G.B. The Sophistic Movement (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1981) Chapter 5

8 8 Graham D.W. The Texts of Early Greek Philosophy (Cambridge University Press, 2010: two volumes) Chapter 16 Gorgias pp Barnes J. The Presocratic Philosophers (Routledge, London, 1982) pp Wardy R. The Birth Of Rhetoric (Routledge, London, 1996) Chapter 2 Mourelatos A. Gorgias On The Function Of Language Philosophical Topics 15 (1987) Burnyeat M. Virtues In Action in G.Vlastos (ed) The Philosophy Of Socrates Anscombe G.E.M. On Piety, or: Plato s Euthyphro in From Plato to Wittgenstein: Essays by G.E.M.Anscombe eds Mary Geach and Luke Gormally (St Andrews Studies in Philosophy and Public Affairs series: Imprint Academic, Exeter, 2011) pp. Geach P.T. Plato s Euthyphro Logic Matters (Blackwell, Oxford, 1972) 31-44; originally in Monist 50 (1966) Burnyeat M.F. The Impiety of Socrates in T.C.Brickhouse and N.D.Smith (eds) The Trial and Execution of Socrates (OUP 2002) pp ; originally in Ancient Philosophy 17 (1997) 1-12 Santas G.X. Socrates (Routledge And Kegan Paul, London, 1979) Chapter 2 Socrates and the Laws of Athens 3. Reading on Encomium of Helen, On What is Not and Dissoi Logoi These texts are less approachable than the early Platonic dialogues. It is difficult to find helpful and accessible (ie Greekless) secondary reading. Background For background start with Kerferd The Sophistic Movement chapter 5 in the Background Reading E-offprints. Then look at the excellent overview of both the Sophists and Socrates in Broadie S The Sophists and Socrates in D.Sedley (ed) Cambridge Companion To Greek And Roman Philosophy (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2003) pp online via

9 9 Encomium of Helen For a collection of Gorgias texts see Graham ( The Texts of Early Greek Philosophy Chapter 16 in the Background Reading E-offprints In addition there are the extracts from Barnes ( Conduct Unbecoming ) and Wardy ( In Praise of Fallen Women ) in the Background Reading E-offprints. There is an article on Gorgias (by Charles Khan) in the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy: enter Gorgias at For something on the unusual ending of the Encomium see Makin S Amusing Gorgias: Why does the Encomium of Helen end as it does? Ancient Philosophy 33 (2013) On What Is Not In order to appreciate this text you will need some background knowledge of Parmenides, Zeno and Melissus. There are three convenient and reliable sources: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Search for the articles on Parmenides (by John Palmer) and Zeno of Elea (by John Palmer) Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy Search for the articles on Parmenides (by David Sedley), Zeno of Elea (by Stephen Makin) and Melissus (by David Sedley) I have also posted a copy of my Parmenides, Zeno and Melissus from the Routledge Companion to Ancient Philosophy on the module MOLE site. Three items of more specialised (but difficult) reading on On What Is Not are Caston V. Mansfeld J. Mourelatos A. Gorgias On Thought And Its Objects in V.Caston, D.W.Graham (eds) Presocratic Philosophy: Essays In Honour Of Alexander Mourelatos (Ashgate, Aldershot, 2002) Historical And Philosophical Aspects Of Gorgias What Is Not in J.Mansfeld Studies In The Historiography Of Greek Philosophy (Van Gorcum, Assen, 1990) Gorgias On The Function Of Language Philosophical Topics 15 (1987) [available from background reading E- offprints]

10 10 Dissoi Logoi There is relevant material in the extract from Barnes ( Conduct Unbecoming ) in the background reading E-offprints Search in in Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy for the article on Dissoi Logoi (by Myles Burnyeat) See also Levi A. Bailey D. On Twofold Statements The American Journal Of Philology 61 (1940) [electronic access via Excavating Dissoi Logoi 4 Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 35 (2008) There is an online pdf version accessible via Dominic Bailey s University of Colorado homepage 4. Socrates: General Reading Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Search for the articles on Socrates (by Deborah Nails) and on Plato s Shorter Ethical Works (by Paul Woodruff) Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy Search for articles on Socrates (by John Cooper); Socratic Dialogues (by Charles Kahn); Plato (by Malcolm Schofield: only sections 1-9 are relevant to this module) For an overview of Plato s life and works see Rowe C Plato in D.Sedley (ed) Cambridge Companion To Greek And Roman Philosophy (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2003) pp online via On Plato s use of the dialogue form see Frede M Plato s Arguments and the Dialogue Form in Methods of Interpreting Plato and his Dialogues eds J.C.Klagge, N.D.Smith (Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy Supplementary Volume Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1992) [available from background reading E-offprints]

11 11 Kahn C.K. Did Plato Write Socratic Dialogues? Classical Quarterly 31 (1981) [electronic access via Kahn C.K. Plato and the Socratic Dialogue (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1996) For a selection of further general background reading on Socrates there are the following Beversluis J Cross-examining Socrates : A Defense Of The Interlocutors In Plato's Early Dialogues (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2000) Brickhouse T.C Smith N.D. Socrates On Trial (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1989). Commentary on Plato's Apology of Socrates Brickhouse, T.C. Smith N.D. Cooper J Routledge Philosophy Guidebook To Plato And The Trial Of Socrates (Routledge, London, 2004) Socrates and Philosophy as a Way of Life in Maieusis ed Dominic Scott (OUP 2007) pp [available via Library eresources] Dillon J The Heirs of Plato (OUP 2003) chapter 1 [available via Library eresources] Gulley N The Philosophy Of Socrates (Macmillan, London, 1968 ) Guthrie, W. K. C Socrates (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1971) Irwin T Irwin T Santas, G.X. Plato s Ethics (OUP 1995) Chapters 1-2 [available via Library eresources] The Virtues: theory and Common Sense in Greek Philosophy in Essays on the Virtues ed R.Crisp (OUP 1998) pp [available via Library eresources] Socrates: Philosophy In Plato's Early Dialogues (Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1979)

12 12 Taylor C.C.W. Socratic Ethics in Pleasure, Mind and Soul (OUP 2008) pp [available via Library eresources] Vlastos G (ed) The Philosophy Of Socrates : A Collection Of Critical Essays (University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, IN, 1980, c1971: reprint of the ed. published by Anchor Books, Garden City, N.Y., in series, Modern studies in philosophy) Vlastos, G. Socrates: Ironist And Moral Philosopher (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1991) Waerdt van der P West T.G. The Socratic Movement (Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London, 1994) Plato's 'Apology of Socrates': An Interpretation, With A New Translation (Cornell University Press, Ithaca 1979) 5. The Early Platonic Dialogues Laches, Euthyphro, Charmides, Apology, Crito Your best advice in reading and writing about these dialogues is to concentrate as much as possible on the dialogues themselves. I have given additional reading on each dialogue below. But the dialogues themselves are written in a plain and accessible style, and presuppose no knowledge of philosophical technicality. If the material they contain was supposed to be accessible to Socrates interlocutors then it should be accessible also to you. Laches Burnyeat M.F Virtues In Action in G.Vlastos (ed) The Philosophy Of Socrates [available from background reading E-offprints] Devereux D Devereux D Irwin T Courage and Wisdom in Plato s Laches Journal of the History of Philosophy 15 (1977) [electronic access via The Unity of the Virtues in Plato s Protagoras and Laches Philosophical Review 101 (1992) [electronic access via Plato s Ethics (OUP 1995) Chapter 3 [available via Library eresources]

13 13 Rabbas O Definitions and Paradigms: Laches First Definition Phronesis 49 (2004) [electronic access via Santas G.X. Socrates At Work On Virtue And Knowledge in Plato s Laches Review Of Metaphysics 22 (1969) [electronic access via Euthyphro Anderson A. Socratic Reasoning in the Euthyphro, Review of Metaphysics 22 (1969) [electronic access via Cohen S.M Socrates On The Definition Of Piety Journal Of The History Of Philosophy 9 (1971) 1-13 [electronic access via Anscombe G.E.M. On Piety, or: Plato s Euthyphro in From Plato to Wittgenstein: Essays by G.E.M.Anscombe eds Mary Geach and Luke Gormally (St Andrews Studies in Philosophy and Public Affairs series: Imprint Academic, Exeter, 2011) [available from background reading E- offprints] Geach P.T. Plato s Euthyphro Logic Matters (Blackwell, Oxford, 1972) 31-44; originally in Monist 50 (1966) [available from background reading E-offprints] Holland Euthyphro Proceedings Of The Aristotelian Society 82 ( ) 1-15 [electronic access via McPherran M Socratic Piety in the Euthyphro, Journal of the History of Philosophy 23 (1985), [electronic access via Santas G.X. The Socratic Fallacy, Journal of the History of Philosophy 10 (1972), [electronic access via Taylor C.C.W. The End of the Euthyphro in Pleasure, Mind and Soul (OUP 2008) pp [available via Library eresources] Charmides Burnyeat M.F Virtues In Action in G.Vlastos (ed) The Philosophy Of Socrates [available from background reading E-offprints] McCabe M Looking Inside Charmides Cloak: Seeing Others and Oneself in Plato s Charmides in Maieusis ed D. Scott (OUP 2007) pp.1-19 [available via Library eresources]

14 14 McKim R. Santas G. Socratic Self-Knowledge and Knowledge Of Knowledge in Plato s Charmides Transactions Of The American Philological Association 115 (1985) [electronic access via Socrates At Work On Virtue And Knowledge In Plato s Charmides in E.N.Lee et al (eds) Exegesis and Argument (Van Gorcum, Assen, 1973) [available as E-Offprint via Library myresource list] Apology Brickhouse T.C. Smith N.D. The Formal Charges Against Socrates Journal of the History of Philosophy 33 (1985) [electronic access via Brickhouse T.C Smith N.D. Socrates On Trial (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1989). Commentary on Plato's Apology of Socrates Burnyeat M.F. The Impiety of Socrates in T.C.Brickhouse and N.D.Smith (eds) The Trial and Execution of Socrates (OUP 2002) pp ; originally in Ancient Philosophy 17 (1997) 1-12 [available from background reading E-offprints] Danzig G. Gray V.J. Prior W.J. Apologizing For Socrates: Plato and Xenophon on Socrates Behaviour In Court Transactions Of The American Philological Association 133 (2003) [electronic access via Xenophon s Defence Of Socrates: The Rhetorical Background To The Socratic Problem Classical Quarterly 39 (1989) [electronic access via The Historicity Of Plato s Apology Polis 18 (2001) [electronic access via Santas G Socrates (Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1979) Chapter 2 [available from background reading E-offprints] Crito The following books concentrate on the issues raised in the Crito Allen R.E. Socrates And Legal Obligation (Minneapolis, 1980)

15 15 Kraut R. Socrates And The State (Princeton, 1983) Weiss R. Socrates Dissatisfied (New York, 1998) [available via Library eresources] Woozley A.D. Law And Obedience (London, 1979) There are also the following articles Allen R.E. Law And Justice In Plato s Crito Journal of Philosophy 69 (1972) [electronic access via Brown L. Did Socrates Agree to Obey the Laws of Athens? in Remembering Socrates eds L.Judson, V.Karasmanis (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 2006) pp [available as E-Offprint via Library myresource list] Congleton A. Two Types Of Lawlessness: Plato s Crito Polis 2 (1974) [electronic access via Danzig G. Crito And The Socratic Controversy Polis 23 (2006) [electronic access via Euben J.P. Philosophy And Politics In Plato s Crito Political Theory 6 (1978) [electronic access via Farrell D.M. Illegal Actions, Universal Maxims And The Duty To Obey The Law: The Case For Civil Authority In The Crito Political Theory 6 (1978) [electronic access via Greenberg N. Socrates Choice In The Crito Harvard Studies In Classical Philology 70 (1965) [electronic access via Miller M. The Arguments I Seem To Hear Argument And Irony In The Crito Phronesis 41 (1996) [electronic access via Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Search for the article on Civil Disobedience (by Kimberley Brownlee) While it is not clear how relevant the issue of civil disobedience is to the Crito- Socrates debate, this article should be of interest in its own right.

16 16 6. Plato s Gorgias There is a translation with full commentary (and bibliography) by Terence Irwin in the Clarendon Plato Series Irwin T Plato: Gorgias (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1979) [available via Library eresources] The Library has multiple print copies, and an electronic edition, of this book. You would be wise to consult Irwin s comments on any parts of the Gorgias on which you plan to write in detail There are also the following articles Archie J. Callicles Redoubtable Critique of the Polus Argument in Plato s Gorgias Hermes 112 (1984) [electronic access via Doyle J Socrates and Gorgias Phronesis 55 (2010) 1-25 [available as E- offprint via Library PHI 223 myresource list] Irwin T Plato s Ethics (OUP 1995) Chapters 7-8 [available via Library eresources] Johnson C.N. Socrates Encounter With Polus in Plato s Gorgias Phoenix 43 (1989) [electronic access via Kahn C.H. Drama and Dialectic in Plato s Gorgias Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 1 (1983) Klosko G. The Refutation of Callicles In Plato s Gorgias Greece And Rome 31 (1984) [electronic access via MacKenzie M. A Pyrrhic Victory: Gorgias 474b-477a Classical Quarterly 32 (1982) [electronic access via Race W.H. Shame In Plato s Gorgias Classical Journal 74 (1979) [electronic access via Rudebusch G Socrates, Pleasure and Value (OUP 2002) chapters 4-5 [available via Library eresources] Russell D Plato on Pleasure and the Good Life (OUP 2005) chapter 2 [available via Library eresources]

17 17 Sharples R.W Plato on Democracy and Expertise Greece and Rome 41 (1984) [electronic access via Warman M.S Plato and Persuasion Greece and Rome 30 (1983) [electronic access via