4AANA001 Greek Philosophy I Syllabus Academic year 2015/16

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1 School of Arts & Humanities Department of Philosophy 4AANA001 Greek Philosophy I Syllabus Academic year 2015/16 Basic information Credits: 15 Module Tutor: Dr Tamsin de Waal Office: Rm 702 Consultation time: TBC Semester: 1 Lecture time and venue*: Mondays 13:00-14:00, K4U.12 King s Building, Strand Campus *Please note that tutorial times and venues will be organised independently with your teaching tutor Module description This course will introduce students to Ancient Greek Philosophy through the study of classic works of Plato and Aristotle. The course will consist of a weekly one-hour lecture and a weekly one-hour tutorial. A fundamental part of studying Ancient Philosophy is the close reading and critical analysis of primary texts. In order for students to develop the skills to do this, tutorials will focus on two texts. In the first five weeks, students will study Plato s Meno (in translation). In the second five weeks, students will study Aristotle s Physics, Bk II (in translation). The lectures will cover both these texts, whilst also providing a broader look at Plato and Aristotle, covering key topics in their epistemology, metaphysics and ethics. The first five lectures will focus on Plato. The second five lectures will focus on Aristotle. All students are required to prepare the set primary reading before each week s lecture and seminar. Note that there will be different set reading for lectures and seminars. For the lectures, students will need a copy of Plato s Apology, Meno, and Phaedo, and Aristotle s Physics, Nicomachean Ethics, and Politics. If you want all the Plato works collected together J.M. Cooper and D.S. Hutchinson, eds., Plato: Complete Works (Hackett 1997). If you want all the Aristotle works collected together J. Barnes, ed., The Complete Works of Aristotle (two volumes) (Princeton University Press 1984). Alternatively, the following volume contains all the primary texts we will be looking at S.M. Cohen, P. Curd, and C.D.C. Reeve, eds., Readings in Ancient Greek Philosophy: From Thales to Aristotle, 4th ed. (Hackett Publishing 2011). There are also numerous editions of individual texts. The great advantage of these is that they often have very useful introductions. 1

2 Assessment methods and deadlines Formative assessment: Two essays of 1000 words each. First essay due: 16:00 on Friday October 30 th Second essay due: 16:00 on Friday December 11 th Summative assessment: A two-hour exam in May/June. NB Please note that for semester 1-only Study Abroad students, assessment requirements may vary. In particular, May exams will be replaced by summative essays to be submitted by the end of term (Date TBC). Suggested essay questions FIRST FORMATIVE ESSAY Is the Socratic method essentially negative? Answer with reference to the Apology and Meno. Is Socrates demand for a definition of virtue in the Meno reasonable? What role does the theory of recollection play in Socrates' response to Meno's paradox? Explain and assess the distinction between knowledge and true belief in the Meno? According to Plato, sensible objects suffer compresence of opposites but forms do not. Why should the fact that forms do not suffer compresence of opposites make them fitting objects of knowledge and candidates for the causes of properties in sensible objects? Answer with reference to Plato s Phaedo. SECOND FORMATIVE ESSAY What are Aristotle s four causes? In what sense of cause are they all causes? Why should we think that things happen in nature for the sake of something? Does Aristotle give good reasons for his belief in natural teleology? Answer with reference to Physics II. It is notorious that Aristotle gives distinct and seemingly irreconcilable versions of man s eudaimonia in the Nicomachean Ethics. Can Aristotle s account of happiness in NE Bk X be reconciled with his account of happiness in NE Bk I? To what extent, and on what grounds, does Aristotle endorse slavery in the Politics? Is his view justified? Explain why or why not? Outline of lecture topics (plus suggested readings) Week One Sept 21 st : Introduction to Plato and the dialogue form. Suggested reading: M.M. McCabe, Form and the Platonic Dialogues in H.H. Benson, ed., A Companion to Plato (Blackwell 2006), Page 2

3 M. Frede, Plato s Arguments and the Dialogue Form in Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, suppl. vol. 1992, Week Two Sept 28 th : The Socratic Method. Apology. Meno. Secondary Reading: G. Vlastos, The Socratic Elenchus in G. Fine, ed., Plato I: Metaphysics and Epistemology (OUP 1999), M. F. Burnyeat, Socratic Midwifery, Platonic Inspiration in Explorations in Ancient and Modern Philosophy, vol. 2 (CUP 2012), M.M. McCabe, The Virtues of Socratic Ignorance in Classical Quarterly 38 (1988), G. Vlastos, Socrates Disavowal of Knowledge in G. Fine, ed., Plato I: Metaphysics and Epistemology (OUP 1999), Week Three Oct 5 th : Defining virtue in Plato s Meno. Meno. H.H. Benson, The Priority of Definition and the Socratic Elenchus, Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 8 (1990), D. Scott, Plato s Meno (CUP 2006), Part I. V. Karasmanis, Definition in Plato s Meno, in L. Judson and V. Karasmanis, eds., Remembering Socrates: Philosophical Essays (OUP 2006), D. Wolfsdorf, Socrates Pursuit of Definitions, in Phronesis 48 (2003), Week Four Oct 12 th : Recollection, knowledge and true belief in Plato s Meno. Meno. G. Fine, Inquiry in the Meno, in R. Kraut, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Plato (CUP 1992), G. Fine, 'Knowledge and True Belief in Meno', in Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 27 (OUP 2004), D. Scott, Plato s Meno (CUP 2006), Parts II and III. Week Five Oct 19 th : Immortality and forms in Plato s Phaedo. Phaedo 72e-77a and 96a-105c. D. Sedley, Platonic Causes, Phronesis 43 (1998), G. Vlastos, Reasons and causes in the Phaedo, in G. Vlastos, Platonic Studies (Princeton University Press 1981), A. Nehamas, Plato on the Imperfection of the Sensible World, in G. Fine, ed., Plato I: Metaphysics and Epistemology (OUP 1999), READING WEEK NB FIRST FORMATIVE ESSAY DUE - 16:00 on Friday October 30 th 2015 Page 3

4 Week Six Nov 2 nd : Introduction to Aristotle. Aristotle on change. Physics I.7-9. R.J. Hankinson, Philosophy of Science, in J. Barnes, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle (CUP 1995), D. Bostock, Aristotle on the principles of change in Physics I, in M. Schofield and M.C. Nussbaum, eds., Language and Logos (CUP 1982), Week Seven Nov 9 th : Aristotle s four causes. Physics II.1-3 and Metaphysics VI.2-3. J. Annas, Inefficient causes, Philosophical Quarterly 32 (1982), J. Lear, Aristotle, the Desire to Understand (CUP 1988), R. Sorabji, Necessity, Cause and Blame: Perspectives on Aristotle s Theory (Duckworth 1980), Week Eight Nov 16 th : Natural teleology in Aristotle s Physics. Physics II.4-9. D. Sedley, Was Aristotle s teleology anthropocentric?, Phronesis 36 (1991), J. Cooper, Hypothetical Necessity and Natural Teleology in A. Gotthelf and J.G. Lennox, eds., Philosophical Issues in Aristotle s Biology (CUP 1987), D. Furley, The Rainfall Example in Physics II.8 in Cosmic Problems: Essays on Greek and Roman Philosophy of Nature (CUP 1989), Week Nine Nov 23 rd : Happiness and the human telos in Aristotle s Nicomachean Ethics. Nicomachean Ethics I.1-12 and X.6-9 T. Nagel, Aristotle on Eudaimonia, in A.O. Rorty, ed., Essays on Aristotle s Ethics (University of California Press 1980), J.L. Ackrill, Aristotle on Eudaimonia, in A.O Rorty, ed., Essays on Aristotle s Ethics (University of California Press 1980), J.M. Cooper, Contemplation and happiness: a reconsideration, Synthese 72, 1987, Week Ten Nov 30 th : Slavery in Aristotle s Politics. Aristotle s Politics I.1-6 and I.13. W.W. Fortenbaugh, Aristotle on Slaves and Women in Barnes et al., Essays on Aristotle 2 (Duckworth 1977), M. Heath, Aristotle on Natural Slavery, Phronesis 53 (2008), M. Schofield, Ideology and philosophy in Aristotle s theory of slavery, in Saving the City: Philosopher Kings and Other Classical Paradigms (Routledge 1999), Page 4

5 NB SECOND FORMATIVE ESSAY DUE - 16:00 on Friday December 11 th 2015 Reading schedule for seminars Week One: Meno 70a-79e Week Two: Meno 80a-82a Week Three: Meno 82a-86c Week Four: Meno 86d-96d Week Five: Meno 96d-end Week Six: Physics II.1-2 Week Seven: Physics II.3 Week Eight: Physics II.4-6 Week Nine: Physics II.7-8 Week Ten: Physics II.9 Suggested additional readings On Socrates: S. Ahbel-Rappe and R. Kamketar, eds., A Companion to Socrates (OUP 2006). T.C. Brickhouse and N.D. Smith, Plato s Socrates (OUP 1994). L. Judson and V. Karasmanis, eds., Remembering Socrates: Philosophical Essays (OUP 2006). D.R. Morrison, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Socrates (CUP 2011). G. Vlastos, Socrates: Ironist and Moral Philosopher (CUP 1991). On Plato: H.H. Benson, ed., A Companion to Plato (Blackwell 2006). T. Irwin, Plato s Ethics (OUP 1995). G. Fine, ed., Plato 1: Metaphysics and Epistemology, and Plato 2: Ethics, Politics, Religion, and the Soul (OUP 1999). G. Fine, ed., The Oxford Handbook of Plato (OUP 2008). R. Kraut, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Plato (CUP 1992). On Aristotle: J.L. Ackrill, Aristotle the Philosopher (OUP 1981). J. Barnes, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle (CUP 1995). J. Barnes, M. Schofield, and R. Sorabji, eds., Articles on Aristotle, 4 vols. (Vol.1: Science, Vol.2: Ethics and Politics, Vol.3: Metaphysics, Vol.4: Psychology and Aesthetics) (Duckworth 1979). D. Bostock, Aristotle s Ethics (OUP 2000). S. Broadie, Ethics with Aristotle (OUP 1991). J. Lear, Aristotle: the Desire to Understand (CUP 1991). The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a good online resource plato.stanford.edu Page 5