Spring 2007 V28.0138.001, Collegiate Honors Seminar: Socrates and his Critics uesdays & hursdays... 2:00 p.m. 3:15 p.m...19 University Place, room 228 Professor Vincent Renzi 903C Silver Center 212 998 8071 vincent.renzi@nyu.edu Office Hours: Mondays, 2:00 3:00 p.m., hursdays, 10:00 11:00 a.m., and by appointment. Website: http://www.nyu.edu/classes/renzi hematic Description Despite having written nothing himself, Socrates is among the most influential if not the most influential philosopher in the Western tradition, for it is with Socrates that philosophy seems first to move from natural history to an explicit concern for human affairs. Indeed, so great is the magnitude of this change that we continue to term those earlier thinkers pre-socratic philosophers. His stature is marked again in the name given to a distinctive form of philosophical literature, the Socratic dialogue, and an approach to philosophical inquiry and instruction, the Socratic method. In antiquity, his thought, importantly, inspired Plato, Xenophon, the Stoics, the Skeptics, and the Cynics, beyond those thinkers stretching to influence in Rome and Judea...and four centuries before the presumed time of Jesus, Socrates had already suffered martyrdom for his idiosyncratic political, philosophical, and religious views. In modernity, his exemplary life alternately fascinates and repels the attention of Kierkegaard and Nietzsche; though criticisms of his mode of existence he had already endured in his own time at the hands of the comedian Aristophanes, among others. Given the state of the evidence, one can look only to the history of the reception of his thought to try to recover any sense of the historical Socrates ; but we must likewise ask whether he does not perhaps exert a greater influence as a result of the reception of the doxography itself than for his actual intellectual contributions. In short, had Socrates never existed, would not the tradition essentially have had to create him, in its move from its origins to ethics and political philosophy? Even given that he did actually live, is what we have of him really just such a necessary fiction?
Socrates and his Critics - 2 - Spring 2007 Overview As a collegiate honors seminar, this course seeks to introduce you to modes of scholarly research and inquiry. No prior background with the material is expected (of course a strong interest in the material is assumed), but students should have completed Conversations of the West and their Expository Writing course work. All readings will be in English translation, although students with the requisite ability are encouraged to select research project that will make use of texts in their original languages. he major work of each student will be a substantial research paper and an oral presentation to the seminar. Because Socrates wrote nothing himself, we rely entirely on the doxographical tradition for our knowledge about his life and thought. Our inquiry therefore highlights problems of scholarly method, thus making the focus on Socrates a fitting occasion for the intended introduction to research. he goals of this course are therefore several. Students should gain some specific knowledge of the history of philosophy, they should develop an appreciation of the special interpretive problems that arise in its study, they should sharpen their critical and analytic abilities as a result of working through the details of this material, and they should learn to conduct scholarly research in the humanities through completion of their own research projects. We shall begin by examining the use to which the figure of Socrates is put by two modern philosophers, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche, in the process certainly learning more about them than him; but our interest here is precisely to measure the extent of the tradition s reception and development in these two influential and (relatively) recent thinkers works. Continuing in reverse chronology, we then shift to the ancient Socratic tradition as demonstrated by the Cynics, Xenophon, and Plato. Having taken account of these seminal figures, we move finally to consider the origins of the doxographical tradition and to an assessment of Socrates originality, recognizing full well the difficulty of recovering it. Students will be assigned a research topic based on the material to be covered each week and will make a presentation to the seminar on their research more or less preliminary, depending on how early the material falls in the schedule. While all the material should prove fruitful and engaging, you are certainly encouraged to volunteer your preference should there be a particular thinker or question you would like to consider. By midterm, you will complete a paper in which you review the major literature that will inform your research for the term. his will require you to look beyond the materials we shall be covering in class. You should therefore be sure to consult with me early in the semester about appropriate secondary literature. (I have given references for some likely candidates in the bibliography, below.) ogether, these assignments provide a structured approach to the paper you will complete by the end of the term. Requirements You are expected to read each of the works listed below, to attend all meetings of the seminar, to arrive at class promptly, and to participate actively and appropriately in class. Inclass writing exercises and brief homework assignments may also be required, as well as some supplemental reading. Finally, you will be required to make an oral report to the seminar, to submit a literature review at the midterm, and to complete a substantial research paper (15 20 pages, typed, double-spaced).
Socrates and his Critics - 3 - Spring 2007 In determining your grade, I shall weigh your completion of the course requirements approximately as follows; bear in mind, however, that you are expected to complete every assignment in order to receive a passing grade for the class. Class participation and homework... 16% Oral presentation... 16% Midterm literature review... 16% erm Paper... 52% Note well that a failing grade may be assigned to any student with three absences from the seminar. Late work and electronic submissions will not be accepted. Incompletes will be considered only in cases of documented medical emergency or other, comparably grave circumstances. In the event that you are for good reason unable to attend class, you are expected to contact me in advance (or as soon as is practicable) by telephone or e-mail. A Note on Classroom Decorum As a matter of courtesy to all members of the seminar, please arrive at class promptly, and, apart from emergencies, please remain in the classroom for the duration of our meeting. Please be sure to shut off all pagers and cellular telephones at the beginning of class. Recording & ranscription While you are encouraged to take notes in class, you may not make audio tapes or any other kind of recording of the seminar. Neither may you take or exchange class notes in return for remuneration. Violation of this policy will result in a failing grade for the course. Bibliography he following books are required. Please be certain to purchase exactly those specified below. All have been ordered through the N.Y.U. Book Center. he remaining required readings are included in a course pack of photocopies available for purchase at Unique Copy Center, 252 Greene Street. Aristophanes. Four Plays [he Clouds, Lysistrata, he Birds, he Frogs]. William Arrrowsmith, Douglass Parker, & Richard Lattimore, transs. New York: Meridian, 1994. Nietzsche, Friedrich. he Birth of ragedy and Other Writing. Raymond Geuss & Ronald Speirs, edd.; Ronald Speirs, trans. Cambridge exts in the History of Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Plato. Five Dialogues [Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo], translated by G. M. A. Grube, revised by John M. Cooper. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2002. --------. Parmenides, translated by Mary Louise Gill and Paul Ryan. Introduction by Mary Louise Gill. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1996.
Socrates and his Critics - 4 - Spring 2007 --------. Symposium. A translation by Seth Benardete with commentaries by Seth Benardete and Allan Bloom. Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press, 2001. A Presocratic Reader: Selected Fragments and estimonia. Edited, with Introduction, by Patricia Curd. ranslations by Richard D. McKirahan, Jr. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1996. Xenophon. Memorabilia, translated and annotated by Amy L. Bonnette, with an introduction by Christopher J. Bruell. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2001. --------. he Shorter Socratic Writings: Apology of Socrates to the Jury, Oeconomicus, and Symposium. Robert C. Barlett, ed. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2006. Listed below is information for texts excerpted in the course pack and some other recommended works. Branham, R. Bracht & Marie-Odile Goulet-Cazé, edd. he Cynics: he Cynic Movement in Antiquity and Its Legacy. Hellenistic Culture and Society XXIII. Berkeley, Los Angeles, & London: University of California Press, 1996. Brickhouse, homas C. & Nicholas D. Smith. Socrates on rial. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989. Diogenes Laertius. Lives of the Eminent Philosophers, with an English translation by R. D. Hicks. 2 volumes. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA & London: Harvard University Press, 1972. Kahn, Charles H. Plato and the Socratic Dialogue: he Philosophical Use of a Literary Form. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Kierkegaard, Søren. On the Concept of Irony, with Continual Reference to Socrates. [1841.] Published together with Notes of Schelling s Berlin Lectures. Kierkegaard s Writings II. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989. Kofman, Sarah. Socrates: Fictions of a Philosopher. [1989.] ranslated by Catherine Porter. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998. Nails, Debra. he People of Plato: A Prosopography of Plato and Other Socratics. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2002. Santas, Gerasimos Xenophon. Socrates: Philosophy in Plato s Early Dialogues. Boston & London: Routledge & Keegan Paul, 1979. Scott, Gary Alan, ed. Does Socrates Have A Method? University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2002. Vander Waerdt, Paul. A., ed. he Socratic Movement. Ithaca & London: Cornell University Press, 1994. Vlastos, Gregory. Socrates, Ironist and Moral Philosopher. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1991. --------. Socratic Studies. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Socrates and his Critics - 5 - Spring 2007 Schedule of Classes Please complete the readings prior to the class meeting at which they are first discussed. Be sure to bring the appropriate texts to class. 1/16: Introduction. h 1/18: Nietzsche, Birth of ragedy. 1/23: Nietzsche, Birth of ragedy; he Problem of Socrates. h 1/25: Kierkegaard, Philosophical Fragments. h h 1/30: Socratic Doxography: Aristophanes, Aristotle, Diogenes Laertius. 2/1: Socratic Doxography: Aristophanes, Aristotle, Diogenes Laertius...opics Due. 2/6: Socratic Doxography: Aristophanes, Aristotle, Diogenes Laertius. Cynicism. 2/8: Cynicism. 2/13: Cynicism. h 2/15: Socratic Dialogues: Charles Kahn. 2/20: Xenophon: Apology, Oeconomicus. h 2/22: Xenophon: Oeconomicus. h h 2/27: Xenophon: Symposium. 3/1: Xenophon: Memoribilia. 3/6: Xenophon: Memoribilia. 3/8: Plato: Apology... Literature Review Due. 3/13: [Spring break.] h 3/15: [Spring break.] 3/20: Plato: Parmenides. h 3/22: Plato: Symposium. 3/27: Plato: Symposium. h 3/29: Plato: Phaedo. h 4/3: Plato: Phaedo. 4/5: Philosophy before Socrates. 4/10: Philosophy before Socrates. h 4/12: Socratic Irony. 4/17: Socratic Irony. h 4/19: Does Socrates have a method? 4/25: Does Socrates have a method? h 4/27: Conclusion. F 5/4: erm Paper Due by 5:00 p.m. 903 Silver