No Exercise due this Wednesday.
The paper topics are below. A version that will print out better is available from the Lectures and Assignments page.
Instructions
Answer one (1) of the following prompts, in 1600 words or less. Your paper should be double-spaced, with 1″ margins. You should use an ordinary 12 point font (e.g., Times). Under those conditions, 1600 words comes to about 5 pages.
The paper is due Thursday, March 19th, by 11:30 am.
Prompts
- At Phaedo 96a, Socrates says, “When I was a young man I was wonderfully keen on that wisdom which they call natural science, for I thought it splendid to know the causes of everything, why it comes to be, why it perishes and why it exists.” At 100d, he says, “I no longer understand or recognize those other sophisticated causes.” What were these “sophisticated causes”? Why does Socrates reject them? Are his reasons for rejecting these causes good reasons?
- At Phaedo 105b, Socrates says “I say that beyond that safe answer, which I spoke of first, I see another safe answer.” Based upon this other safe answer, he provides an argument for the immortality of the soul. Present and evaluate that argument. Be sure, along the way, to explain what the two “answers” are, and in what sense are they both “safe”.
- At Republic V 477a, Plato distinguishes three powers: knowledge, ignorance, and opinion. Present and evaluate Plato’s distinction, and his argument for the conclusion that knowledge and opinion have distinct objects.
- At Physics I.8 191a25, Aristotle presents a puzzle, which, he says, was raised by earlier philosophers. The puzzle purports to show that change is impossible. Present and evaluate Aristotle’s solution to the puzzle in terms of his account of the principles involved in any instance of coming to be.
- At Parmenides 132a, Plato has Parmenides raise, as an objection to the theory of Forms, the so-called “Third Man” objection. What is that objection? Is it compelling? How does it relate to the objection raised by Aristotle at Metaphysics 1.6 990b?
- In the Phaedo, Plato describes several different purported explanations or causes of coming to be, rejecting some and endorsing others. At Physics II.3, Aristotle distinguishes four causes, suggesting that, since “causes are spoken in many ways”, apparently conflicting causal explanations might instead by complimentary. Explain Aristotle’s distinction, and try to apply Aristotle’s causal categories to the causes discussed in the Phaedo, clarifying which purported explanations are genuine competitors and which are not. Assess whether or not Plato made the mistake of supposing that complimentary causes were instead competing causes.
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