Philosophy 301: Ancient Philosophy
Winter 2009, Hopkins Hall 0262, WF 9:30–11:18
- Professor
- David Sanson, 372 University Hall, Office hours: TBA or by appointment, sanson.7@osu.edu
- Grader
- Xiaoxi Wu, 214 University Hall, Office hours: TBA or by appointment, wu.548@osu.edu
Course Description
This course is an introduction to Ancient Greek Philosophy, from its traditional beginning in 585 BCE to the death of Arisotle in 322 BCE. We will cover several Presocratics, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Our focus will be on issues in natural philosophy and metaphysics, but issues in ethics, philosophy of mind, and theology will also find there way in.
Required Texts
- McKirahan, R. D. (1994) Philosophy before Socrates: An Introduction with Texts and Commentary. Indianapolis: Hackett. ISBN: 0872201759
- Cooper, J. (1997) Plato: Complete Works. Indianapolis: Hackett. ISBN: 0872203492
- Irwin, T., & Fine, G. (1995). Aristotle: Selections. Indianapolis: Hackett. ISBN: 0915145677
A note about translations. There are many bad translations of Plato and Aristotle available, some free online. Do not use them.
Hackett’s Plato: Complete Works contains the best translations of Plato currently available. It is remarkably inexpensive (between $40 and $50 new) and has strong resale value. Hackett publishes more or less the same translations as independent dialogues. You can probably save some money by finding used copies of the individual dialogues we will be reading: if you decide to try to do this, make certain that you are buying the same translations. Do not use other translations. Do not use Jowett or Hamilton. If you do, you won’t be doing the required reading.
Hackett’s translations of Aristotle are not the best available, but they are very good (the best, in Oxford’s Clarendon Aristotle Series, are almost unreadable and would be prohibitively expensive). The volume I’ve ordered, Aristotle: Selections, is far from complete, but is a good set of selections. Avoid Hackett’s Aristotle: Introductory Readings, which contains much less. Do not use the translations from Barnes’ two volume Complete Aristotle. If you do, you won’t be doing the required reading.
So, in short: buy the books listed above. Don’t try to save money by finding other translations or other editions.
Requirements
There will be three graded papers—a 1 page paper, worth 20%, due on TBA, a 2 page paper, worth 30%, due on TBA, and a 5–6 page paper, worth 50%, due on TBA.
In addition, there will be 7 pass/fail writing exercises, due on those Wednesdays when graded papers are not due in class. If you miss one exercise, that will have no effect on your grade. Each additional missed exercise lowers your grade a quarter step (where a step is the difference between an A and an A-, an A- and a B+, and so on).
So, for example, using the 4.0 scale familiar from GPAs, if your grades were:
paper 1: B+ (20% of 3.33.. = 0.66...)
paper 2: B (30% of 3.0 = 0.9)
paper 3: B+ (50% of 3.33.. = 1.66...)
then your average grade would be 3.233…, which is a low B+ (grades at or above 3.16 round up to a B+, below 3.16 round down). If you missed two assignments, then that grade would drop by a quarter step. On a 4.0 scale, a step is 1/3 of a point, so a quarter step is 1/12 of a point, or 0.0833… So your grade would drop to 3.15, which is a high B.
All assignments must be turned in in class, on the due date. No late work will be accepted. I will not accept assignments by email.
Course Webpage
Additional readings, copies of assignments, and opportunities for online discussion will be available via the course webpage: http://phil301w2009.wordpress.com
Academic Misconduct
You are strongly encouraged to discuss the course material with your peers—philosophical conversation is one of the best ways to get better at doing philosophy. But your papers must be your own work, and all sources must be cited. I will report offenders to the committee on academic misconduct. Academic misconduct can take on many forms: if you are confused, or need more guidance on this issue, ask. If you have not already, take a look at http://oaa.osu.edu/coam/faq
Disabilities
If you need (or may need) an accommodation based on the impact of a disability, you should contact me now to discuss your needs. I will work with the Office for Disability Services to coordinate reasonable accommodations for any student with a documented disability. Office for Disability Services, 150 Pomerene Hall, 292–3307.
Email is the best way to reach me. However, I am not always online. Please allow me 48 hours to respond. If I have not responded in 48 hours please email me again, letting me know it is your second email (I won’t take this as harassment). Always include “Philosophy 301” or “Phil301” in the subject line of your email.
I will not accept assignments by email.
Tentative Reading List
We will read the following texts in the following order. I hope to spend roughly 2 weeks on the Presocratics, 1 week on Socrates, 3 weeks on Plato, and 3 weeks on Aristotle.
Exact reading assignments will be announced in class. Readings will be dropped as time demands. In addition, an updated schedule of readings will be maintained on the course webpage.
Presocratic Philosophy
- Background: Philosophy Before Socrates (PBS), chs. 1 and 2, pp. 1–19.
- The Early Ionians: PBS, chs. 1–8, pp. 20–78.
- Heraclitus: PBS, ch. 10, pp. 116–150.
- Parmenides: PBS, ch. 11, pp. 151–178.
- Zeno: PBS, ch. 12, pp. 179–195
- Anaxagoras and Empedocles, PBS, chs 14–15, pp. 196–291.
Socrates
- Apology
- (Optional: Aristophanes, “The Clouds”)
- Euthyphro
- (Optional: Laches and Meno)
Plato
- Phaedo
- Symposium
- Republic IV, Republic V.472a-end, Republic VI.504e-VII.521b
- Timaeus
Aristotle
- Categories 1–5
- Metaphysics, selections.
- Physics I, II, III, VI, VIII
- De Anima, I, II.1–4, III.10–11
