Phil 3151: History of Ancient Philosophy

University of Minnesota, Morris
Fall 2008
Professor Collier
Tu & Th 10:00-11:40
Imholte 217

Raphael: The School of Athens (1509-1510)

Course Description: This course serves as a broad introductory survey of Ancient Philosophy, from the Pre-Socratics to the Romans.

Course Requirements: Three exams (20% each), one 8-10 page paper (20%), attendance and participation (20%).

Primary Texts:

Barnes: Early Greek Philosophy
Plato: Parmenides, Theaetetus, and Gorgias
Aristotle: Introductory Readings
Cicero: On Academic Skepticism and On Moral Ends
Inwood and Gerson: Hellenistic Philosophy

ON-LINE WEB FORUM


Sept 2: The Milesians

a. Hesiod (Barnes, pp. 3-5)
b. Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes (Barnes, pp. 9-27)
c. Aristotle: "Survey of the Presocratics" (Irwin and Fine, pp. 120-125)

Sept 4: The Eliatics

a. Parmenides (Barnes, pp. 77-91)
b. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Parmenides (sections 3.1 - 3.3)
c. Eliatics: Zeno's argument from dichotomy (Barnes, pp. 99-104)

Sept 9: Plato's Metaphysics I

a. Plato's Middle Period (Handout): Symposium 209e-212a and Republic 596d-597e
b. Plato's Parmenides, 126a-132b
c. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Plato's Parmenides (section 1 - 4.3)

Sept 11: Plato's Metaphysics II

a. Plato's Parmenides, 132b-137c
b. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Plato's Parmenides (section 4.4 - 5.0)

Sept 16: Plato's Epistemology I

a. Theaetetus, 151e-160e: "Exposition of the Protagorean/Heraclitean View"
b. Theaetetus, 160e-168c: "Superficial objections"

Sept 18: Plato's Epistemology II

a. Theaetetus, 170a-172c: "Serious refutations of Protagoras "
b. Theaetetus, 172c-177c: "Interlude: Philosophers and Practical Men "
c. Theaetetus, 177c-179b: "Another serious refutation of Protagoras"
d. Allen Wood: "Relativism" (Sections 1-3)

Sept 23: Plato's Epistemology III

a. Theaetetus, 187a-201c: "Knowledge is True Judgment"
b. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Plato on Knowledge in the Theaetetus (Section 7)

Sept 25: Plato's Epistemology IV

a. Theaetetus, 201c-210a: "Knowledge is True Judgment Accompanied by an 'Account'"
b. Meno, 80a-86d, 96b-99e
b. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Plato on Knowledge in the Theaetetus (Section 8)

Sept 30: Plato's Ethics I

Gorgias, 447a-461b

Oct 2: Plato's Ethics II

Gorgias, 461b-481b

Oct 7: Plato's Ethics III

Gorgias, 481b-506c

Oct 9: Plato's Ethics IV

Gorgias, 506d-527e

Oct 14: First Examination

Oct 16: Aristotle's Rhetoric

a. Rhetoric, Book I: 1-2, 5-6, and 13 (e-reserve or on-line)
b. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Aristotle's Rhetoric (Sections 1-5)

Oct 23: Aristotle's Poetics

a. Selections from Rhetoric, Book II: 8; Poetics, 6-11, 13-14; Joe Sachs,"Aristotle's Poetics" (pdf)

Oct 28: Aristotle's Ethics I

Nichomachean Ethics, Book I. 1-8; Book X. 6-8

Oct 30: Aristotle's Ethics II

a. Nichomachean Ethics, Bk. I 13; Bk. II 1-7
b. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: "Objections to Virtue Ethics"

Nov 4: Aristotle on Logical Fatalism

a. On Interpretation 1-4, 9
b. Epictetus: "The Master Argument", Discourses II.19, 1-5
c. Cicero: On Fate 12-15

Nov 6: Aristotle's Politics

a. Politics (Irwin and Fine, pp. 288-318).
b. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Aristotle's Political Theory

Nov 11: Aristotle's Epistemology and Metaphysics

a. Metaphysics Bk. I: 1-2 and Bk. IV: 4-5
b. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Aristotle on Non-contradiction

Nov 13: Second Exam

Nov 18: Cicero's Epistemology I

a. Academica, Book Two (Lucullus's Speech)
b. Background to Stoic Epistemology: Selections from Diogenes Laertius 7. 42-54 (Inwood and Gerson, pp. 111-114)
c. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Antiochus of Ascalon (Section 3)

Nov 20: Cicero's Epistemology II

a. Academica, Book Two (Cicero's Speech)
b. Background to Academic Skepticism: Selections from Diogenes Laertius (Inwood and Gerson, pp. 261-266)

Nov 25: No Class

Nov 27: Thanksgiving Break

Dec 2: Pyrrhonian Skepticism

a. Early Pyrrhonism: Diogenes Laertius' Life of Pyrrho, 61-83 and 101-106 (Inwood and Gerson, pp. 285-291; 295-297); Aenesidemus (pp. 300-302)
b. Late Pyrrhonism: Sextus Empiricus' Outlines of Pyrrhonism (Inwood and Gerson, pp. 302-314, 325-329).

Dec 4: Cicero's Ethics I

On Moral Ends, Book Three

Dec 9: Cicero's Ethics II

On Moral Ends, Book Four

Dec 11: Final Paper Presentations

Dec 16: Third Exam (1:30-3:30)