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22279 PHIL-100A-01 ANCIENT GREEK PHILOSOPHY FALL 2018 MWF 9:20AM - 10:25AM Soc
Sci 2 075 SYLLABUS |
Course Web
Page: http://people.ucsc.edu/~jbowin/Ancient/phil100A.html[1]
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Professor: |
E-mail: jbowin@ucsc.edu Phone: 459-5676 Office: Cowell
Annex A-111 |
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Office
Hours: |
Monday 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. or by appointment |
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Teaching
Assistants: |
Ana Pedroso (apedroso@ucsc.edu), Kelvin
Villegas (kevilleg@ucsc.edu) |
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Course
Description: Requirements: |
1.) Cohen, Curd, & Reeve,
Readings in Ancient Greek Philosophy, Fifth Edition. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2016. (As an
e-book it can also be purchased from Google
and borrowed for up to 2 weeks using EBL.) 2.)
Sextus Empiricus, Outlines
of Pyrrhonism.
Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1990.
(Both texts are available at The Literary
Guillotine, 204 Locust Street, Santa Cruz) 3.) Course
Reader available at the Bay Tree Bookstore.
This course is a survey of
ancient Greek philosophy of the Classical and Hellenistic periods. We will begin with the Presocratics,
then we will undertake an intensive study of Plato. After that we will read a few central texts
of Aristotle and survey the main developments that follow: Epicureanism,
Stoicism, and Scepticism.
1.)
Four 500 word reader-response papers: The class will be divided into two
groups depending upon the discussion section for which you are
registered. Each of the groups will be
required to prepare a 500 word reader response paper responding to one of the
questions included in the syllabus for the unit within which the due date
falls. No credit will be given if you
write on a topic from a different unit. Due Dates: Discussion Sections A
& B: 10/8, 10/22, 11/5, 11/21; Discussion Sections C & D: 10/15,
10/29, 11/14, 11/28. Reader Response
Papers must be submitted using the "Assignments" feature of
Canvas by the beginning of class on
the day they are due. 2.) One final paper of
2,000-3,000 words, due at 5:00 p.m. on 12/10/18. You may choose to expand on one
of your reader response papers or, subject to approval by your TA, devise a
topic of your own. If you choose the
latter option, you will be required to submit a draft of your final paper in
week 8 (11/19/18). This draft will be
returned to you with comments in week 9 (11/26/18). Final papers must be
submitted using the "Assignments" feature of Canvas. 3.) Students are eligible to
receive a grade of A- or higher in this course only if they are absent from
no more than 4 lectures or
discussion sections. Students are eligible to receive a grade of
B- or higher in this course only if they are absent from no more than 8 lectures or discussion sections. Students are eligible to
receive a grade of C or higher in this course only if they are absent from no
more than 12 lectures or
discussion sections.
Tardy students will be penalized at the rate of one absence for every two
times they are tardy. Students who
attend class but fail to prepare for it by completing the assigned reading
shall also be deemed absent for the purpose of this requirement. Short, unscheduled open book quizzes will
be given in lecture from time to time to test whether assigned materials have
been read. These quizzes will test
basic familiarity with the assigned readings. 4.) Since attendance will be
taken using the barcode on the back of your UCSC student ID card, you will be
required to have a student I.D. card and bring it to each class. |
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Evaluation: |
Reader Response Papers: 50%; Term Paper: 50%. In addition, students will be eligible to
receive a participation bonus of up to one grade point added to their final
grade (e.g., from B to A), based on their participation (i.e., talking, not
mere attendance) in discussions in lecture. |
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Schedule of Readings and Reader Response Questions 9/28: Course Introduction. Unit
1 (10/1, 10/3, 10/5): The Presocratics. Required Readings: Parmenides, The Poem of Parmenides (Reader pp. 2-6); Russell, Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy,
Ch. 16 (part) (Reader pp. 1-2) Zeno of Elea (Cohen, Curd, & Reeve, pp.
31-33; Reader p. 6), Leucippus and Democritus (Cohen, Curd, & Reeve, pp.
51-59). Optional Podcast: Malcolm
Schofield on the Presocratics Discussion Questions: 1.) How do Leucippus and Democritus
accommodate Parmenides' argument that nothing can come to be from nothing
(this is often called the "Eleatic Challenge")? Is this an adequate accommodation? Why or why not? 2.) Pick out one of Zeno's
Paradoxes and answer the following questions: a.) Do you accept the
paradoxical conclusion? b.) If not,
diagnose where the puzzle goes wrong.
If so, account for the apparent existence of plurality and change in
the world. Unit
2 (10/8, 10/10, 10/12): Plato –
Ethics.
Required Readings: Plato, Apology and Crito, (Cohen, Curd, & Reeve, pp. 90-114); Plato, Phaedo (part),
(Cohen, Curd, & Reeve, pp. 168-173); Xenophon, Apology of Socrates (part) (Reader pp. 7-10). Aristophanes Clouds
[abridged excerpt] (Reader pp. 10-11). Plato, Sophist (part) (Reader pp. 11-2) Optional Podcasts:
The Oracle at
Delphi Reader Response Questions: 1.) How does Socrates characterize his
life and work as a philosopher? Is it
a life you would aspire to live? Would
you wish it on your friends? 2.) How does Socrates explain his decision to
accept the death penalty? Is this a
good model for decision-making? Unit
3 (10/15, 10/17, 10/19): Plato –
Ethics.
Required Readings: Plato, Euthyphro, Meno (Cohen, Curd, & Reeve,
pp. 80-90, 145-166). Argument Outlines
of Plato's Euthyphro (Reader pp. 13-14). Optional Podcast: M. M. McCabe on
the paradox of inquiry Reader Response Questions: 1.) Summarize and evaluate Socrates'
argument in the Euthyphro that the pious is not the
same as the god-beloved. 2.) The claim that one can neither search for what
one knows (since one has already found it) nor for what one doesn't know
(since one doesn't know what to look for) is often called Meno's
paradox. What is Socrates' solution to
this paradox? Is it a good solution?
Why or why not? Unit
4 (10/22, 10/24, 10/26): Plato/Aristotle – Ethics. Required Readings: Plato, Protagoras 317e-334c, 348c-362a (Cohen, Curd, & Reeve, pp.
114-131); Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book 7 Chapters 1-3 (Cohen,
Curd, & Reeve, pp. 611-615); Aristotle,
On the Motion of Animals, Chapter 7
(part) (Reader p. 15). Reader Response Questions: 1.) We all have done things that we know
we shouldn't have – having a cigarette or too many slices of cake, etc. From 351b to 357b Socrates argues that we
do this out of ignorance, viz. our inability to correctly measure the
negative effect of our indulgence. Do
you think that this is a good argument?
Why or why not? 2.) Is Aristotle's explanation of this phenomenon
preferable to the one offered by Socrates?
Why or why not? Unit
5 (10/29, 10/31, 11/2): Aristotle – Ethics. Required Readings: Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, selections, Books 1-3 (Cohen, Curd, & Reeve,
pp. 577-599). Book 10, chapter 9 (pp. 621-3). Optional Resource for Nicomachean Ethics 1-2: The Archelogos
Project Optional Resource for Nicomachean Ethics 3: The Archelogos
Project Optional Podcasts: Myles Burnyeat on eudaimonia Dominic
Scott on Aristotle's Ethics Reader Response Questions: 1.) In Nicomachean Ethics book I, chapter 4, p. 579, Aristotle rejects pleasure,
wealth and honor as candidates for the “topmost of all the good things doable
in action”. Why? Is he right to do so? 2.) In Nicomachean Ethics book I, chapter 8, p. 582,
Aristotle denies that happiness consists in just being virtuous. Why?
Is he right to do so? 3.) In Nicomachean Ethics
book I, chapter 7, p. 581, Aristotle proposes to get a clearer statement of
what happiness is by grasping “the function of a human being”. What is the function of a human being
according to Aristotle and how is it supposed to reveal the nature of
happiness? Do you find Aristotle’s
argument persuasive? Unit
6 (11/5, 11/7, 11/9): Aristotle – Philosophy of Science. Required Readings:
Aristotle, Posterior Analytics I.1-6, 10;
II.8-10,19 (Cohen, Curd, & Reeve, pp. 464-475); Physics Books 1 & 2 (Cohen, Curd, & Reeve, pp. 475-492); Parts of Animals (Cohen, Curd, &
Reeve, pp. 530-535); Metaphysics Book
1, Chapters 3 - 4 (Cohen, Curd, & Reeve, pp. 539-542); Aristotle, Aristotle – Philosophy of Science
(Reader pp. 16-7). Optional Podcast: Richard Sorabji on Time Reader Response Questions: 1.) How does Aristotle answer the
Eleatic challenge? 2.) Would modern science be better off if it took final
causes (purposes) more seriously? 3.) Why does Aristotle reject materialism? Unit
7 (11/14, 11/16, 11/19): Aristotle – Metaphysics. Required Readings: Aristotle's Categories Chapters 1 - 5 (Cohen, Curd, & Reeve, pp.
452-456); Metaphysics Book 1, 4, 6
& 7 (Cohen, Curd, & Reeve, pp. 536-567); Aristotle - Metaphysics (Reader pp. 18-20). Optional Resource for Metaphysics
7: The Archelogos
Project Optional Podcast: Peter Adamson on substance Reader Response Questions: 1.) In Categories chapter 5, p. 454, Aristotle says, “if there were no primary substances, there could not be anything else”. What justifies this claim? Is it reasonable? 2.) In Metaphysics book IV, chapter 1, p. 546, Aristotle says “there is a science that gets a theoretical grasp on being qua being and of the [coincidents] belonging intrinsically to it”. What is this science and what does it mean to “get a theoretical grasp on being qua being and of the [coincidents] belonging intrinsically to it”? Is such a science possible? 3.) In Metaphysics book VII, chapter 17, p. 566, Aristotle suggests making a fresh start by supposing substance is “some starting point and cause” that answers the question, “why the matter is something”. What is the cause that Aristotle proposes and does it explain anything? Unit
8 (11/21, 11/26): The Epicureans. Required Readings:
The Epicureans (Reader
pp. 21-38). Optional Readings: J. J. C. Smart,
"The Identity Theory of Mind" U. T. Place,
"Is Consciousness a Brain Process? David Lewis,
"An Argument for the Identity Theory". Optional Podcast: Peter Adamson on Epicurus Reader Response Questions: 1.) The Epicureans famously held that
death is not to be feared, and they have a number of arguments for this
claim. Pick the argument or arguments
that most interest you and evaluate it them.
If your assessment is negative, are there any fallacies or unjustified
assumptions involved? If your
assessment is positive, please justify this assessment. 2.) How do the
Epicureans use the postulate of the atomic "swerve" to account for
free will? Is this a reasonable
explanation of free will? Unit
9 (11/28, 11/30, 12/3): The Stoics. Required Readings: Stoicism
(Reader pp. 39-61). Optional Readings: Epictetus,
The Encheiridion James Stockdale, Courage Under Fire: Testing Epictetus' Doctrines in a Laboratory of Human Behavior. David Sedley, The Stoic Criterion of Identity John Bowin, Chrysippus' Puzzle About Identity Optional Podcasts: Stoicism on
Philosophy Talk Reader Response Questions: Reader
Response Questions: 1.) What is the point of Epicharmus'
Growing Argument? What is the point of
Chrysippus' reply? Who do you think gets the better
of the exchange? (You will probably need to read Sedley
on the website to answer this question.) 2.) In passage 29C, section 21, Cicero's Cato says that
when a person recognizes the "order ... in the things which one ought to
do," i.e., the consistency that morality brings to a comprehensive life
plan for the attainment of personal well-being, he or she comes to view this
consistency as the only thing that is truly good, and the only thing that
should be valued for its own sake. Do
you think the Stoics are right to put such an emphasis on consistency of
conduct in their account of personal well-being? If so, why? If not, why not? 3.) What account of fate and moral
responsibility is implied by the "dog-and-cart" example in passage
32A? What are the strengths and
weaknesses of such an account? Unit
10 (12/5, 12/7): The Sceptics. Required Readings: Academic Scepticism,
Pyrrhonian Scepticism
(Reader pp. 62-3); Sextus Empiricus,
Outlines of Pyrrhonism,
Book I, pp. 15-93, Book III (part), pp. 245-283. Discussion Questions: 1.) Does Sextus
Empiricus proscribe all belief, or does he just
proscribe a limited set of so-called "scientific" beliefs. 2.) What do you think of the claim that the
disavowal of all belief would cause "all discourse and all action [to]
immediately cease; and men [to] remain in a total lethargy, until the
necessities of nature, unsatisfied, put an end to their miserable
existence." Would Sextus Empiricus
have a response to this objection? ______________________________________________________________________ DC Requirement: The DC requirement is satisfied by taking this course and either course l00B or 100C. In order to make use of the experience and criticism, it is recommended the student keep a portfolio containing the drafts and subsequent revisions of his/her papers from course to course. Plagiarism: Students are responsible for being familiar with UCSCճ policies on plagiarism and proper sourcing. Proper sourcing and good scholarship are expected. Plagiarism is a serious academic offense and will not be tolerated. If you have any questions or concerns about how to avoid plagiarism and ensure the originality of your work, please ask the instructor. UCLA has helpful tips on avoiding plagiairsm: http://unitproj.library.ucla.edu/col/bruinsuccess/. Accommodations: UC Santa Cruz is committed to creating an
academic environment that supports its diverse student body. If you are a
student with a disability who requires accommodations to achieve equal access
in this course, please submit your Accommodation Authorization Letter from
the Disability Resource Center (DRC) to me privately during my office hours
or by appointment, preferably within the first two weeks of the quarter. At
this time, I would also like us to discuss ways we can ensure your full
participation in the course. I encourage all students who may benefit from
learning more about DRC services to contact DRC by phone at 831-459-2089 or
by email at drc@ucsc.edu. |
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