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This Course on Plato Provides an In-Depth Account of This Seminal Thinker’S Philosophy

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This Course on Plato Provides an In-Depth Account of This Seminal Thinker’S Philosophy PLATO PHILO 380(W) Dr. V. Adluri Sec. 001 [4921] Office: Hunter West, 12th floor, Room 1242 Spring 2009 Telephone: 973 216 7874 Prof. Adluri Email: [email protected] Monday/Wednesday, 4:10-5:25pm Office hours: Wednesdays, 6:00 – 7:00 P.M and by appointment DESCRIPTION: This course on Plato provides an in-depth account of this seminal thinker’s philosophy. Major themes such as the nature of knowledge, soul, universe, city, God, language, love, and art will be discussed based on selections from all of his dialogues. Plato’s relationship to Pre- Socratic philosophy, especially Parmenides and Heraclitus will be discussed. We will pay special attention to Plato’s use of the dialogic form and its main protagonist: Socrates. In the second half of the course, we will read the Republic in detail, with special attention to the legacy of Plato’s thought in the history of Western Philosophy. Required Text: Plato. Complete Works. Edited by John Cooper. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1997. $54. All textbooks are on order at Shakespeare & Co. Booksellers (939 Lexington Avenue between 68th and 69th streets; 212 570 0201). Shakespeare & Co. also has a limited number of used copies available at lower prices. COURSE OBJECTIVES: This course is intended to give students a basic familiarity with the Platonic corpus and an in-depth knowledge of the Republic. In the first half of the course, students will gain a basic familiarity with Platonic philosophy, including its method of argumentation, its ultimate aims, and its wider political and literary context. We will then apply these insights to a close- reading of the Republic. We will also consider modern critiques of ‘Platonism’ and Plato’s legacy in the Neo-Platonic and Augustinian traditions. In addition, the course will teach basic analytic and critical skills, especially how to read texts carefully paying attention to literary form, structure, context, and nuance. Students will learn how to interpret texts rigorously, to research secondary sources, and to reconstruct an argument in their own language. Opportunities for class participation will allow students to develop the ability to formulate and discuss ideas, objections, and their own solutions to problems. Regular writing assignments will give students the opportunity to train their expository writing skills, i.e., organization, clarity, precision, and fluidity of expression. This is a writing-intensive course. GRADES AND REQUIREMENTS: 1. All students are responsible for a mid-term paper and a final paper (both 15 pages min.). 2. The mid-term paper focuses on one Platonic dialogue of the student’s choosing. The aim of this paper is to summarize the dialogue to show its unity, structure, and argument. 3. The final paper examines one theme from the Platonic corpus. Students must compare their chosen dialogue from the mid-term paper with another Platonic dialogue. This 1 of 4 comparison is to demonstrate an understanding of one of the following themes: Plato’s epistemology, psychology, ethics, logic, political theory, or cosmology. 4. The final paper is due two weeks before the end of the semester and will be returned with your grade in the final week; you will have the option of rewriting your paper for a better grade if you hand it in on time. 5. Regular attendance is required; any student who misses more than two classes without notice will have to see me before he/she can continue attending. SPECIAL NEEDS: In compliance with the American Disability Act of 1990 (ADA) and with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Hunter College is committed to ensuring educational parity and accommodations for all students with documented disabilities and/or medical conditions. It is recommended that all students with documented disabilities (emotional, medical, physical and/ or learning) consult the Office of AccessABILITY located in Room E1124 to secure necessary academic accommodations. For further information and assistance please call (212- 772- 4857)/TTY (212- 650- 3230). ACADEMIC HONESTY: Hunter College regards acts of academic dishonesty (e.g., plagiarism, cheating on examinations, obtaining unfair advantage, and falsification of records and official documents) as serious offenses against the values of intellectual honesty. The College is committed to enforcing the CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity and will pursue cases of academic dishonesty according to the Hunter College Academic Integrity Procedures. A detailed statement about plagiarism is posted on Blackboard and will be distributed before papers are submitted. CLASS SCHEDULE AND REQUIRED READING: This course is designed to fit 25 lectures. These do not exactly correspond to the calendar as discussion may extend beyond one class into the next. It is the student’s responsibility to attend every single class to note the necessary reading material for the next class. In case a student is absent, it is the student’s responsibility to find out what the assigned reading for the next class is. The course consists of two parts: the first is thematic and will present selections from various dialogues; in the second, we will read one Platonic dialogue in depth—the Republic. In addition to the classroom sessions, students are expected to read one other dialogue (other than the Republic) on which they will write their mid-term paper. Each student is required to meet me during office hours at least once so that I can advise on the choice of dialogue as well as the proper argument to reconstitute from the dialogue. The following dialogues are not suitable for students to write their paper on: Parmenides, Cratylus, Timaeus. SECONDARY SOURCES: Secondary sources for each dialogue and each theme will be provided as needed. In general, I emphasize close reading of the primary Platonic texts. When you write your papers, you will be required to provide a brief bibliography comprising at least two monographs pertaining to your dialogue and a minimum of five relevant articles. I will provide guidance on this portion of your research. 2 of 4 CITING PLATO: Plato is traditionally cited according to a scheme known as the Stephanus numbers. You are not expected to memorize the numbers, but you should read the attached handout on citing Plato and know how to refer to relevant portions of the text using the Stephanus numbers, or, if given the Stephanus numbers in class, know how to look up the relevant section. Session Topic Required reading No. 1. Introduction: Socrates, Plato, influence of Pre-Socratic None philosophy (Homer, Parmenides, Heraclitus), relevant background of ancient Greek history 2. Being and Becoming Parmenides and Heraclitus 3. Socrates’ defense: historical and political considerations of the Apology trial, the Socratic question, discussion of piety 4. Socrates’ defense: the city vs. the philosopher Apology 5. Philosopher and the law Crito 6. Plato’s psychology: philosophy as preparation for death, death as Phaedo separation of body and soul, myth of after-life 7. Plato’s psychology: argument for the immortality of the soul Phaedo 8. Plato’s theory of recollection Meno 9. Plato’s epistemology Sophist (selections) 10. Plato’s epistemology: know thyself Alcibiades I 11. Plato’s aesthetics: Homer, the bard, Athenian education Ion 12. Plato on love: two speeches on love Phaedrus 13. Plato on love: Socrates as Eros, Alcibiades’ speech Symposium 14. Plato on love: Plato on the problem of the body and desire, Symposium Aristophanes’ and Eryximachus’ speeches 15. Introduction to the structure of the Republic, its relevance to Republic 1 contemporary political theory, and the argument ‘might is right’. 16. The story of the ring of Gyges and the analogy of city and soul Republic 2 17. Education of the Guardians Republic 3 18. Divisions and virtues of the city and soul Republic 4 19. Philosophy, wisdom, and knowledge Republic 5 20. The Idea of the Good, divided line Republic 6 21. Allegory of the cave and the limits of the city Republic 7 3 of 4 22. Decline of the best city: timocracy, oligarchy, democracy, tyranny Republic 8 23. The capacity for discrimination: true and false pleasures Republic 9 24. Plato’s eschatology: myth of Er Republic 10 25. Conclusion: Aristotle and Neo-Platonism None 4 of 4 HOW TO CITE PLATO Background: Why Stephanus numbers? The figures and letters used almost universally to quote Plato refer to a Renaissance edition of his works published in Geneva in 1578 by a famed printer and humanist of the time named Henri Estienne (1528-1598), also known by the Latinized version of his name: Stephanus. This complete edition of Plato's works was in three volumes, whose page were continuously numbered from beginning to end of each volume. Each page of this edition is split in two columns, the inner one providing the Greek text and the outer one a Latin translation (by Jean de Serres). In between the two columns are printed letters from A to E dividing the column into five sections includes pictures of some of its pages, thus alowing a more visual understanding of this disposition). It is common practice to cite Plato by the name of the dialogue (plus the book number for Republic and Laws), the page number in the Stephanus edition followed by the letter of the section including the first word of the quotation. No volume number needs to be provided because no dialogue splits over two volumes, and thus, the dialogue name suffices to make the reference unambiguous. Thus, quotations take the form Sophist, 247d (the “provisional” definition of being) or Republic, V, 473c (the principle of the philosopher-king). Quotations are usually given with reference to the start and end point of the quoted section. If the end point is in the same page as the start point, only the end section letter is added, and the quotation takes the form Sophist, 247d-e.
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