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Home , Ancient Greek philosophy

HISTORY OF I: PHILOSOPHY

PHILO 212(W) Dr. V. Adluri Sec. 001[2201] Office: Hunter West, 12th floor, Room 1242 Fall 2010 Telephone: 973 216 7874 Prof. Adluri Email: [email protected] Monday/Wednesday, 7:00-8:15pm Office hours: Wednesdays, 6:00 – 7:00 P.M and by appointment

DESCRIPTION: Ancient Greek thought begins the tradition of and shapes it throughout history. This influence extends over various periods such as the Roman era, the , and modernity, as well as across cultures including the Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions. In recent history, thinkers as diverse as Freud, Darwin, Nietzsche, and Marx have borrowed heavily from their Greek predecessors. Finally, disciplines as varied as , political , , , and develop as a series of responses to the way Greek philosophy sets up central problems. In this course we begin with ’ tragedy Oedipus Tyrannus and inquire into the origins of Greek philosophy in myth, tragedy, and epic. This will orient us towards some of the concerns of ancient Greek philosophy. Then we will discuss the Pre-Socratic (6 BCE) and how they help us understand Socratic philosophy. The bulk of this course will be devoted to the of and , where we will inquire into how these philosophers investigated , , perception, art, ethics, city, , and God. Finally, we will conclude with a lecture on the legacy of ancient Greek thought.

Required Texts: Waterfield, Robin. Ed. First Philosophers: The Presocratics and . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. $14.95. Meineck, Peter and Paul Woodruff. Oedipus Tyrannus. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2000. $5.30. Reeve, C. D. C. Trans. Plato: The Republic. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2004. $ 10.95. Ross, David. Trans. Aristotle. London: Routledge, 1995. $38.95. 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 covers the major texts and thinkers of early Greek philosophy from the Pre- Socratics to Aristotle. It is intended as a survey course, but we shall also pursue thematic inquiries into the nature of , , and the relationship of Greek philosophy to Greek . We shall also look at Greek tragedy as a major influence upon Plato. 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.

1 of 4 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 any one Pre-Socratic . You must be able to reconstruct his main claims and locate him in the context of at least one other Pre- Socratic (e.g., if your paper is on , you may compare his account of Being to ’ view of flux). 3. The final paper will be either on Plato or Aristotle; it must relate these thinkers back to topics covered in the first half (e.g., you may discuss Plato’s criticisms of Heraclitus or Aristotle’s criticisms of Parmenides). 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 . 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.

SECONDARY SOURCES: You do not need secondary sources for this course. Waterfield provides an adequate overview of the Pre-Socratics. However, for students interested in more advanced readings, I recommend the essays in Patricia Curd and Daniel Graham, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Presocratic Philosophy (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008) ($44.80 from Amazon.com; you do NOT need to buy this book) and A.A. Long, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Early Greek Philosophy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999) ($35.53 from Amazon.com; you do NOT need to buy this book).

2 of 4 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.

No. Text Required reading Introduction to course and requirements None A: Greek Tragedy 1. Introduction to tragic poets None 2. Philosophical knowing versus sensory knowledge Oedipus Tyrannus 3. Criticism of autodidactism; turn to self-knowledge Oedipus Tyrannus 4. Relationship of and piety Oedipus Tyrannus B: The Pre-Socratic Philosophers 5. Overview of the Pre-Socratics Waterfield, introduction 6. Heraclitus Waterfield, Heraclitus 7. Parmenides Waterfield, Parmenides 8. Waterfield, Empedocles C: Platonic Philosophy 9. Plato in relation to the Pre-Socratics None 10. The structure of the Republic Handout: Divisions of the Republic 11. Desire and in the Republic Republic 1 and 2 12. Construction of the city in speech Republic 2 and 3 13. Platonic psychology Republic 4 14. Women in the city Republic 5 15. Platonic ; of the divided line Republic 6 16. in relation to self-knowledge; the analogy of the Republic 7 cave 17. The decline of the ideal city Republic 8 and 9 18. The ideal city in relation to cosmology Republic 10 (595a-608b) 19. Immortality of the soul; knowledge as a kind of Republic 10 (608c-614b) purification 20. Myth of Er; Plato’s eschatology Republic 10 (614b-621d) D: Aristotle

3 of 4 21. Overview of Aristotle’s philosophy Ross, Life and Works 22. The search for principles and causes Ross, Philosophy of Nature; , bks. 1-2 23. Nature of highest Ross, ; Metaphysics bks. 1-3 (selections) 24. The life of contemplation Ross, Ethics; Nicomachean Ethics bks. 1, 6, 10 25. Plato and Aristotle in the history of philosophy None

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