texts in The Complete Works of Aristotle, ed. J. Barnes (Princeton: 1984) and
elsewhere. A good collection is J. Ackrill‟s An Aristotle Reader but it is out of
print ...
4AANA001: Greek Philosophy 1 Prof Peter Adamson (
[email protected]) Teaching Like most of your first-year (level 4) modules, the teaching for this module will consist of a weekly one hour lecture, taught in this case on Wednesdays from 12-1, and a weekly one hour tutorial. You should already have been in touch with your tutors. For those tutorials you‟ll need to write two 1000 word formative essays, due in at the Department Office by XXX on XXX and XXX. THESE MUST BE COMPLETED IF YOU ARE TO PASS THE MODULE. In your tutorials you will read about, and write essays on, Plato‟s Meno and Aristotle‟s Physics Book 2. The lectures will cover these texts but also take a broader look at Plato and Aristotle. Exam The summative assessment will be a 2-hour exam. You will write two essays, one answering a “thematic” question; you will be able to choose from about six questions based on the lectures. The second essay will be a “comment” question on a short passage from either the Meno or Physics 2. You need to write a formative essay of each time, as your tutors will explain or already have explained. Primary Texts Plato texts in Plato, Complete Works, ed. J.M.Cooper and D.S. Hutchinson (Hackett: 1997); Aristotle texts in The Complete Works of Aristotle, ed. J. Barnes (Princeton: 1984) and elsewhere. A good collection is J. Ackrill‟s An Aristotle Reader but it is out of print – you may be able to find a secondhand copy. Please read the primary texts listed in this syllabus, preferably before each week‟s lecture so you will get more out of them. Secondary literature is also provided below, but it‟s more important that you read the primary texts. Secondary literature Online, there are numerous relevant articles on the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. You may also find my podcast useful (it has already covered everything that will be taught in this module): www.historyofphilosophy.net On Socrates: • S. Ahbel-Rappe and R. Kamketar (eds.), A Companion to Socrates (Oxford: 2006). • T.C. Brickhouse, and N.D. Smith, Plato’s Socrates (Oxford: 1994). • G. Vlastos, Socrates: Ironist and Moral Philosopher (Cambridge: 1991). On Plato: • H.H. Benson (ed.), A Companion to Plato (Oxford: 2006). • G. Fine (ed.), 1999, Plato 1: Metaphysics and Epistemology, and Plato 2: Ethics, Politics, Religion, and the Soul (Oxford: 1999). • T. Irwin, Plato’s Ethics (Oxford: 1995). • R. Kraut (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Plato (Cambridge: 1992). On Aristotle: • J. Ackrill, Aristotle the Philosopher (London: 1981). • J. Barnes (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle (Cambridge: 1995). • J. Barnes, Aristotle (Oxford: 1982). • J. Lear, Aristotle, the Desire to Understand (Cambridge: 1988). • G.E.R. Lloyd, Aristotle (Cambridge: 1968). • The series edited by Barnes, Schofield, and Sorabji: Essays on Aristotle, 4 vols. (1: Science; 2: Ethics and Politics; 3: Metaphysics; 4: Psychology and Aesthetics).
Course of Lectures Oct 6: From the Pre-Socratics to Plato, by way of Socrates • G. Vlastos, „The Socratic elenchus‟, in Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, 1983 • M.F. Burnyeat. „Socratic midwifery, Platonic inspiration,‟ in H.H.Benson, Essays on the Philosophy of Socrates, Oxford University Press 1992. Oct 13: Defining virtue in the Euthyphro Primary text: Plato, Euthyphro • T. Penner, “Socrates and the Early Dialogues,” in R. Kraut (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Plato (Cambridge: 1992). • A. Nehamas, “Socratic Intellectualism,” Proceedings of the Boston Area Colloquium in Ancient Philosophy 2 (1986), 275-316, reprinted in Nehamas, The Virtues of Authenticity. Essays on Plato and Socrates (Princeton: 1999). • P. Geach, “Plato‟s Euthyphro, an Analysis and Commentary,” The Monist 50 (1966), 369-82, also in R. Kamtekar, Plato’s Euthyphro, Apology, and Crito: Critical Essays (Lanham, MD: 2004). Oct 20: Defining virtue in the Meno Primary text: Plato, Meno • D. Scott, Plato’s Meno (Cambridge: 2006). Oct 27: Recollection and true belief in the Meno and Phaedo Primary text: Phaedo 72e-77a. • G. Fine, „Inquiry in the Meno,‟ in R. Kraut, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Plato (Cambridge: 1992). Nov 3: The Phaedo: the immortality of the soul, and Forms Primary text: Phaedo 96a-107d. • G. Vlastos, „Reasons and causes in the Phaedo,‟ The Philosophical Review 78 (1969), 291-325, reprinted in Vlastos, Platonic Studies (Princeton: 1973). • D. Sedley, „Platonic Causes‟, Phronesis 43 (1998), 114-32. • MM McCabe, Plato’s Individuals (Princeton: 1994), ch. 2. [Reading Week] Nov 17: Change and the principles in the Physics Primary text: Physics book 1, especially chs. 7-9. • D. Bostock, „The principles of change in Physics 1‟, in M. Schofield and M. Nussbaum, eds, Language and Logos (Cambridge: 1982). • R.J. Hankinson, „Philosophy of science‟, in J. Barnes, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle (Cambridge: 1995). Nov 24: The four causes Primary text: Physics book 2, chapters 1-3. Guest lecturer: Frisbee Sheffield • J. Lear, Aristotle: the Desire to Understand (Cambridge: 1988), 26-42 • R. Sorabji, Necessity, Cause and Blame (London: 1980), ch. 10 Dec 1: Problems with final causality Primary text: Physics book 2, chapters 4-9. • D. Sedley, „Was Aristotle‟s teleology anthropocentric?‟ Phronesis 36 (1991), 179-196. • J. Cooper, „Hypothetical Necessity and Natural Teleology,‟ in A. Gotthelf and J.G. Lennox, eds, Philosophical Issues in Aristotle’s Biology (Cambridge: 1987), 243274. Dec 8: Soul Primary text: On the Soul [De Anima], book 2, chapters 1-4. • S. Everson, „Psychology‟ in J. Barnes, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle (Cambridge: 1995). • M. Durrant (ed.), Aristotle’s De Anima in Focus (London: 1993). Dec 15: Ethics Primary text: Nicomachean Ethics book 1, chapters 1-7. • D.S. Hutchinson, „Ethics‟ in J. Barnes, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle (Cambridge: 1995). • A. Rorty (ed.), Essays on Aristotle’s Ethics (Berkeley: 1980). • S. Broadie, Ethics with Aristotle (Oxford: 1991).
