PHIL 303 Syllabus
Greetings! O my fall-2011 students! Welcome to Classical Philosophy, a course exploring ancient ideas while listening for contemporary echoes:
Class-meetings: T & Th 1:30-2:45 Bridges 357
Office: Bridges 359D - PHIL Dept. 218-477-4666 E-mail: czynski@mnstate.edu
Office-hours: M & W & F: 1:00-3:00 T & Th: 12noon-1:00 & 3:00-4:00 and by appointment
Web-page: web.mnstate.edu/czynski
Course-description: A study of the development of ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, including the Pre-Socratics, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and such movements as Stoicism, Epicureanism, and Skepticism.
Required text: ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY, Vol 1., 6th ed., Forrest E. Baird (Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2011)
Course-goals/Learning-outcomes: Students will be able to explain and evaluate - examine questioningly - through class-discussion and written assignments 1. the major ideas of the Pre-Socratic philosophers 2. the major ideas of Socrates 3. the epistemological and metaphysical philosophy of Plato 4. the epistemological and metaphysical philosophy of Aristotle 5. the major ideas of representative Hellenistic/Roman philosophers
DISABILITY ACCESS STATEMENT: Students with disabilities are requested to contact Mr. Greg Toutges (ext. 2131), coordinator of Disability Services in FloraFrick 154 to make timely arrangements for exam-taking suitable to their needs. Naturally, do speak to me whenever you wish for any accommodation that I most willingly will implement.
Requirements: 1) 3 Exams of in-class PARTS & a typed Essay-PART @ 80 + 80 +100 points = 260 2) 1 typed 2-3 page Response-Essay with in-class oral-presentation to initiate discussion @ 40 points 3) 1 typed 6-8-page Research&Reflection Essay @ 100 points 4) 1 FORMAL oral-participation contribution when reading Aristotle @ 20 points -- Guidelines to be given for the typed Essay-assignments. -- Total points-potential = 420 proportioned to 100 with A+-A- = 100-90, B+-B- = 89-80, ...
*** To be observed by students in our class: 1. Mindful Reading-Preparation contributory to a seminar-like class-discussion. 2. Faithful Attendance showing commitment to our course; if absent, please acknowledge, especially if known in advance; unexcused absences will lead to points deducted at the end. 3. Academic Honesty in composing your typed assignments = acknowledge sources quoted or paraphrased in phrasing your own ideas. 4. Courtesy in conducting ourselves when engaged in class-discussion - including cell-phones off.
Weekly Schedule of Readings & Exams & Retrospectives
WEEK I: Tuesday 8/23: Introduction to Course & Syllabus & Names
Th 8/25: ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY = AP: pages 1-13: "Before Socrates" + Thales & Anaximander & Anaximenes
WEEK II: T 8/30: AP - 14-21: Pythagoras & Xenophanes & Heraclitus
Th 9/1: AP - 22-top36: Parmenides & Zeno of Elea & Empedocles
WEEK III: T 9/6: AP - upper36-42: Anaxagoras & Democritus with Leucippus + 43-48: Protagoras & Gorgias & Critias
Th 9/8: AP - 49-mid56 (SKIP mid56-60) + 61-top69: Epilogue I: Pericles on Athens via the historian Thucydides + Epilogue II: on Aspasia, illustrious Athenian woman and consort of Pericles + Intro on Socrates & Plato + lower195-upper197: from the SYMPOSIUM: "Now all this ... suffered it." *** Hand-out of ReviewPages for Exam #1 - also on web-page
WEEK IV: T 9/13: RETROSPECTIVE working with the RevPp + comments on exam-format including in-class PARTS & take-home, typed ESSAY-PART
Th 9/15: EXAM #1 - in-class PARTS
WEEK V: T 9/20: low70-mid82: "Euthyphro" *** Exam ESSAY-PART due
Th 9/22: AP - mid82-mid99: "Apology"
WEEK VI: T 9/27: AP - mid99-bottom111: "Crito" + "Phaedo" I
Th 9/29: AP - 112-top131 (up to "... attained at all."): "Phaedo" II
WEEK VII: T 10/4: AP - 131-150: "Phaedo" III *** Hand-out of ReviewPages for Exam #2 - also on web-page
Th 10/6: RETROSPECTIVE working with RevPp + comments on exam-format = in-class PARTS & take-home, typed ESSAY-PART
WEEK VIII: T 10/11: NO CLASS - Faculty Service Day
Th 10/13: EXAM #2 - in-class PARTS
WEEK IX: T 10/18: 199-213: "Republic" Book I *** Exam ESSAY-PART due
Th 10/20: AP - lower213-upper231: "Republic" - Books II & III
WEEK X: T 10/25: mid231-upper247: "Republic" - Book IV
Th 10/27: mid247-mid271: "Republic" - Book V
WEEK XI: T 11/1: AP - mid271-288: "Republic" - Books VI-VII + 308-311: "Timaeus" + 312-314: "Laws"
Th 11/3: AP - 315-top318: on Aristotle + lower319-324: Categories + mid334-mid338 (up to "... sufficiently for us."): Physics
WEEK XII: T 11/8: AP - bottom344-mid360: Metaphysics - Book I
Th 11/10: AP - mid364-top371: Metaphysics - Book XII: #6-10 + mid371-377: "On the Soul"
WEEK XIII: T 11/15: AP - 378-mid391: Nicomachean Ethics - Book I + mid396-top401 (up to "... and punishments."): Books II-III
Th 11/17: AP - mid442-450: Nico. Ethics - Book X + 451-mid461: Politics - Books I-VII
WEEK XIV: T 11/22: AP - 463-465: Intro to Hellenistic (= Greek-influenced) and Roman philosophy + mid467-mid468: on Epicurus + mid483-487: "Letter to Menoeceus" + 505-507: on "The Early Stoa" with extract from Zeno/Diogenes Laertes on "Ethics" + 518-top519: on Epictetus + 530: Chs. 51,52,53
Th 11/24: THANKSGIVING Break
WEEK XV: T 11/29: AP - 531-top539: on Marcus Aurelius - "Meditations" + 540-top541: on Pyrrho + mid542: only #3 & #4 + mid546-mid547: on Plotinus (= Neo-Platonism) + upper560-561: #10-11-12 *** Hand-out of ReviewPages for Exam #3 - also on web-page
Th 11/29: RETROSPECTIVE I working with RevPp
WEEK XVI: T 12/6: RETROSPECTIVE II with RevPp + comments on exam-format, including a typed ESSAY-PART due Friday 12/9
THURSDAY 12/8: EXAM #3 - in-class written PARTS - 12:00-2:00 p.m. - course-evaluations
*** As stated above, there will be in-class oral-presentations to initiate class-discussions - and the list of names & dates will be forthcoming. These will begin as of Thursday 9/8 in WEEK III. The student-sequence will be alphabetical by last name. Every student will contribute orally to initiating class-discussion twice. Each student will hand-in to me 1 typed, 2-page Response-Essay one week after their oral presentation, which will include both objective & subjective parts. More on this in the Guidelines - with dates and names correlated to our weekly readings.