Course Schedule
Philosophy 300--Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy
Fall 2016
(revised 13 November 2016)

 

I. The Presocratics

Aug. 29

Course introduction; then Thales, Anaximander, & Anaximenes.  (Bring our book to first class, having read 1a-c [= pp. 1-top of 4].)

Aug. 31

Pythagoras (2a)
Also: Sacks’s “The Twins”;

Johnson’s “From Here to Infinity: Obsessing with the Magic of Primes”;
Suplee’s “Team’s Model Demonstrates How Evolution Obeys Mathematical Laws”;

more on the three-quarters power law (= Kleiber’s law)

Skim this enough to see some other ways biologists uncover mathematical relationships.
Even the sizes of cities get in on the Pythagorean fun: Strogatz’s guest blog “Math and the City.”

Sept. 2

Xenophanes (2b) & Heraclitus (2c)

Sept. 5

Labor Day

Sept. 7

Parmenides (3a), Melissus (3b), & Taber’s “Parmenides on Non-Being”

Sept. 9

Zeno of Elea (3c) & Taber’s “On Overtaking Zeno’s Dichotomy and Achilles Paradoxes” & related handouts; if you want more details about him and his paradoxes, see the SEP entry on Zeno of Elea.

Sept. 12

The Pluralists (4a-c): Empedocles, Anaxagoras, and Democritus
Primo Levi’s “The Story of C” (handout; keep Democritus in mind.)

Sept. 14

The Sophists (5a-f)

Sept. 16

Rosenzweig’s “Being, Non-Being, and the Void” (handout)

Sept. 19

Exam (short-answer and essay) on the Presocratics; study questions will be circulated to you at least one week in advance.

 

 

 

II. Socrates & Plato (These are linked to excellent sources, but they exceed in detail what is needed for this course.)

Sept. 21

Plato’s Apology and Stern’s “What They Learn in School” (handout)

Sept. 22

Thursday:  Letter from a Presocratic due e-mailed to me by noon.

Sept. 23

Plato’s Crito and death scene from the Phaedo (from 114e to the end)

Sept. 25

Sunday: Q&A paper for Socrates due e-mailed to me by noon.

Sept. 26

Symposium [9 pp.]
Q&A paper for Socrates due e-mailed to me by start of class.

Sept. 28

Paper due at start of class time; no new reading for class today.

 

 

Sept. 30

excerpts from Plato’s Republic I-III [19 pp.]

Oct. 3

Republic IV [12 pp.]

Oct. 5

Republic V [14 pp.]

Oct. 7

Republic VI & VII [20 pp.]

Oct. 10

Fall reading day; no classes.

Oct. 12

Republic VIII-X [22 pp.]

Oct. 14

Second paper due at start of class time; no new reading for class today.

Oct. 17

Parmenides & Timaeus [11 pp.]

 

 

III. Aristotle (Again, an excellent overview, but reading all of it carefully is more than is required for this course. Sparknotes has overviews of Aristotle; they are too brief to be of sustained help, but might help you orient yourself to the flow of some of his discussions.) Consult my reading notes as needed.

Oct. 19

Physics [9 pp.]

Oct. 21

De Anima [11 pp.]

Oct. 23

Sunday: First lit review (on Presocratics, Socrates, or Plato) is due e-mailed to me by noon.

Oct. 24

excerpt (“Foam”) from Armand Marie Leroi’s book The Lagoon: How Aristotle Invented Science [handout, 20 pp.]

Oct. 26

Metaphysics, Bks. 1 & 4 [12 pp.]

Oct. 28

Metaphysics, Bks. 7 & 12 [7 pp.]

Oct. 31

Categories 1-5 [5 pp.]

Nov. 2

Nicomachean Ethics I & II [11 pp.]

Nov. 4

Nicomachean Ethics III & V [9 pp.]

Nov. 7

Nicomachean Ethics VI & X [12 pp.]

Nov. 9

Politics [11 pp.] Plus handouts consisting of Politics I.3-6 (on slavery) & VIII.1-2 (on education).

Nov. 11

Aristotle exam

 

 

IV.  Hellenistic Philosophy

Nov. 14

Cynics excerpts (handout)

Nov. 16

Epicurus (from p. 364 at “Moreover, when it comes to…” to top of p. 370) [6 pp.]

Nov. 18

No class today; work on 2nd lit review (on Aristotle)

 

 

V. Roman Philosophy

Nov. 21

Cicero [11 pp.]

 

Thanksgiving  Break

 

 

Nov. 27

Sunday: Second lit review (on Aristotle) is due e-mailed to me by noon.

Nov. 28

Seneca [20 pp.]

Nov. 30

Epictetus [10 pp.]

Dec. 2

Pyrrho [4 pp.] & Sextus Empiricus [16 pp.]

 

 

VI. Neoplatonism

Dec. 5

Plotinus [22 pp.]

Dec. 7

Proclus [5 pp.]

Dec. 9

No new reading; “Encomium Symposium” (see epideictic rhetoric, under “Aristotle”) & discussion of study questions for final examination.

Dec. 11

Sunday: Third lit review (on Hellenistic or Roman philosophy or Neoplatonism) is due e-mailed to me by noon.

Dec. 15

Thursday, three-hour final examination, 9:00-noon; study questions will be circulated to you at least one week in advance.

 

 

 

 




Send me mail:  mstaber at smcm dot edu                                                  

Go to the home page for this course.

Go to Michael Taber's home page.

Go to the SMCM home page.