04:30 PM to 07:10 PM T
Section Information for Fall 2019
Topic: What's new in early Greek philosophy?
Plato, Aristotle, and later Greek philosophers identify a number of earlier Greek thinkers as precursors: the thinkers who have come to be called (rightly or wrongly) "pre-Socratic philosophers," but also others such as Homer, Hesiod, Gorgias, Protagoras, and Hecataeus. Recent work is rethinking the nature, meaning, and influence of this early work. "New" ancient manuscripts been recently found (the Strasbourg Empedocles papyrus) or published (the Derveni papyrus). Re-examination of archeological and textual records has led to new proposals about metaphysics in Thales, Pythagoras, and Anaxagoras; about Parmenides' astronomy, and about Zeno's logic. Questions that had been left unasked or inadequately answered are being reopened, with revolutionary consequences not only for scholarship of ancient Greek work but for the identity and potential of philosophy and natural science more broadly.
Questions we will be investigating in this course include:
- In what senses are any of these earlier figures precursors of Plato or Aristotle?
- The term 'philosophy' is not attested until Plato's time, and may or may not date back to Pythagoras' time (about a century earlier). In what senses are any of the earlier figures "philosophers"?
- To what extent were thinkers such as Homer and Hesiod, Protagoras and Gorgias engaging in inquiries continuous with those who are more frequently acknowledged today as philosophers?
- What kinds of investigation did these earlier thinkers undertake, and how did they interpret their results?
- To what extent do today's understandings of what "philosophy" is and does fit with what these early Greek thinkers seem to have been doing?
- What kinds of care need to be taken in understanding purported quotations and reports of early Greek thinkers' work? What implications might that have for our reading and writing of philosophical work today?
Ancient figures to be studied in this course will be selected from Homer, Hesiod, Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Xenophanes, Hecataeus, Pythagoras/early Pythagoreans, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Zeno, Melissus, Empedocles, Anaxagoras, Democritus, Leucippus, Diogenes of Apollonia, Protagoras, Gorgias, and the Derveni papyrus. Modern scholars to be studied will include Cordero, Mourelatos, M. Miller, Sisko, Marmodoro, Hahn, Sattler, Rossetti, Hulsz, Soto Rivera, and Graham.
For students in the Traditional and Contemporary Philosophy focus, this course will fulfill the seminar requirement and the ancient philosophy requirement; or it can be used as an elective.
For students in the Ethics and Public Affairs concentration, this course will fulfill 3 credits of the history of philosophy requirement; or it can be used as an elective.
Tags:
Credits: 3
Enrollment is limited to Graduate or Non-Degree level students.
Students in a Non-Degree Undergraduate degree may not enroll.
The University Catalog is the authoritative source for information on courses. The Schedule of Classes is the authoritative source for information on classes scheduled for this semester. See the Schedule for the most up-to-date information and see Patriot web to register for classes.