A combination of lecture and seminar. Some classes may involve formal lectures for the entire time (allowing time for questions), in which case a later session will allow discussion of the lecture and reading material. Other class sessions may involve a combination of informal lecture and structured discussion.
Marcus Aurelius, Plotinus, Origen and Tertullian. The course may consider any number of the major themes found in ancient thought, including those derived from metaphysics and epistemology, as well as from ethics and politics. Students will read selections from major texts, as well as consider the work of important representatives from the main schools, such as the Cynics, the Skeptics, and the Stoics.
Topics may include one or more of the following:
- Examine the major themes in Pre-Socratic thought, such as the substance of the cosmos, the warring opposites, the one and the many, the reincarnation of the soul, the doctrine of the flux.
- Examine the life and ideas of Socrates, with emphasis on Plato’s early dialogues, from which we learn much about the man, his method, and his various moral beliefs.
- Examine Plato's doctrine of the Forms, including the nature of universals, the doctrines of recollection and participation, the distinctions between reality and appearance and between knowledge and beliefs, as well as Plato's ideal society and the role of virtue within it.
- Examine Aristotle's doctrine of being as substance, including the difference between essence and substratum, between form and matter, and between potentiality and actuality, as well as Aristotle's accounts of the categories and of the four causes, his distinction between moral and intellectual virtue, and his conception of the soul and knowledge.
- Examine the practices and ideas of Pyrrho and the Academic Skeptics, such as the impossibility of knowledge and its implications for social and political life.
- Examine the teachings of the early Greek Stoicism and its later development in the Roman world, including the doctrines of sufficiency of virtue, resignation, and cosmopolitanism.
The general objectives of the course are to:
- familiarize students with some of the main philosophical issues prevalent in ancient thought, such as the nature and origin of the cosmos, the relation between knowledge and reality, the possible immortality of the soul, the role of virtue in the individual and in society;
- develop an understanding of the main concepts and ideas in the writings of different representative philosophers and their place in an cient Greek and Roman philosophy;
- develop a capacity for philosophical awareness and analysis in the context of one or more of the major schools within ancient thought, such as the Sophists, the Neo-Platonists, etc.
Specific learning outcomes: by the end of the course, successful students should be able to:
- demonstrate an understanding of the main concepts and theories of the philosophies considered;
- explain and analyze competing theories and, where appropriate, their relevant similarities and differences;
- demonstrate an ability to employ aspects of philosophical analysis and reasoning, as well as critical thinking skills, in the context of interpreting original philosophical writings;
- recognize and explain some of the basic philosophical problems that surround and inform the more specific concerns and projects of the philosophies considered.
Evaluation will be based upon course objectives and will be carried out in accordance with Douglas College Policy The instructor will provide a written course outline with specific criteria for assessment during the first week of classes.
Any combination of the following totaling 100%
| In-class tests, quizzes, short written assignments | 20-50% |
| Written class presentations, Essays, Final Exam | 30-100% |
| Instructor's General Evaluation (may include attendance, class participation, group work, homework, etc.) | 0-20% |
Sample texts (some combination of the following):
The Complete Works of Plato, trans. John M. Cooper and D. S. Hutchinson, (IN: Hackett Publishing, 1997)
A Presocratics Reader, ed. and trans. Patricia Curd and Richard D. McKirahan, (IN: Hackett Publishing, 1996)
The Basic Works of Aristotle, ed. Richard McKeon, (NY: Modern Library Classics, 2001)
Hellenistic Philosophy: Introductory Readings, ed. and trans. Brad Inwood and Lloyd P. Gerson, (IN: Hackett Publishing, 1998)
Readings in Ancient Greek Philosophy: from Thales to Aristotle, ed. and trans S. Marc Cohen, Patricia Curd and C. D. C. Reeve, (IN: Hackett Publishing, 2011)
Thomas A. Blackson, Ancient Greek Philosophy: From the Presocratics to the Hellenistic Philosophers, (UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011)
Introductory Readings in Ancient Greek And Roman Philosophy, ed. C. D. C. Reeve and Patrick Lee Miller, (IN: Hackett Publishing, 2006)
Greek and Roman Philosophy After Aristotle, ed. Jason L. Saunders, (NY: Free Press, 1997)