PHILOSOPHY 301:  HISTORY OF ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
 FALL 2011
 T/R 11:30-1:00
S. Polk Library 20


Professor: Dr. Robert Wagoner   
Office: Clow Faculty 420
Email: wagonerr@uwosh.edu   
Phone: 424-7311
Office hours: Tuesday 1:30-2:30; Wednesday 12:00-2:00; and by appointment


COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES
In this course we will focus broadly on two recurring topics in ancient philosophical texts: (1) the nature of the cosmos and humankind’s place in it; and (2) the good or happy life for a human being.  These two topics are related in many important ways for each of the ancient schools we will be studying and involve a variety of questions.  Some questions that will concern us in the course are ‘What are the basic constituents of the cosmos?’, ‘How is the cosmos organized?’, ‘What is the importance of knowing the nature of the cosmos?’, ‘What is human nature?’ ‘How are human nature and the nature of the cosmos related?’  Our study in this course will focus on the answers that Plato, Aristotle, the Epicureans, the Stoics and the Skeptics give to these and other questions. 

Our reading for the course will focus on central texts in the history of ancient philosophy.  Within the framework of the topics and questions described above, we will focus on many important and influential arguments put forward in the ancient world.  Students can expect to come away from the course with a basic understanding of the major schools of thought in ancient Greek philosophy and with sufficient background to take further courses on a single topic, text or figure of the classical or Hellenistic periods.  Students will also be introduced to, and have practice with, useful philosophical tools.  Students will learn basic argument forms, evaluative strategies, fallacies, and techniques for identifying arguments.


REQUIRED TEXTS
Note:  You are required to have the editions listed here.  There are many translations of these works (especially those of Plato and Aristotle) and translators differ widely on some important terms and passages.  If you do not read from the translations in these editions, my lectures and the class discussion will sometimes seem very odd.
The Complete Works of Plato, eds. Cooper and Hutchinson (Hackett, 1997) Aristotle: Introductory Readings, eds. Irwin & Fine (Hackett, 1996)
 		Hellenistic Philosophy:  Introductory Readings (2nd ed.) eds. Inwood and Gerson (Hackett, 1997)



A few readings (marked on the schedule of readings below) are available at the course website on D2L.  You will also find other important course-related information on this website, which will be updated throughout the semester.

RECOMMENDED TEXT (On reserve in Polk Library)

Annas, Julia, Ancient Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction.
    This text includes valuable information on each of the schools we will be discussing.  The chapters are organized around specific topics and ideas of concern to ancient philosophers, including those topics that will be the concern of this course.

REQUIREMENTS AND POLICIES

 (1)  Papers:  I will assign paper topics two times during the semester, and you must submit two five-page papers, one on the first topic and one on the second, by the due dates indicated on the schedule below.  Your papers will be evaluated on the basis of your grasp of the texts (i.e. the philosophical arguments and positions in the texts), your own response to those arguments and positions, and the clarity and conciseness of your expression.   You can expect to receive more detailed guidance on paper-writing when paper topics are handed out later during the term.

(2)  Exams:  There will be two exams, one mid-term and one final exam.(see schedule below).

(3)  Participation: Throughout the semester there will be a series of unannounced in-class quizzes.  There will be at least five of these quizzes, and perhaps more.  If there are more, the five highest scores will be counted.  The quizzes will ask questions about the material we have already read, but not necessarily covered yet in lecture.


GRADING:  The grade you receive on each paper will account for 25% of your final grade; your exam grades for 20% each and your participation for 10%.   The final overall grade will be determined according to the following scheme.  You can monitor your grade by checking periodically on D2L and by meeting with me during office hours.  I will not reply to email requests for grades.
A
 		94-100%
A-         
90-93%
B+
 		87-89%
B
 		83-86%
B-
 		80-82%
C+
 		77-79%
C
 		73-76%
C-
 		70-72%
D+
 		67-69%
D
 		63-66%
D-
 		60-62%
F
 		Below 60%



ATTENDANCE POLICY
You are expected to attend all class meetings.  Aside from possibly missing quizzes in class, the material we are studying will be very difficult to understand if you do not attend class regularly.  I will honor holidays or special events observed by organized religions for those students who show affiliation with that particular religion, as well as absences pre-approved by the Dean.  If you know in advance that you are going to miss an important day - e.g., an exam day - please talk to me as soon as you know this, so that we can make arrangements.


EXPECTED CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR
You are expected to come to class having done the reading for the day and ready to engage with lecture and discussion.  (So, for example, do August 26th’s reading in preparation for, and so before, the August 26th lecture.  If you haven’t done the reading, you will find lectures difficult to follow and quizzes impossible to do. You must bring your books to class:  I will refer in detail to the texts you have read, and you will need to be able to look at them in class.) 
You should turn off your cell phone or pager before class begins, and put away any newspapers or reading material not related to the class.  You should not be sending or looking at text messages, checking your email, Twittering, using Facebook, or anything else on your phone (which should be turned off) or on a laptop.  If you are using a laptop, you should be doing so only for the purpose of taking notes.  You should not talk when someone else, the instructor or a student, is addressing the class.  If you disagree with the instructor or another student, you are welcome to express your disagreement in a polite and concise manner.  Finally, you should get enough sleep before class so that you can be alert during class.  If you repeatedly violate these basic norms of courtesy, you will be asked to leave the classroom. 

Further notes on laptop/tablet use.  If you wish to use a laptop computer or tablet, please be considerate of other students around you.  I ask that those who wish to use such devices sit in the back or on the side of the classroom to minimize distraction to other students.  I reserve the right to stop allowing the use of these devices should any problems arise.  I encourage everyone, finally, to consider not using a computer in this course. 

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
The written work you submit for this course must be your own:  you are to think through the issues and write up your ideas, on your own.  This does not mean that you cannot discuss your ideas with others, or that you cannot read outside material; it does mean that you must acknowledge all such discussions or outside reading in footnotes, and it does mean that if you use anyone else’s words, they must appear in quotation marks with an appropriate citation (listing author, work, edition and page numbers.)  If you fail to acknowledge the work of others you are drawing on, then you are pretending that the work is your own and are guilty of plagiarism.  Ensuring that you do not plagiarize is your responsibility.  There will be some ideas you will want to discuss that are common knowledge within the context of our class, because we have discussed them together.  These do not need to be acknowledged. 

All papers will be submitted through the D2L Dropbox, and will automatically be checked for plagiarism by Turnitin.com.


NOTE ON THE SYLLABUS
All information contained in the course syllabus, other than the grade and absence policies, may be subject to change with reasonable advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.

SCHEDULE 
The Schedule of readings below is an ideal which we will strive to meet.  Changes to the schedule may be needed if, for example, (1) we fall behind, (2) the lecture/discussion warrants a change of readings, (3) we somehow move more quickly than I imagined (!). Any changes that need to be put into the schedule will be announced both in class and on D2L and will be reflected in a newly posted and revised schedule. 



September 8
 		Introduction - Course Syllabus, Policies, Requirements, Content
Introduction to Ancient Philosophy & Ancient Philosophical Texts
Optional Reading - Richard Rorty's 'The Historiography of Philosophy: Four Genres' in Philosophy in History. On reserve in Polk Library.
PART 1 - PLATO
Readings from Plato are given first in actual page numbers from the Complete Works, followed by the 'Stephanus' numbers (found in the margins)

Preliminaries - Formulating the Questions
September 13
 		The Apology - pp. 18-36; 17a-42a
September 15
 		The Phaedo (1) - pp. 50-73; 57a-84b
September 20
 		The Phaedo (2) - pp.83-100; 95b-118a

Answering Socrates' Questions
September 22
 		The Republic - pp.1126-1136; 505b-519b
September 27
 		The Timaeus - pp. 1234-1251; 27a-49a
September 29
 		The Laws (Book X) - pp. 1542-1556; 884-910d

The Human Good
October 4
 		The Laws (Book X) cont., The Euthydemus - pp. 715-719; 278e-282c, The Meno - pp.887-888; 87d-89a
October 6
 		The Republic - pp. 1060-1076; 428b-445b.  Also Recommended: The Phaedo 68a-69d
PART 2 - ARISTOTLE
Readings from Aristotle are listed by Title, Book & Chapter numbers, then page numbers from our textbook.

Aristotle on Nature, Causes and Teleology
October 11
 		1st PAPER DUE (Submit to D2L Dropbox by midnight)
Introduction to Aristotle
Physics I.1, 7-8.  pp. 36-42 (i.e., Physics, Book 1, chapters 1, 7, and 8).
Recommended - Categories 1-5, pp. 1-8
October 13
 		Physics II.1-7, pp. 42-57
October 18
 		Metaphysics I. 1-4, pp. 115-127
October 20
 		Metaphysics V.8; VII.1-4, 6, pp.149-159
Metaphysics IX.1-2, 5-7, pp. 180-186
October 25 MID-TERM EXAM IN CLASS (BRING BLUE BOOKS)

Aristotle on the Soul and the Human Good
October 27 Metaphysics XII.6-7, 9-10, pp. 187-194
De Anima II.1-5, pp. 80-92
November 1 Nicomachean Ethics I.1-13, pp. 196-216
November 3 Nicomachean Ethics II.1-7, pp. 217-228
Nicomachean Ethics VI.2, 5 & 8, pp. 248-252
PART 3 - EPICURUS AND THE EPICUREANS
Readings for Epicurus, the Stoics, and the Skeptics are from Hellenistic Philosophy: Introductory Readings, 2nd Ed.

Epicurus on Nature, the Gods, and the value of knowing them
November 8
 		Letter to Herodotus, pp. 5-18
Lucretius, The Nature of Things, pp. 64-65
Cicero from On Goals and On Fate, pp. 45-49
November 10
 		Cicero, selections from On the Nature of the Gods, pp. 50-56

Epicurean Ethics
November 15
 		Letter to Menoeceus, pp. 28-31
Maxims, pp. 32-40
Cicero from On Goals and Tusculan Disputations, pp. 56-63
November 17
 		Lucretius from On the Nature of Things (Selections on D2L) - Death is Not and Evil.
Other Readings TBA
PART 4 - THE STOICS

The Stoics on God, Determinism, and Nature
November 22
 		2nd PAPER DUE (Submit to D2L Dropbox by midnight)
Introduction to Stoicism
Cleanthes, Hymn to Zeus, pp. 139-141
Cicero from The Nature of the Gods, pp. 141-161 (selections TBA)
November 24
 		No Class - Thanksgiving Recess
November 29
 		Cicero, On Fate & Excerpts from Aetius, Plutarch, Alexander, Aulius Gellius, et al., pp. 182-190

Stoic Ethics
December 1
 		Diogenes Laertius 7.84-131, pp.190-203
Stobaeus Anthology ss. 5-8a, pp. 203-216
December 6
 		Cicero from On Goals, pp.234-242
Epictetus from Discourses, pp. 242-243
Seneca from On Peace of Mind & Letters on Ethics, pp. 243-247
PART 5 - THE SKEPTICS

The Skeptical Challenge & Solution?
December 8
 		Diogenes Laertius, The Life of Pyrrho, pp. 285-297
Sextus Empiricus, Outlines of Skepticism, pp.302-308
December 13
 		Sextus Empiricus, Selections TBA
December 15
 		FINAL EXAM IN CLASS (BRING BLUE BOOKS)