Ancient and Medieval Western Philosophy (PHIL 316)
Reading and Essay Schedule
Required Texts
• Cohen, Curd, and Reeve, eds., Readings in Ancient Greek Philosophy: From Thales to Aristotle, 4th ed. (Hackett, 2011). [ISBN: 978-1-60384-462-8] (NB: Earlier editions are OK, but the 4th edition has updated material on the Presocratics.)
• Thomas Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles, Book One: God, transl. by Anton Pegis (Univ. of Notre Dame Press, 1975). [ISBN: 0-268-01678-X]
• Selections (available with the links below) from the works of Epicurus, Epictetus, Sextus Empiricus, Plotinus, Augustine, Anselm, Abelard, Ibn-Sina, Ibn-Rushd, William of Ockham, Meister Eckhart, and Pico della Mirandola, as well as some current secondary literature.
Please print these out and bring to class!
Wed, Aug 30
Introduction to the class.
Presocratics and Plato
Fri, Sep 1
The Miletians.
Reading: AGP (selections from/about the Miletians); Patricia Curd, “Presocratic Philosophy” (SEP) [text].
Essay: What is plausible, and what is implausible, about Thales’ claim that “all is water”?
Additional Material
Text: Greek Glossary [text].
Mon, Sep 4
Heraclitus and Xenophanes
Reading: AGP (selections from Heraclitus and Xenophanes).
Essay: Describe and discuss Heraclitus’s account of the logos.
Discussion Forum #1: “Reality” (post due tonight at midnight; responses due Friday, Sep 8) [assignment][rubric]
Additional Material
Text: Daniel Graham, “Heraclitus” (SEP) [web].
Text: James Lesher, “Xenophanes” (SEP) [web].
Podcast: Melvyn Bragg (host), “Heraclitus” In Our Times (BBC), with Angie Hobbs (Associate Professor of Philosophy and Senior Fellow in the Public Understanding of Philosophy at the University of Warwick), Peter Adamson (Professor of Ancient and Medieval Philosophy at King's College London), James Warren (Senior Lecturer in Classics and a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge). [web].
Wed, Sep 6
Pythagoras
Reading: AGP (selections from the Pythagoreans, including Philolaus); Carl Huffman, “Pythagoras” (SEP) [web].
Essay: What might the Pythagoreans mean by “the limited” (peras) and “the unlimited” (apeiron)?
Additional Material
Text: Carl Huffman, “Philolaus” (SEP) [web].
Text: Carl Huffman, “Archytas” (SEP) [web].
Podcast: Melvyn Bragg (host), “Pythagoras” In Our Times (BBC), with Serafina Cuomo (Reader in Roman History at Birkbeck College, University of London), John O'Connor (Senior Lecturer in Mathematics at the University of Saint Andrews), Ian Stewart (Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick). [web].
Fri, Sep 8
Parmenides and Zeno
Reading: AGP (selections from Parmenides and Zeno).
Essay: Choose one of Zeno of Elea’s paradoxes of motion, and describe and criticize it as carefully as the time and space permits.
Additional Material
Text: John Palmer, “Parmenides” (SEP) [web].
Text: John Palmer, “Zeno of Elea” (SEP) [web].
Audio: Raymond Tallis on Parmenides (Philosophy Bites) (15m 14s) [audio].
Mon, Sep 11
The Pluralists and Atomists
Reading: AGP (selections from Anaxagoras, Empedocles, Leucippus, and Democritus).
Essay: Briefly describe the difference between the pluralists and the atomists.
Additional Material
Text: Patricia Curd, “Anaxagoras” (SEP) [web].
Text: Richard Parry, “Empedocles” (SEP) [web].
Text: Sylvia Berryman, “Leucippus” (SEP) [web].
Text: Sylvia Berryman, “Democritus” (SEP) [web].
Wed, Sep 13
The Sophists
Reading: AGP (editor introduction + selections from Protagoras, Gorgias, and Antiphon).
Essay: What might Protagoras have meant when he said that “man is the measure of all things,” and how might anyone come to such an idea as this?
Additional Material
Text: Naragon, “Socrates and Plato” (from A Book is a Machine) [text].
Fri, Sep 15
Plato’s Apology
Reading: AGP (editor introduction + Apology, 17a-42a).
Essay: Describe Socrates’s account of the proper role of the philosopher.
Additional Material
Text: Debra Nails, “Socrates” (SEP) [web].
Text: “Plato: Stephanus Pagination” [wikipedia].
Text: I. F. Stone on the execution of Socrates (a journalistic scoop) [text].
Text: Doug Linder, “The Trial of Socrates” (2002) [web].
Text: Enid Bloch, “Hemlock Poisoning and the Death of Socrates: Did Plato Tell the Truth?” [text].
Website: The Last Days of Socrates (Clark University): Plato’s dialogues with images and many helps for the beginning student. [web]
Podcast: Melvyn Bragg (host), “Socrates” In Our Times (BBC), with Angie Hobbs (Associate Professor of Philosophy at Warwick University), David Sedley (Laurence Professor of Ancient Philosophy at Cambridge University), Paul Millett (Senior Lecturer in Classics at the University of Cambridge). [web].
Mon, Sep 18
Plato’s Euthyphro
Reading: AGP (Euthyphro, 2a-16a)
Essay: Compare Socrates and Euthyphro regarding their knowledge claims about the gods.
Discussion Forum #2: “Knowledge and Belief” (post due tonight at midnight; responses due Friday, Sep 22) [assignment][rubric]
Additional Material
Videos: Myles Burnyeat on Plato (interviewed by Brian Magee [1987]) [Part One (9m 23s)] [Part Two (10m 12s)] [Part Three (9m 24s)] [Part Four (10m 44s)] [Part Five (3m 47s)].
Website: The Last Days of Socrates (Clark University): Plato’s dialogues with images and many helps for the beginning student. [web]
Wed, Sep 20
Plato’s Meno
Reading: AGP (Meno, 70a-86c).
Essay: What is Plato trying to demonstrate with his middle passage in the Meno about the geometric figure.
Fri, Sep 22
Plato’s Meno
Reading: AGP (Meno, 86c-100b).
Essay: How does Socrates distinguish knowledge from true belief? Does his explanation make sense to you?
Mon, Sep 25
Plato’s Republic, Bk. 1
Reading: AGP (Republic, Bk. 1).
Essay: Briefly paraphrase Thrasymachus’s definitions of justice, and the problem Socrates found with each of these.
Additional Material
Text: Rachel Barney, “Callicles and Thrasymachus” (SEP) [web].
Wed, Sep 27
Plato’s Republic, Bk. 2
Reading: AGP (Republic, 357a-362c, 368c-376e)
Essay: What is the point of Glaucon’s story at the beginning of Bk. 2? How would you respond to Glaucon?
Fri, Sep 29
Plato’s Republic, Bks. 3-4
Reading: AGP (Republic, 412b-417b, 427d-445e).
Essay: Why does Plato/Socrates discuss an “ideal city”? Do you agree with his strategy?
Mon, Oct 2 — Fall Break
Wed, Oct 4
Plato’s Republic, Bks. 6-7
Reading: AGP (Republic, Bks. 6-7).
Essay: Explain what Plato means with his “Allegory of the Cave.” Of what is it an allegory?
Additional Material
Text: “Platonic Solids” [wikipedia].
Audio: Simon Blackburn on Plato's Cave (Philosophy Bites) (13m 42s) [audio].
Fri, Oct 6
First Exam [study guide]
Aristotle and the Hellenists
Mon, Oct 9
Aristotle’s Categories and On Interpretation
Reading: AGP (Categories, chs. 1-5; On Interpretation, chs. 1-4, 7, 9); Christopher Shields, “Aristotle” (SEP) [web].
Essay: Explain as carefully as you can what Aristotle means by ‘substance’, as well as the significance of his ten categories.
Additional Material
Text: “Corpus Aristotelicum” [wikipedia].
Text: Paul Studtmann, “Aristotle’s Categories” (SEP) [web].
Videos: Martha Nussbaum on Aristotle (interviewed by Brian Magee [1987]) — [Part One (9m 21s)] [Part Two (8m 40s)] [Part Three (8m 8s)] [Part Four (9m 42s)].
Videos: Mark Steel on Aristotle — [Part One (9m 51s)] [Part Two (9m 54s)] [Part Three (9m 20s)].
Wed, Oct 11
Aristotle’s Topics and Posterior Analytics
Reading: AGP (Topics, Bk. 1, chs. 1-2, 5; Posterior Analytics, Bk. 1, chs. 1, 3; Bk. 2, ch. 19).
Essay: What is the role of self-evident truths when constructing a demonstration? What self-evident truths does Aristotle recognize?
Additional Material
Text: Aristotle on Science [pdf].
Fri, Oct 13
Aristotle’s Physics
Reading: AGP (Physics, Bk. 1, chs. 1, 5-9; Bk. 2, chs. 1-3, 7-8; Bk. 3, ch. 1).
Essay: What does Aristotle mean by ‘cause’? What kinds of causes does he recognize?
Mon, Oct 16
Aristotle’s Generation and Corruption
Reading: AGP (Generation and Corruption, Bk. 1, chs. 1, 3-4; Bk. 2, chs. 3-5).
Essay: When a stone is warmed by the sun, or a human being grows, or a fox eats a rabbit, a kind of change is occurring; how does Aristotle understand these changes?
Wed, Oct 18
Aristotle’s Metaphysics
Reading: AGP (Metaphysics, Bk. 1; Bk. 4, ch. 1).
Essay: Describe and briefly assess Aristotle’s criticisms of Plato’s forms.
Fri, Oct 20
Aristotle’s On the Soul
Reading: AGP (On the Soul, Bk. 2; Bk. 3, chs. 4, 5, 10).
Essay: Briefly describe what Aristotle means by 'soul', and then describe in your own words his distinction between perception and intellect (Bk. 3, ch. 4), and between passive and active reason (Bk. 3, ch. 5).
Discussion Forum #3: “Plato and Aristotle” (post due tonight at midnight; responses due Monday, Oct 23) [assignment][rubric]
Mon, Oct 23
Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics
Reading: AGP (Nicomachean Ethics, Bk. 1).
Essay: What does Aristotle think is the function of human beings, and what is his support for this? Explain how he fits this talk of human function into his moral theory.
Additional Material
Text: Naragon, “Aristotelian Ethics” (from A Book is a Machine) [text] [slides]
Text: Richard Kraut, “Aristotle’s Ethics” (SEP) [web].
Audio: Myles Burnyeat on Aristotle on Happiness (Philosophy Bites)(12m 15s) [audio].
Audio: Terence Irwin on Aristotle’s Ethics (Philosophy Bites)(17m 28s) [audio].
Audio: Roger Crisp on Aristotle’s Ethics (Interviews with Philosophers)(20m 15s) [audio].
Wed, Oct 25
Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics
Reading: AGP (Nicomachean Ethics, Bks. 2-3).
Essay: How do we become virtuous, according to Aristotle? How does he account for moral growth? (A complete answer will require material from both Bks. 2 and 3.)
Fri, Oct 27
Epicureanism
Reading: Epicurus, “Letter to Herodotus” [text] and “Letter to Menoeceus” [text].
Essay: Write on either of the following:
(1) In a few paragraphs, describe Epicurus’s atomism (as presented in his “Letter to Herodotus”), with a focus on his account of perception, and compare it with the modern understanding of perception; or,
(2) In a brief paragraph, describe Epicurus’s argument discounting the importance of death (as described in his “Letter to Menoeceus”), and then in the remainder of the essay, evaluate this argument.
Additional Material
Text: Epicurus, “Principle Doctrines” [text].
Text: Tim O’Keefe, “Epicurus” (IEP) [web].
Text: David Konstans, “Epicurus” (SEP) [web].
Podcast: Melvyn Bragg (host), “Epicureanism” In Our Times (BBC), with Angie Hobbs (Professor of the Public Understanding of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield), David Sedley (Laurence Professor of Ancient Philosophy at the University of Cambridge), James Warren (Reader in Ancient Philosophy at the University of Cambridge). [web].
Mon, Oct 30
Stoicism
Reading: Epictetus, Handbook [text].
Essay: Briefly describe how Epictetus believes we ought to live (be sure to cite his Handbook, using section #s).
Additional Material
Text: Dirk Baltzly, “Stoicism” (SEP) [web]
Text: Margaret Graver, “Epictetus” (SEP) [web]
Text: Philip Hallie, “Stoicism” (Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ed. Paul Edwards, 8:19-22)
Podcast: Melvyn Bragg (host), “Stoicism” In Our Times (BBC), with Angie Hobbs (Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Warwick), Jonathan Rée (philosopher and historian), David Sedley (Laurence Professor of Ancient Philosophy, University of Cambridge). [web].
Wed, Nov 1
Skepticism
Reading: Sextus Empiricus, selection from Outline of Pyrrhonism [text].
Essay: What were the Skeptics trying to accomplish, and how did they (attempt to) accomplish it? Do you agree with their approach?
Additional Material
Text: Katja Voigt, “Ancient Skepticism” (SEP) [web]
Text: Harold Thorsrud, “Ancient Greek Skepticism” (IEP) [web]
Fri, Nov 3
Second Exam [study guide]
The Middle Ages
Mon, Nov 6
"...and never cease chiseling your statue..."
Neo-Platonism — On the Real and Beauty
Reading: Gerson, “Plotinus” (SEP) [text]; Plotinus, “On Beauty” (a selection from the Enneads) [text].
Essay: In your own words, describe the ascent to beauty that Plotinus develops in this passage. This ascent is just one example of what more general ascent?
Additional Material
Audio: Peter Adamson, “Plotinus on Evil” (Philosophy Bites) (14m 52s) [audio].
Podcast: Melvyn Bragg (host), “Neoplatonism” In Our Times (BBC), with Angie Hobbs (Associate Professor of Philosophy and Senior Fellow in the Public Understanding of Philosophy at the University of Warwick), Peter Adamson (Professor of Ancient and Medieval Philosophy at King's College London), Anne Sheppard (Professor of Ancient Philosophy at Royal Holloway, University of London). [web].
Wed, Nov 8
Augustine — Basic Doctrines
Reading: Michael Mendelson, “Augustine” (SEP) [text].
Essay: Drawing on the materials for today, briefly explain Augustine's intellectual ancestors. Who influenced his thought, and in what directions?
Additional Material
Videos: Anthony Kenny on Medieval Philosophy (interviewed by Brian Magee [1987]) [Part One (9m 54s)] [Part Two (10m 26s)] [Part Three (10m 32s)] [Part Four (6m 32s)] [Part Five (5m 54s)].
Fri, Nov 10
Augustine — On Creation and Time
Reading: Augustine, Confessions, Bk. 11 [text].
Essay: With references to relevant passages in the text (Bk. 11), what is Augustine's account of time?
Mon, Nov 13
Ibn-Sina (Avicenna) — On the Soul
Reading: Ibn-Sina, Concerning the Soul (selection) [text].
Reading: Alfred Ivry, “Arabic and Islamic Psychology and Philosophy of Mind” (SEP) [text].
Essay: Compare Ibn-Sina’s account of perception with that of Aristotle and Epicurus.
Additional Material
Text: Dimitri Gutas, “Ibn Sina [Avicenna]” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) [pdf].
Text: Sajjad H. Rizvi, “Avicenna (ibn-Sina)” (IEP) [web].
Text: Dag Nikolaus Hasse, “Influence of Arabic and Islamic Philosophy on the Latin West” (SEP) [web].
Audio: Peter Adamson, “Avicenna” (Philosophy Bites) (13m 4s) [audio].
Podcast: Melvyn Bragg (host), “The Translation Movement” In Our Times (BBC), with Peter Adamson (Reader in Philosophy at King’s College London), Amira Bennison (Senior Lecturer in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge), Peter Pormann (Wellcome Trust Assistant Professor in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Warwick). [web].
Podcast: Melvyn Bragg (host), “Avicenna” In Our Times (BBC), with Peter Adamson (Reader in Philosophy at King's College London), Amira Bennison (Senior Lecturer in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge), Nader El-Bizri (Affiliated Lecturer in the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge). [web].
Wed, Nov 15
Ibn-Rushd (Averroes) — On Reading Scripture
Reading: Ibn-Rushd, The Decisive Treatise, determining the nature of the connection between religion and philosophy [text].
Essay: In your own words, describe and evaluate ibn-Rushd’s view of the proper relationship between demonstrative (i.e., scientific) truth and revealed truth (such as the various claims found in scripture).
Additional Material
Text: H. Chad Hillier, “Ibn-Rushd” (IEP) [web].
Podcast: Melvyn Bragg (host), “Averroes” In Our Times (BBC), with Amira Bennison (Senior Lecturer in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge), Peter Adamson (Reader in Philosophy at King's College London), Sir Anthony Kenny (philosopher and former Master of Balliol College, Oxford). [web].
Fri, Nov 17
Moses Maimonides — On Negative Theology
Reading: Moses Maimonides, A Guide for the Perplexed (selection) [text].
Essay: What does Maimonides believe regarding our ability to have knowledge about God? What are his reasons for believing this?
Discussion Forum #4: “Philosophy and Theism” (post due tonight at midnight; responses due Monday, Nov 20) [assignment][rubric]
Additional Material
Text: Kenneth Seeskin, “Maimonides” (SEP) [web].
Text: Joseph Telushkin, “Maimonides” (brief account) [web].
Podcast: Melvyn Bragg (host), “Maimonides” In Our Times (BBC), with John Haldane (Professor of Philosophy at the University of St Andrews), Sarah Stroumsa (Alice and Jack Ormut Professor of Arabic Studies and currently Rector at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem), Peter Adamson (Professor of Ancient and Medieval Philosophy at King's College London). [web].
Mon, Nov 20
Anselm
Reading: Anselm, Proslogion (selection) [text].
Essay: Describe and evaluate Anselm’s proof for God’s existence. The passage you read is normally understood to contain two different proofs or God’s existence; how do these two proofs differ?
Additional Material
Ppt: Anselm's arguments [pdf]
Text: Thomas Williams, “Anselm” (SEP) [web].
Podcast: Melvyn Bragg (host), “The Ontological Argument” In Our Times (BBC), with John Haldane (Professor of Philosophy at the University of St Andrews), Peter Millican (Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford), Clare Carlisle (Lecturer in Philosophy of Religion at King's College London). [web].
— Thanksgiving —
Mon, Nov 27
Peter Abelard
Reading: Peter Abelard, On Universals (selection) [text].
Essay: What is a universal, and why is there a problem with universals? What kind of thing does Abelard think a universal is, and how does his view of universals compare with the views of Plato and Aristotle?
Additional Material
Diagram: The Problem of Universals [text].
Text: King, “Peter Abelard” (SEP) [web].
Wed, Nov 29
Aquinas — Faith and Reason
Reading: Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles, Bk. I, chs. 1-9.
Essay: What does Aquinas mean by “Truths of Reason” and “Truths of Faith”? Briefly evaluate how he justifies each of these kinds of truth.
Additional Material
Text: McInerny and O'Callaghan, “Thomas Aquinas” (SEP) [web].
Podcast: Melvyn Bragg (host), “Aquinas” In Our Times (BBC), with Martin Palmer (Director of the International Consultancy on Religion, Education and Culture), John Haldane (Professor of Philosophy at the University of St Andrews), Annabel Brett (Lecturer in History at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge). [web].
Fri, Dec 1
Aquinas — On Proving God’s Existence
Reading: Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles, Bk. I, chs. 10-13.
Essay: Describe and evaluate Aquinas’s argument for God’s existence as presented in his Summa Contra Gentiles, Bk. I, ch. 13, §§3-16.
Additional Material
Text: Aquinas’s “Five Ways” (a brief selection from his Summa Theologia) [text].
Video: Three Minute Philosophy (Aquinas) [video].
Mon, Dec 4
William of Ockham
Reading: R. J. Snell, “Overcoming Omnipotence” [text].
Essay: In your own words, explain how Ockham’s emphasis on divine omnipotence causes problems for human knowledge, and for science in particular. How might this problem be best resolved?
Wed, Dec 6
Meister Eckhart
Reading: Meister Eckhart, “Sermon #1” [text]; Reiner Schürmann, “Meister Eckhart” (Encyc. Brit.) [text].
Essay: Briefly describe and discuss the relationship between human beings and God that Eckhart describes in his sermon. How does it compare with our relationship to ourselves, and to other created beings?
Additional Material
Podcast: Peter Adamson, “Down to the Ground: Meister Eckhart” History of Philosophy without any gaps (18m 40s). [web].
Fri, Dec 8
Pico della Mirandola
Reading: “Giovanni Pico della Mirandola,” in the Catholic Encyclopedia [web]; Pico, “Oration on Man” (selection) [text].
Essay: In what, according to Pico, lies the greatness of human beings? Do you agree?
Additional Material
Text: Walter Pater, “Pico della Mirandola” (1871) [text].
Text: Richard Hooker, “Pico della Mirandola” [web].
Tuesday, Dec 12, 1:00 p.m.-2:50 p.m.
Third Exam [study guide]
Manchester University // Registrar // Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies // Last updated: 12 Nov 2017