HISTORY OF ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
Philosophy 102: Section 631
Professor Ernesto V. Garcia
Class Meetings: Mondays 6:00-8:50 p.m.
Office location: 523 Hall of Languages, Syracuse University Department of Philosophy, ext. 3-2519
Office hours: Tuesdays, 1-3 p.m.
E-mail: evgarc01@syr.edu
This course aims to introduce students to several major figures in ancient Greek philosophy: the Pre-Socratics, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. The main focus will be on various thinkers’ views about metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, political philosophy, and the nature of the ‘good life’ in general – that is, how we should live.
Course Requirements
30% Midterm exam: (1) In-class quiz (30 minutes) and (2) Take-home essay (4-5 pp.)
30% Final exam
25% 10 short e-mail weekly responses [WR’s] sent to evgarc01@syr.edu by 10 a.m. Monday mornings
15% Class participation/attendance
Required texts
Greek Philosophy: Thales to Aristotle, 3rd edition, ed. by Reginald E. Allen (NY, NY: Free Press University, 1991)
Republic, Plato, translated by G.M.A. Grube (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1992)
Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle, translated by David Ross (Cambridge: Oxford University Press, 1998)
CLASS READINGS
Session 1: 9/10
Introductory class: Pre-Socratics: Thales/Anaximander/Heraclitus/Democritus
Session 2: 9/18
Plato, Euthyphro [GP]
Session 3: 9/25
Plato, Apology [GP]
Session 4: 10/2
Plato, Crito [GP]
Session 5: 10/9
Plato, Meno [GP] w/ Pythagoras (GP, pp. 35-39)
Session 6: 10/16
Plato, Phaedo [GP] w/ Anaxagoras (GP, pp. 50-52) and Zeno (GP, pp. 47-48)
Session 7: 10/23
Plato, Republic, Bks. 1-3 [R]
Session 8: 10/30
Plato, Republic, Bks. 4-6 [R] w/ Parmenides (GP, pp. 43-46)
Session 9: 11/6
Plato, Republic, Bks. 7-10 [R]
Session 10: 11/13
Aristotle, Metaphysics/Physics selections [GP]
Session 11: 11/20
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Bks. I-II; Bk. III, Chs. 1-5; Bk. V, Chs. 1-7 [NE]
Session 12: 11/27
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Bk. VI, Chs. 1-8, 12-13; Bk. VII, Chs. 1-4; Bk. VIII, Chs. 1-5 and Bk. IX, Ch. 9; Bk. X, Chs. 6-9 [NE]
Session 13: 12/4
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, concluding summary [NE]
Session 14: 12/11
Aristotle, Politics [GP]