Postgraduate Course: Mind and World in Early Greek Philosophy (PGHC11145)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | An introduction to the first speculations on the nature of thought and mind in Early Greek philosophy. |
| Course description |
An introduction to the first speculations on the nature of thought and mind in Early Greek philosophy. Topics and themes of interest will include: divine and mortal knowledge in Homer and other poets; the first theories of perception; the place of and/or soul mind within the body and without, within nature or outwith nature; the nature of thought and its objects
Schedule
Week 1: Two sketches: 1) some modern problems and issues 2) approaching the Presocratics
Week 2: Psychological activity in Homer and the poets; the organs of thought; nous and noein besides psuche
Week 3: Heraclitus (KRS 181-212).
Week 4: Parmenides (KRS 239-62)
Week 5: Early Pythagoreans; Anaxagoras and Nous (KRS 352-84)
Week 6: Empedocles: Cosmic cycles and panpsychism
Week 7: Democritus: where is mind? (KRS 402-433)
Week 8: Later Pythagoreans: Philolaus
Week 9: Plato: select passages from Phaedo and Timaeus
Week 10: Peripatetic Critiques: Aristotle, De Anima I and Theophrastus, De Sensibus
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate in the essay a detailed and critical command of the body of knowledge concerning theories of mind in early Greek philosophy and the interpretative difficulties in using ancient source material
- Demonstrate in the essay an ability to analyse and reflect critically upon relevant a) scholarship concerning early Greek philosophy b) primary source materials for the Presocratics and the possibilities of various biases in our sources, and conceptual discussions about psychology in a historical context
- Demonstrate in seminar participation, an ability to understand and apply specialised research or professional skills, techniques and practices considered in the course including the difficulties relevant to fragmentary authors
- Demonstrate the ability to develop and sustain original scholarly arguments in oral and written form in seminar discussions by independently formulating appropriate questions and utilising relevant evidence considered in the course
- Demonstrate in seminar discussions originality and independence of mind and initiative; intellectual integrity and maturity; an ability to evaluate the work of others, including peers; and a considerable degree of autonomy
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Reading List
Barnes, J. (1982) The Presocratic Philosophers, London, (1st ed. in 2 vols., 1979)
Curd, P. and Graham, D. eds., (2008) The Oxford Companion to Presocratic Philosophy, Oxford.
Frede, D. and B. Reis, ed. (2009) Body and Soul in Ancient Philosophy, New York/Berlin.
Furley D.J. and Allen, R.E., eds. Studies in Presocratic Philosophy, vol. I (1970) and II (1975), London
Furley, D.J. (1987) The Greek Cosmologists, Cambridge
___________ (1989) Cosmic Problems. Essays on Greek and Roman Philosophy of Nature, Cambridge
Gill, M.L. and Pellegrin, P. (2006) A Companion to Ancient Philosophy, Oxford/Blackwells.
Lloyd, G.E.R. (1966), Polarity and Analogy. Two types of Argumentation in early Greek Thought, Cambridge
_____________(1979) Magic, Reason and Experience, Cambridge
_____________(1986) The Revolutions of Wisdom. Studies in the claims and practices of ancient Greek Science, Berkeley
Long, A.A. ed. (1999) The Cambridge Companion to Early Greek Philosophy, Cambridge
Mourelatos, A.P.D., ed. (1993) The Pre-Socratics, A Collection of Critical Essays, 2nd ed., Princeton
Osborne, C. (1987) Rethinking Early Greek Philosophy. Hippolytus of Rome and the Presocratics, London.
Taylor, C.C.W., ed. (1997) Routledge History of Philosophy, vol. I. From the Beginning to Plato, London
Vlastos, G. (1995) Studies in Greek Philosophy, vol. I: The Presocratics, Princeton |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | mind world early greek philosophy |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Simon Trepanier
Tel: (0131 6)50 3589
Email: |
Course secretary | Mr Gordon Littlejohn
Tel: (0131 6)50 3782
Email: |
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