Undergraduate Course: Early Greek Philosophy (GREE10014)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course offers a survey of early Greek philosophy through readings in Greek and in translation. |
| Course description |
A survey of Early Greek Philosophy, starting from the Homeric and Hesiodic background, down to the early Atomists, including an introduction to early Greek cosmological speculation and the early history of the problem of knowledge. We will also consider the relation between philosophical content and literary form. Readings will be in Greek with additional material in translation. The syllabus will be approximately as follows (the course booklet will be authoritative):
Week 1: intro; The Homeric and Hesiodic world-view.
Week 2: The Ionians: Thales, Anaximander
Week 3: Anaximenes; Xenophanes.
Week 4: Pythagoras and early Pythagoreanism; Heraclitus 1
Week 5: Heraclitus 2; Parmenides 1
Week 6: Parmenides 2; Anaxagoras 1
Week 7: Anaxagoras 2; Zeno
Week 8: Empedocles 1; Empedocles 2
Week 9: Philolaus and fifth-century Pythagoreanism; Melissus
Week 10: The Atomists: Leucippus and Democritus 1 and 2
Week 11: Diogenes of Apollonia; recap: Aristotle on the Presocratics
Instruction in Greek will be given in the form of separate language tutorials.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should usually have at least 3 courses in Classics related subject matter (at least 2 of which should be in Ancient Greek) at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this) for entry to this course. We will only consider University/College level courses but Elementary or Intermediate Greek courses will not count. Students beyond Intermediate level but with less Greek than the prerequisite should consider taking either Greek 2A/2B.
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| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- demonstrate a command of ancient Greek (prose and verse);
- demonstrate an awareness of perennial philosophical questions, such as the problem of origins, of existence and of the possibility of knowledge;
- demonstrate a sensitivity with respect to the historical contextualization and interpretation of philosophical ideas and doctrines and an appreciation of historical source-criticism as applied to ancient Greek philosophical authors, including an awareness of difficulties of reconstructing fragmentary texts;
- demonstrate an ability to read, analyse and reflect critically upon relevant scholarship and to develop and sustain scholarly arguments in oral and written form, by formulating appropriate questions and utilising relevant evidence;
- demonstrate independence of mind and initiative; intellectual integrity and maturity; an ability to evaluate the work of others, including peers.
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Reading List
G.S. Kirk, J. Raven, and M. Schofield (1983) The Presocratic Philosophers (2nd ed.), Cambridge.
McKirahan, R.D. (1994/2010) Philosophy before Socrates, 2nd ed. Indianapolis.
Graham, D.W. (2010) The Texts of early Greek Philosophy, 2 vols., Cambridge.
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.
Furley, D.J. (1987) The Greek Cosmologists, Cambridge.
Graham, D. (2006) Explaining the Cosmos. Princeton.
Guthrie, W.K.C., A History of Greek Philosophy, vol. I (1962) and II (1965), Cambridge.
Lloyd, G.E.R. (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.
Taylor, C.C.W., ed. (1997) Routledge History of Philosophy, vol. I. From the Beginning to Plato, London.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Special Arrangements |
In order for a student from outwith Classics to be enrolled on this course, contact must be made with a Course Secretary on 50 3580 in order for approval to be obtained.
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| Additional Class Delivery Information |
2 hours per week plus tutorials by arrangement. |
| Keywords | Early Greek Philosophy / Ancient Greek |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Simon Trepanier
Tel: (0131 6)50 3589
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Rachel Ord
Tel: (0131 6)50 9110
Email: |
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