Undergraduate Course: Socrates and Plato (GREE10023)
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 an introduction to Socrates and Plato through the study of five early-to-middle Platonic dialogues and other available evidence in translation. Depending on the year, the Meno, the Euthyphro, or approximately 2/3 of the Phaedo will be read in Greek. The five dialogues will be chosen from: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Laches, and Phaedo. |
| Course description |
The main question the course investigates is the historical relation between, on the one hand, Socrates' philosophy and practice of cross-examination and, on the other, Plato as the greatest exponent, but not inventor, of the literary genre of Socratic dialogues. The syllabus may be as follows (the course booklet is authoritative):
Weeks
1. a) Introduction; Nomos and Phusis b) Greek reading class,
2. a) Euthypro 1 b) Euthypro 2/ Greek reading class
3 a) Apology 1 b) Apology 2/ Greek reading class etc.
4. a) Apology 3 b) Crito 1
5. a) Crito 2 b) Socratic dialogues: Plato and his predecessors
6. a) The quest for the historical Socrates b) Meno
7. a) NB translation exam: up to section 94c8; Meno 1 b) Meno 2
8. a) Meno 3 and b) Meno 4
9. Phaedo
10. Phaedo
11. Phaedo
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 either Greek 2a or 2b. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- demonstrate advanced knowledge of ancient Greek and Greek prose style;
- demonstrate an understanding of the difficulties of ascribing a specific philosophy to the historical Socrates, as opposed to the various claims made by the first generation of writers of Socratic dialogues and awareness of Plato displacement of his competitors in the quest to establish himself as Socrates' main philosophical successor;
- demonstrate knowledge of the basic ethical tenets found in the early Platonic dialogues;
- 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
Socrates:
Prior, W. ed. (1996) Socrates. Critical Assessments, 4 Vols., London.
Vlastos, G. Vlastos, G. (1991) Socrates, Ironist and Moral Philosopher, Cambridge, 1991.
Plato:
Benson, H.H. ed. (2006) A Companion to Plato, Wiley-Blackwell.
Everson, S. ed., Companions to Ancient Thought 4. Ethics.
Fine, G. ed. (1999) Plato, 2 vols. (1. Metaphysics and epistemology. 2. Ethics, Politics, religion and the Soul) Oxford.
Kahn, C.K. (1996) Plato and the Socratic Dialogue, Cambridge.
Kraut, R. ed. The Cambridge Companion to Plato, Cambridge, 1992.
Smith, N.D. (1998) Plato. Critical assessments 4 vols., 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 3582 in order for approval to be obtained. |
| Keywords | Socrates / Plato / Ancient Greek Philosophy |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Simon Trepanier
Tel: (0131 6)50 3589
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Annabel Stobie
Tel: (0131 6)50 3783
Email: |
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