Postgraduate Course: Greek Philosophy (Plato's Republic) (PGHC11022)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | An advanced survey of Plato's Republic. Students will mainly use source materials in translation. When students have the requisite language skills, they may also work from original Greek and Latin sources. |
| Course description |
Apart from the introduction in week 1, each week will be devoted to one book of the ten books of the Republic, usually read in order. Emphases may shift from year to year (justice, metaphysics, psychology, epistemology), but the main aim will be to see unity of the work as a defence of justice, but also we will also investigate its numerous other features, especially its status as a literary masterpiece.
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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 seminars and essays a detailed and critical command of the body of knowledge concerning Plato's Republic
- Demonstrate in seminars and essays an ability to analyse and reflect critically upon relevant scholarship concerning Plato's Republic and conceptual discussions about ancient epistemology, metaphysics, ethics and literary merit
- Demonstrate in seminar participation and the essay an ability to understand and apply specialised research or professional skills, techniques and practices considered in the course
- Demonstrate the ability to develop and sustain original scholarly arguments in oral and written form in seminar discussions, presentations, and the essay by independently formulating appropriate questions and utilising relevant evidence considered in the course
- Demonstrate in seminar discussions, presentations, and the essay 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
Allen, R.E. ed. (1965) Studies in Plato's Metaphysics, London
Benson, H.H. ed. (2006) A Companion to Plato, Wiley-Blackwell [electronic resource]
Cairns, D., F. G. Hermann and T. Penner, eds. (2007) Pursuing the Good. Ethics and Metaphysics in Plato's Republic, Edinburgh
Everson, S. ed., Companions to Ancient Thought 4. Ethics [gives Socratic/Platonic ethical thought within wider history of ancient ethics]
Fine, G. ed. (2008) Oxford Handbook of Plato, Oxford:
- ed. (1999) Plato, 2 vols. (1. Metaphysics and epistemology. 2. Ethics, Politics, religion and the Soul) Oxford
- (2003) Plato on Knowledge and Forms, Selected Essays, Oxford
Kraut, R. ed. The Cambridge Companion to Plato, Cambridge, 1992
Smith, N.D. (1998) Plato. Critical assessments 4 vols., London [comprehensive]
Vlastos, G. ed. Plato. A Collection of Critical essays. 2 vols. (1971)
Woolf, R., (2013) "Plato and the Norms of Thought," Mind 122(485) 171-216.
Individual works (mostly Books and articles not in above)
Crombie, I. M. (1962) An examination of Plato's doctrines. 1: Plato on man and society. London
Frede, M. (1992) "Plato's Arguments and the Dialogue Form." in J. C. Klagge and Smith, N.D.(eds), Methods of Interpreting Plato and his Dialogues (Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, Supplementary volume). 201-219.
Gerson, L. (2003) Knowing persons: a study in Plato, Oxford
Irwin, T. (1995) Plato's Ethics. Oxford/New York,
McCabe, M.M. (1994) Plato's Individuals, Princeton
Nails, D. (2002) The people of Plato, Indianapolis [summarizes all that we know of historical aspects of characters in the dialogues]
-(2006) "The Life of Plato of Athens" in Benson, H.H. (ed.)(2006) 1-12
Robinson, R. (1953) Plato's Earlier Dialectic, Oxford
Silverman, A. (2000) The Dialectic of Essence: A Study of Plato's Metaphysics, Princeton U. Press |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Plato Republic |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Simon Trepanier
Tel: (0131 6)50 3589
Email: |
Course secretary | |
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