PHIL 301: History of Western Philosophy: Ancient

PHIL 301-DL1: Hist West Phil: Ancient
(Fall 2022)

03:00 PM to 04:15 PM TR

Online

Section Information for Fall 2022

  Please note this class section is taught on online synchronous format: students should expect to be available for virtual class meetings at the scheduled class times.   

This course is intended to introduce the student to ancient philosophy through the close study of selected works of the “pre-Socratic” philosophers, plus Plato, Aristotle, and Lucretius. Students are not expected to have had any previous coursework in philosophy. Course reading and writing requirements will befit a 300-level philosophy course.

        The term ‘philosophia’, from which the English word ‘philosophy’ comes, was coined in ancient Greek to describe an activity that was considered to have begun around the late seventh century BCE. The earliest references to this activity call it dizēsis or historiē, terms that mean ‘inquiry.’ Philosophia, dizēsis, and historiē asked fundamental questions about the origins of the universe, the nature of reality, and the best ways to live.

Even the earliest accounts of philosophia, dizēsis. and historiē highlight the following things:

  1. The early inquirers who became known as philosophers were conversant with the scientific, historical, and technical learning not only of their own cultures but also those of their neighbors.
  2. The early philosophers sought knowledge and understanding that went beyond what was accepted in their own or any other communities. This led them to identify and to challenge the unexamined preconceptions of their own and other cultures. PHIL 301 will examine the early philosophers’ discoveries in their context by comparing and contrasting them with the beliefs and ideas to which they responded, and by studying what is known of the earliest philosophers' methods. In addition, PHIL 301 will use the work of the early Greek philosophers to bring out and examine the presuppositions of some of today’s ways of understanding the world.
  3. Philosophia, dizēsis, and historiē were seen from the first as activity that any human had the ability (if not always the opportunity) to undertake, regardless of culture, class, gender, or location. Because this fact, in addition to the new ideas and discoveries of the philosophers, posed a challenge to some political systems, the spread of these kinds of inquiry caused some political upheaval. PHIL 301 will consider how the effects of these political conflicts are felt today.

        Philosophia, historiē, and dizēsis began in respect for diversity in ideas, cultures, beliefs, and ways of thinking. It traced its development as a field to Miletus, a crossroads for a variety of cultures including Greeks, Persians, Egyptians, Babylonians, and other cultures of the Middle East, southern Europe, and northern and eastern Africa. In Miletus, the early Greek-speaking philosophers sought out, investigated, and tested a variety of ideas and ways of thinking, treating foreign ideas and familiar ideas with equal respect — including subjecting them to equal scrutiny. The fact that an idea or person was Greek in origin did not incite in philosophers more respect or less respect than was due a foreign person or idea; and the fact that an idea was new did not make it any more or less open to question than an older one.

        For these early philosophers, respect for both the diverse and the familiar was compatible with — it even required — inquiry and testing. This is because what these philosophers valued was understanding, even where this went beyond and challenged what passed for understanding in their communities.

        PHIL 301 endeavors to continue this philosophical project. Only by respectful yet critical systematic questioning will we be able to discover and move beyond the prejudices and gaps in knowledge we might not yet realize we have, to a more comprehensive and powerful understanding.

PHIL 301 DL1 is a synchronous distance education section.

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Course Information from the University Catalog

Credits: 3

Classical Greek philosophy, including pre-Socratics, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Limited to three attempts.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.

The University Catalog is the authoritative source for information on courses. The Schedule of Classes is the authoritative source for information on classes scheduled for this semester. See the Schedule for the most up-to-date information and see Patriot web to register for classes.