This seminar is close study of passages in Plato and
Aristotle on the soul and reason and the connection of reason
to knowledge and desire.
The rough idea is that Socrates took the pioneering step. He
thought that human beings were psychological beings. Further,
given his pursuit of wisdom, he seemed to have a view about
how the soul functions. Plato rejected parts of the Socratic
picture and worked to put another in its place. Aristotle
tried to put the broad outline of the Platonic theory in what
he regarded as more plausible ontology of the soul and its
relation to the body. The goal in this seminar is to work out
this interpretation in detail and to correct it if
necessary.
In addition to the work of Plato and Aristotle, we will
consult some of the secondary literature on the topic.
The primary prerequisite for this seminar is PHI 328 (History of Ancient Philosophy) or the equivalent.
Course Details
The final grade is a function of attendance and participation (20%), two informal presentations (20%), two bibliography projects (20%), and a term paper (40%). Attendance is necessary condition for passing the seminar. In addition, you should be prepared to talk through a problem or argument from the reading (including any background needed for understanding). On the first day, I will set out the requirements for presentations, the bibliography projects, and the term paper. The requirements are the usual ones for the most part.
The assignments (participation, presentations, bibliography projects, term
paper) are given plus-minus letter grades, A+ to E. ASU's numerical
value for the letter grades (A+ = 4.3, A = 4.0, A- = 3.7,
B+ = 3.3, B = 3.00, B- = 2.67, C+ = 2.33, C = 2.00, D = 1.00,
E = 0) is used to compute a weighted average of those grades.
This weighted average determines the course grade.
Example
using the above assignments:
participation, A- (3.7),
presentations, A- (3.7), A- (3.7),
bibliography projects, B (3.0), B (3.0),
term paper B+ (3.3).
Weighted average:
20%(3.7) +
10%(3.7) +
10%(3.7) +
10%(3.0) +
10%(3.0) +
40%(3.3) = .74 +.37 + .37 + .30 + .30 + 1.32 = 3.40.
The final
grade for the course is B+, since 3.40 is closest to 3.3 (= B+).
Incompletes are given only to accommodate serious illnesses
and family emergencies, which must be adequately
documented.
Course Itinerary
(Additional readings to be added as the seminar
progresses.)
1. Review of the main lines of thought
Answers to basic questions about the history of ancient
philosophy.
There is no point in proceeding without the background
knowledge. This will probably occupy us in the
first couple sessions of the seminar.
2. Reason and Experience in the Presocratics
The Milesian revolution, Parmenides
(DK 28 B 7), Democritus
(DK 78 B 11)
The rationalist line of thought (which is the dominant
position in ancient philosophy) seems to enter the tradition
in the Preosocratic Period.
3. Socrates on the "soul" (ψυχή)
Apology 29c-30b
(Translations of Plato and Aristotle are available for free
in the Perseus Digital
Library. These translations are not new, but for the most
part they are good enough for the purposes of this
course.)
The Clouds of Aristophanes shows that Socrates
talked about the soul as early as 423 BCE, when Socrates was
in his middle forties and Plato was a boy. We need to
understand what Socrates was thinking. This sets the stage
for what, in hindsight, turned out to be a long line of
thinking about human beings as psychological beings.
"Introduction",
Michael Frede. Rationality in Greek Thought, edited
by Michael Frede and Gisela Striker. Oxford University Press,
1996.
4. Socratic intellectualism
Protagoras 352a-358e, Gorgias 448c,
462b-465d, 467a-468e, 472c-d, 500a-501c, 521d-522a,
Meno 77b-78c, 97e-98a
Socrates was a perplexing figure. Plato tries to understand
what he had in mind.
"Introduction",
Michael Frede Plato, Protagoras. Translated, with
Notes, by Stanley Lombardo & Karen Bell. Hackett,
1992.
5. The Tripartite Theory of the Soul
Republic IV.436a-442a, X.602d-603b
Plato rejects Socratic intellectualism and explores another
theory to put in its place.
Selections from The Brute Within: Appetitive Desire
in Plato and Aristotle, Hendrik Lorenz. Oxford
University Press, 2006.
Lorenz has revised parts of his book in
"The cognition of appetite in Plato's Timaeus,"
Plato and the Divided Self. Cambridge University
Press, 2012.
6. Belief and Cognition in the Nonrational Parts of the Soul
Theaetetus 184b-187a, Timaeus 71a-77b, Philebus 33a-39b
In Book X of the Republic, the nonrational parts of the soul can have beliefs.
In the Timaeus, belief is
restricted to the rational part of the soul. Plato seems to have come to think of belief as
an achievement of reason. This new way of thinking about belief discussed
in the Theaetetus. Although Plato comes to think that beliefs are an achievement of
reason, he keeps main claims in the Tripartite Theory of the Soul that he presents in the
Republic. In particular, he believes that the nonrational parts of the soul can by
themselves move
a human being.
7. The Theory of Induction
Posterior Analytics II.19, Metaphysics
I.1,
Aristotle rejects Plato's ontology of the soul and its
relation to the body, but he seems to accept the broad
Platonic conception of reason and the soul. This seems to be
the import of Aristotle's theory of induction. Aristotle's
discussion is brief and difficult, but it is also one of the
most important in this tradition.
"Aristotle's
Rationalism" in Rationality in Greek Thought,
Michael Frede. Edited by Michael Frede and Gisela Striker.
Oxford University Press, 1996.
"An
empiricist view of knowledge: memorism", Michael Frede.
Companions to Ancient Thought, Volume I:
Epistemology, edited by S. Everson. University of
Cambridge Press, 1990.
"Aristotle on thinking",
Michael Frede. Rhizai 2008.
8. Aristotle on reason and desire and related
psychological states
On the soul III.3-13, Nicomachean ethics I.7, I.13-II.6,
III.1-5, VI.1-13, VII.1-10
Aristotle provides a relatively detailed account of how the
soul functions to produce action.
Selections from The Brute Within: Appetitive Desire
in Plato and Aristotle, Hendrik Lorenz. Oxford
University Press, 2006.
"
Chapter 2 of A Free Will, Michael Frede.
University of California Press, 2011.
"Virtue Of Character In Aristotle's Nicomachean
Ethics," Hendrik Lorenz. Oxford Studies in Ancient
Philosophy, 2009.
Aristotle's
Analysis of Akratic Action," Hendrik Lorenz. The
Cambridge Companion to Aristotles Nicomachean Ethics,
2014.
"The
ΕΦ' ΗΜΙΝ in Ancient Philosophy", MIchael Frede.
Philosophia, 2007.
Nicomachean Ethics VII.4: Plain
and qualified akrasia," Hendrik Lorenz.
Symposium Aristotelicum: Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Book VII. Oxford
University Press, 2009.
"Introduction" in Nicomachean ethics, Books II-IV, C.C.W. Taylor. Oxford University Press, 2006.
Contact Information:
Thomas A. Blackson
Philosophy Faculty
School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious
Studies
Lattie F.
Coor Hall, room 3356
PO Box 874302
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ. 85287-4302
blackson@asu.edu,
tomblackson.com, www.public.asu/~blackson