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Philosophy 230 0G1: Ancient &
Medieval Philosophy
Fall 2009: MW 9:30-10:45 DP 1457
|
Instructor: Professor Thomas
Bowen Office and Office Hours:
DP 2831 Office Phone: (847)
376-7084 |
Division III Office and
Phone: DP 2430, (847) 635-1950 Email: tbowen@oakton.edu Homepage:
http://www.oakton.edu/user/~tbowen/ |
|
I. |
Course Prefix |
Course Number |
Course Name |
Credit |
Lecture |
Lab |
|
|
PHL |
230 |
Ancient
and Medieval Philosophy |
3 |
3 |
0
|
II. Prerequisites
None
III. Course (Catalogue) Description
This
course gives historical overview of philosophical inquiry from pre-Socratic
philosophers, through classic works of Plato and Aristotle, and on to works of
medieval philosophers such as Averroes, Avicenna, Maimonides, and Aquinas.
IV. Learning Objectives
A.
Students will develop an
understanding of the beginnings of western philosophy and the classic works of
philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle.
B.
Students will develop their critical
thinking skills. They will examine
criticisms of all the philosophical theories they study and will debate the
alternative solutions offered by these theories to enduring philosophical
questions.
C.
They will study the development of
Western philosophy and the ways in which philosophers uncover and critique the
hidden assumptions of their predecessors.
D.
Students will understand the
centrality of the Islamic and Jewish philosophy to the continuity of the
Western tradition.
E.
Students will understand the
historical contexts within which these theories arose.
F.
Students will learn how these
philosophers applied ethical principles to the enduring questions of human
life.
V. Academic Integrity
Students
and employees at
·
cheating,
·
plagiarism
(turning in work not written by you, or lacking proper citation),
·
falsification
and fabrication (lying or distorting the truth),
·
helping others
to cheat,
·
unauthorized
changes on official documents,
·
pretending to be
someone else or having someone else pretend to be you,
·
making or
accepting bribes, special favors, or threats, and
·
any other
behavior that violates academic integrity.
There
are serious consequences to violations of the academic integrity policy.
Oakton’s policies and procedures provide students a fair hearing if a complaint
is made against you. If you are found to
have violated the policy, the minimum penalty is failure on the assignment and,
a disciplinary record will be established and kept on file in the office of the
Vice President for Student Affairs for a period of 3 years.
Details
of the Code of Academic Conduct can be found in the Student Handbook.
VI. Outline of Topics: Friendship, Love, Sex and the
Good.
(See Schedule for
reading and assignment due dates)
This course covers a time
period that stretches from approximately 450 BCE (before the Common Era) to
1300 CE (Common Era)—around 1700 years. Further, the major historical and
philosophical developments take place in extremely diverse cultural
settings—from the Classical Greek cultural framework of Athens, to the Roman
Imperial and Provincial Culture, to the early Christian Roman culture of the
East (Byzantium) and North Africa, to the Islamic culture of the Abbasid
dynasty in Mesopotamia and the (rather different) culture of Muslim Spain, and
finally to the various Christian cultures of Medieval Europe. The rather vast
temporal and cultural scope can make for a rather daunting course—even if it
was only a survey course of the main
thinkers of the periods and cultures mentioned.
However, this is not a survey course. We will, of course,
be concerned with understanding the works of paramount thinkers such as Plato,
Aristotle, Augustine, Maimonides, Al Farabi and Aquinas. However, the main
interest or point of this course is to use the wealth of conceptual material
provided by these thinkers to engage in our own philosophical projects. The
best way to structure such an attempt is to look at all of this material
through a specific lens or focus. The focus of this course is the centrality,
the diversity, and the complexity of human relationships.
Philosophy is ultimately
concerned with making sense of human life and existence. It seems obvious that
a central component of human life is our relations with other human beings: our
family, our friends, our colleagues, our co-religionists, our grocers, our
barbers, our enemies and our lovers. All of these relations help define who and
what we are as individuals and collectively as families, parishes or
congregations, nations, and humans. But, what are these relations? How do they
come about and what are the guidelines for living a life of friendship and love
(or enmity and hate if you want to go that route)? How do we understand
ourselves through these inter-subjective relations? How do we understand intimacy—of lovers, friends, family
members, or even enemies? What, when it comes down to it, is friendship? What
is love?
These are, of course,
questions that are asked by everyone—they are very popular in song, poetry,
literature, television, movies, and everyday stories. Undoubtedly, there are
numerous sociological and psychological treatises on these subjects (as well, I
imagine, as biological treatises). But, in this course we are going to approach
this subject matter by examining the work of philosophy. I will not claim that
philosophy offers better answers to the question of love and friendship than
other academic disciplines, but I will make this claim: if you take this
material seriously (which doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy it, quite the
contrary), you will come away with a better understanding of the questions
themselves.
Below you will find a tentative
outline of the topics and readings we will cover in the course. Please refer to
the Schedule of Readings attached to this syllabus for specific dates for each
reading and the dates of the exams.
I.
Love,
Friendship and Politics in Ancient
II.
Eros
and Agape: Friendship in early
Christian Philosophy.
III.
Rediscovering
the Ancients: Friendship, Love and Politics in Islamic and Jewish Philosophy.
IV.
Erotic Love
and Christian Faith: Love, Friendship and Politics in the Medieval Christianity.
V.
Conclusion:
Friendship, Love and Human Life.
VII. Instructional Materials
The following are texts that we will either read in
their totality or in substantial portions. These texts can be found in the Oakton
Book Store. We will also be reading other material that can either be found
online (through the course webpage) or will be handed out by the instructor.
Remember to always bring your texts
to class. There may also be a few movies, short stories and/or plays.
|
Plato, The
Trial and Death of Socrates Plato, Plato
on Love Aristotle, Nicomachean
Ethics |
Epicurus, The
Essential Epicurus Boethius, The
Consolation of Philosophy |
VIII. Methods of Instruction
·
Minimal lecture
·
Seminar style
discussion
·
Presentations
and readings
This course is structured
primarily as a seminar. Remember, that the key objective (connected with those
listed in the course objectives) is for students to begin to think clearly,
carefully, and confidently about the material presented in the course, and
about the particular topics, questions and issued raised by that material i.e.,
for the students to engage at some level in the very work of philosophy. This
cannot take place in a lecture class. There will be periodic lectures in order
to fill in background information and material otherwise unknown to the
student, but the primary method of learning requires the student to engage in
active and thoughtful discussion—based on the readings—with the class. Thus,
the primary method of instruction in the course will be carefully organized and
led inquiries into the texts.
IX. Course Practices Required
A. Attendance (10%)
As part of the “great
books” curriculum, this class will function primarily as a seminar. This
requires that students take an active part in beginning, shaping and developing
the content of the course. Thus, student participation is a significant
component of this class. The main emphasis of this course is to raise and
discuss the essential questions and problems that characterize the
"discipline" of philosophy in its early and middle development. Discussion
and conversation are very important for the learning and development of
philosophy and philosophical reasoning.
Useful discussion requires
at least two essential factors: first, students need to be present in class,
and second, students must be conversant with the material.
Thus students
are expected to have completed all of the
You will not receive credit
for classes that you do not attend—regardless of the reason for your absence.
You receive the credit for being in class—if you are not in class, you simply
cannot receive the credit. If a student comes to class late or leaves class
early, the student will only earn half credit for that day.
Please note: there are no excused absences
for this class. Whatever the reason that you miss, you will not
receive credit for attending –since you did not.
B. Participation and
Discussion (20%)
As noted above, this course
depends on student participation and discussion. Thus it is absolutely
essential that students come to class having read the material and thought
carefully about it. Every day each student will be responsible for being able
to respond to the readings, questions, for posing their own questions about the
reading, and for responding to the questions from other students.
You will be graded on your
participation in class discussion. Every class each student will receive an A, B,
C, or F for their participation in the discussion. The grades will be assigned
as follows:
“A” – You respond clearly
and thoughtfully to the readings, as well as questions and ideas posed by other
colleagues, such that you demonstrate a high level of engagement with the texts
and your peers. You also consistently raise interesting questions about the
materials. Finally, you creatively link your interpretations, questions, and
ideas to specific passages or images in the text(s), as well as make significant
connections between texts, writers and filmmakers under discussion to
contemporary issues.
“B” – You respond
thoughtfully to the reading, such that you demonstrate significant engagement
with the texts and your peers. You raise some interesting questions about the
material and generally are able to link your interpretations, questions, and
ideas to specific passages or images in the text(s), as well as make relevant
connections between materials and artists under discussion and contemporary
issues.
“C” – You respond to some
questions and participate in activities, but fail to demonstrate that you have
read and prepared for class very carefully. You have difficulty raising
interesting questions about the material and cannot clearly link your
interpretations, questions, and ideas to specific passages or images in the
text(s), nor are you able to make meaningful connections between materials and
artists under discussion and contemporary issues.
“F” – You cannot respond to
questions or participate meaningfully in activities, such that you clearly
demonstrate a lack of engagement with the texts and your peers. You fail to
raise interesting questions based on the course materials, or you do not speak
at all during class.
Please note:
you will receive an “F” for participation for any class from which you are
absent (again, independently of the reason for your absence), and you cannot
receive more than a “B” for any class to which you arrive late or from which
you leave early.
C. Guidelines for Class
Discussion
What follows are some simple
rules that we will use to help foster strong and meaningful discussion in the
class. Every student must agree to abide by these rules. So, read them
carefully and make sure you understand them fully.
Students must bring a copy
of the
a. Since discussion is text-based, it is essential that
students come with the text.
Students must prepare (read
and think carefully about) the reading in order to participate in the
discussion.
b. Students who have not prepared adequately will be
unable to offer textual support for their ideas and interpretations, and their
responses to other students’ ideas and interpretations.
c. Remember that a great deal of this class is about how
to read carefully and critically, and how to think about what you have read.
d. The schedule of readings may change over the course
of the semester –so you should make sure that you keep abreast of the changes.
Students must be able to
support their ideas, interpretations, criticisms, and questions with evidence
from the text.
e. It is permissible to make reference to evidence
outside of the text –personal experience, contemporary events, etc.—but, only
in support of ideas which themselves have originated or respond in some way to
the text itself.
f.
If you are
responding to a comment or idea from another student, again, you must be able
to make reference to the text for support.
Students must be respectful
to one another during the discussion.
g. In interacting with one another it is essential to be
respectful and considerate.
h. Do not use racial, sexual or ethnic slurs.
i.
Students who are
disrespectful or inconsiderate to others will be asked to leave the classroom,
and may not be permitted to return.
While there are a number of
possible interpretations, some interpretations are stronger or better than
others.
j.
The idea here is
to learn together (and this includes the professor) –you should try not to
“wed” yourself to a particular position, but be willing to change your mind if
the evidence suggests that your interpretation is not as strong as an
alternative interpretation.
k. Those interpretations that are more strongly
supported by the text are stronger than other interpretations.
l.
Part of our job here
is to discover the best interpretation and understanding of the material that
is possible.
D. Writing Assignments:
Analysis and Response Papers (40%)
For a variety of reasons
(which we can discuss if you like) writing is very important for learning,
particularly for learning philosophy. Thus, a significant portion of your grade
will be composed of writing assignments. All writing assignments must be typed
(unless they are written in class) and must follow the basic rules of grammar.
Edit anything you write for me—and write more than one draft of even the
simplest assignment. There is no pre-determined schedule for the writing
assignments. They will be assigned as they are needed or as they appear to be
appropriate given the advancement of the course.
E. Exams 3 @ 10% for
30%
There will be three exams
over the course of the semester. Each exam will be worth 15% of the final
grade, and will cover a select amount of material and will consist in short
answer and essay questions.
X. Methods of Student Evaluation
Attendance 10%
Participation 20%
Writing Assignments 40%
Exams 30%
Grading Scale 91% - 100% = A // 81% - 90% = B // 71% - 80% = C // 61% - 70% = D //
below 61 = F
XI. Other Course Information
A.
General Writing Guidelines for the Course
1. All writing work for this class, unless it is done in
class, must be typed. No writing assignments that are not typed will be
accepted.
2. You cannot email me your writing assignments without
prior approval. Any emailed assignments without prior approval will not be
credited.
3. However, the following points are required for any
written work you turn in to me:
i.
All writing
should be college level—few to no grammatical mistakes. (Use spell-check, use
the grammar-check. Watch out for run-on sentences. Each paragraph should have a
point or thesis. If you don’t know this stuff, go to the
ii.
All writing
should be double-spaced with one inch margins. Your name should appear in the
top left hand corner with the course name, date, etc.
iii.
The essay should
begin with a thesis statement—and the body of the essay should establish or
work out the thesis.
iv.
Avoid flowery
language and filler. Don’t start anything you write for me with something like:
“Plato was an important philosopher” or “Aristotle was a really important philosopher.” These kinds of sentences merely take
up space. They do nothing to advance your ideas or your thesis. Remember your
primary audience (ME).
v.
All quotes and
paraphrases should be properly cited. DO NOT PLAGIARIZE!
B.
Re-writing the writing assignments
It
is possible for students to re-write any writing assignment that they have
already turned in on time (or,
according to other arrangements). In fact, I strongly recommend that you take the
opportunity to re-write any of the assignments. However, there are few basic
rules that must be followed—no
exceptions will be allowed to these rules.
1. You can only re-write assignments that have been
turned in on time. No late assignments can be re-written.
2. Re-writes cannot be emailed to the professor under
any circumstances.
3. You must meet with the professor before engaging in
any re-writes—you cannot merely turn in a re-write without having talked with
me: it will not be accepted. (It doesn’t have to be a long meeting, and I am
available—and, believe me, I can probably help.)
4. When you turn in your re-writes, they must be
accompanied by both:
i.
The original
essay with my comments and grade
ii.
A short paragraph
or page long description of what you did when you re-wrote the paper and why
you did it.
5. You cannot re-write if all you are going to do is
correct grammatical or spelling mistakes. While it is true that such mistakes
can impact your grade, they should not be made to begin with, and so you cannot
turn in the same paper with only grammatical editing. You can only re-write
papers that require some amount of change to the basic content. More
specifically, you can re-write papers in order to:
i.
Strengthen its
organization and the presentation of content (provide a thesis, paragraphs that
have appropriate structure—i.e. advance the thesis, etc.);
ii.
Clarify its main
points;
iii.
Strengthen its
argumentation or fix flawed arguments;
iv.
Add new
arguments that better and more concisely establish your thesis.
6. Any re-write must be turned in within three weeks of
the original due date for the ARP. No exceptions will be allowed. However,
three weeks is ample time to re-write a paper.
7. PLEASE NOTE: merely re-writing a paper does not
guarantee that your grade will improve—the paper itself must also improve.
C.
Late Assignments
1.
It is important
to remember that there are no excused absences from this class. Whatever the
reason for missing the class, if you are not in class, then you cannot earn the
credit.
2.
ARPs can be
turned in up to one week late without penalty—after than they will not be
accepted for a grade. Remember, however, that no late ARPs can be re-written.
3.
You may take the
exams late—up to one week late. However, there will be a 5% penalty attached.
D.
Extra-Credit
Extra-credit
may be offered throughout the semester. However, there is no set number of
extra-credit assignments nor is the professor under any obligation to offer
extra-credit assignments. There will be some extra-credit offered to help make
up for missed attendance points, particularly for those who have to miss a day
due to religious observances.
E.
Basic Classroom Deportment (the “Do-not’s”)
You
are all adults and should act as such. Thus, please refrain from the following
behavior:
1. Do not talk with your neighbors when either the
professor or another student is talking;
2. Turn off your cell-phone before you come to class (if
you must leave it on for emergency reasons, just let me know);
3. Do not come to class late or leave during the middle
of class—particularly when someone else is in the middle of saying something
(this is very rude);
4. Please do not wander in and out of class—you may
leave to use the restroom, but it makes a lot more sense and is far more
respectful to use the restroom before class begins or after it ends;
5. Do not show disdain for another student’s ideas—and
certainly not the professor’s! You may, of course, disagree. Just do so respectfully;
6. Do not, under any circumstances, come to my class and
do course work for another class;
7. Do not, under any circumstances, come to my class and
sleep. Go home and take a nap.
I,
and the other students, appreciate your presence in class and your contribution
to class discussion—and your willingness to behave reasonably. Please note that
failure to follow these simple requests may result in your being asked to leave
the class.
F.
A Brief note on Grading
You
can expect that I will return your work to you within at most one-week of your
turning it in to me. If it takes longer than that, I will let you know before
hand. Further, I will be as clear as possible about why you received the grade
you did for any assignment (including your participation and discussion grade).
If at
any time you are unsure of why you received the grade you did,
please do not hesitate to consult with me.
G. Disabilities
If
you have a documented learning, psychological, or physical disability you may
be entitled to reasonable academic accommodations or services. To request
accommodations or services, contact the ASSIST office in the
H. Discrimination
The Oakton Community College Catalog states:
In
keeping with this policy of tolerance and non-discrimination, in this class all
of us (myself included) should strive to listen and give careful consideration
to all ideas expressed in class, especially those that are different from our
own, without attacking or demeaning the people who have those views. We should also strive to avoid using
insulting terms or telling offensive jokes when talking to or about individuals
or groups.
|
August 24 |
Fall 2009 Semester Classes begin |
|
August 29 noon |
Last day to submit proof of residency,
business service agreements and chargebacks/joint agreements |
|
September 7 |
Labor Day holiday, College closed |
|
September 20 |
Last day to withdraw from 16 week courses
and have course dropped from record* Last day to change to Audit for 16 week
courses |
|
October 4 |
Incomplete (I) grades from Summer 2009
semester for which faculty have not submitted final grades will become an
"F" after this date. |
|
October 9 noon |
Last day for filing Graduation
Petitions |
|
October 18 |
Last day to withdraw with a W from
16-week courses* Students will receive a grade in all courses in which they
are enrolled after October 19. |
|
November 11 |
Veterans' Day holiday,
College closed |
|
November 16 |
Registration opens for Spring 2010
Semester |
|
November 26-29 |
Thanksgiving Recess, College closed |
|
December 16 |
Last day of student attendance |