PHIL123-01A: Philosophy
of Human NaturePHIL123-01A: Philosophy
of Human Nature| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| Feb 5 1
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Feb 6 2 Intro to Course: Humans and Thought |
7 3
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8 4 Read Plato, Phaedo, 57a-69e. pp. 93-106. |
9 5
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| 12 6 Read Plato, Phaedo, to 84c (to p. 123; stop: "Socrates
finished speaking and there was a long silence.") |
13 1
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14 2 Read Plato, Phaedo, to 91c (top p. 130; stop when Socrates
takes up the actual argument again.) |
15 3
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16 4 Read Phaedo to 107a (top of 146). I added a few pages to the reading to get to a more logical stopping place. No Writing Assignment. |
| 19 5 | 20 6 | 21 1 | 22 2 Read two poems: "The Caged Skylark" and "Ode...." At least one of these will be linked to a paper topic. We'll continue and finish Phaedo. Next text: Plato's Symposium. |
23 3 |
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| 26 4 Read Plato, Symposium, Introductory Dialogue & speeches of Phaedrus, Pausanius, Eryximachus, and Aristophanes (1-31; 172A-194e) |
27 5 | 28 6 | March 1 1 | 2 2 Continued discussion of Symposium. Topic to ponder (click!) |
| 5 3 | 6 4 Read the Symposium, from the speech of Agathon through Diotima's speech (recounted by Socrates), pp. 32-60 (195a-212c). |
7 5 | 8 6
Write a "starter" draft on the following topic about Socrates'/Diotima's speech. |
9 1 |
| 12 Free Day |
13 2 Finish the Symposium-- Alcibiades' entrance, speech and the concluding dialogue. |
14 3
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15 4
Read Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book I, chs 1-8. (This is an Adobe .pdf file; should open on lab computers) |
16 5
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| 19 6 | 20 1
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21 2 Re-read Aristotle, ch. 7, and write a reflection that reviews the notions of happiness we talked about in light of Aristotle's. |
22 3
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23 4
Finish reading Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book I. mark passages that puzzle you or that you think are important. |
| 26 5
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27 6 Read Aristotle on Friendship, Book VIII.1-8 (pp. 127-137).
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28 1
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29 2 Read Aristotle on Friendship, Book IX.4-12 (pp. 151-163). |
30 3
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| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| April 2 4 Read Aquinas, Treatise on Happiness, Questions 1& 2 (pp. 3-26). See the guide for help with reading. See also individual tasks.
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3 5 | 4 6 Read Aquinas, Question 3. Articles assigned below (need volunteers for #6-8) |
5 1 | 6 2 Read Aquinas, Questions 4-5. Articles assigned via e-mail). |
| 9 Easter Break |
10 Easter Break |
11 Easter Break |
12 Easter Break |
13 Easter Break |
| 16 Easter
Monday |
17 3 | 18 4 Read Rousseau, Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, pp. 1-33 (stop at ¶: "I stop with these first steps..." |
19 5 | 20 6 paper due |
| 23 1 | 24 2 Read to the end of part I of the Discourse on the Origin of Inequality (p 44?) |
25 3 | 26 4 Writing starter
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27 5 |
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| 30 6 finish reading Rousseau; also we will finish the film The Wild Child in class.
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May 1 1
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2 2 Conclude discussion of The Wild Child and of Part II of
Rousseau's Origins. |
3 3 | 4 4 Read Ortega y Gasset, Some Lessons in Metaphysics, Lesson 1. |
| 7 5 | 8 6 Read Ortega y Gasset, Some Lessons in Metaphysics, Lesson 2.
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9 1 | 10 2 Paper on Rousseau due. Continue discussion of Ortega, Lesson 2. |
11 3 |
| 14 4 Read Ortega y Gasset, Some Lessons in Metaphysics, Lesson 3. |
15 5 | 16 6 Read Ortega y Gasset, Some Lessons in Metaphysics, Lesson 4
and 5 through p. 80. |
17 1 | 18 2 Read Ortega y Gasset, Some Lessons in Metaphysics, Lessons 5-6. |
| 21 3
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Final paper/take home exam due Thursday 5 PM
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Exams Day 1 |
Exams Day 2 |
Exams Day 3 |
For:
 | Mon. February 12--Writing Assignment: Write at least one solid page that responds thoughtfully to at least one of Socrates' arguments about the soul. Keep in mind that his "arguments" are reasons or accounts (logoi=words) he offers in defense of his believing what he does about the soul. Not everything he says may be clear on first reading, but this paper is exploratory and tentative, not final. It's a working attempt to think with Socrates (or perhaps to think against him, if you're fairly sure you've thought with him well enough.) | ||||||||
| Wednesday, February 14--Writing Assignment: Write one good paragraph on what you think the purpose of this section is (84c until 91c), since it is seemingly off the topic of the soul's imortality. Are there any important points made either by specific lines or by the interaction of the characters? Explain. | ||||||||
| Tuesday, February 19--Writing Assignment: I did think once this weekend that I was supposed to post an explanation of the short writing/reflection I wanted you to do. When you finish reading the Phaedo, you'll find that the last section is not really like most of the rest, not logical arguments about what the soul must be like. Write about the following: what is the purpose of having this kind of final "account" of the fate of the soul? Does it add something the other accounts lack? Or correct something they got wrong? Or is there some other purpose? Any thoughts on the final scene(s) of the dialogue. | ||||||||
| Friday, March 2 - For thinking: Does the emphasis on
homosexuality, especially in the speeches of Pausanius and Phaedrus, affect our reading of
the dialogue? Should we abstract from this and simply consider what is said to be about
love in general, or is what is said specifically about homoeroticism important? A
couple angles to consider:
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| Tuesday, March 6: Write a starter draft (a solid page or more) about the following topic: What do you think of Diotima's speech in praise of love? Does it bring out any concerns you feel are significant that were neglected or misemphasized by other speakers? (If you choose to critque the inclusion of these elements in our understanding of love, that is a legitimate choice as well). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monday, April 2: I'm assigning various
"articles" to individuals, and ask you to be ready to lead off discussion on
that question/article. You don't have to have it all figured out; you can even point to
the hard part to understand, but I want you to be the person that takes the first stab at
explaining Aquinas's thinking in the article. You'll have to pick and choose among the
objections, the authority that's quoted with the response in support of this, and the
replies to objections about what you think is most important to talk about and understand.
But of course, you have to read more than your one article! Here they are:
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The task again: talk about what's crucial and interesting in the argument given, as far as you understand it. If there's a point you didn't understand that you want clarity on, bring that to our attention as an issue.
| Wednesday, April 4: As you prepare these articles,
be ready to say what Aquinas' main point is and why he holds it. Then, if you think there
is a significant misunderstanding that is cleared up by one of the replies, point that
out. Don't be afraid to say something like, "The distinction between x and y
seems crucial, but I can't quite figure out what the distinction is that he's
making."
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| Rousseau Writing Starter (Thurs, April 26): Rousseau discusses something translated as "egocentrism" that is literally in French, "love of oneself" [amour propre]. In footnote 15, he contrasts this to what is translated as "love of self" [amour de soi]. Clearly in French the two expressions are similar but distinguishable, although both could be translated literally as "self-love." [Amour=love]. Re-read the paragraphs that start on 35 to 38 (pages revised--I had 37-40, but I had announced p. 35 in class) in which he discusses pity and the way "egocentrism" seems to destroy pity. Where does egocentrism (amour propre) come from, how is it different from self-love, and why does it destroy or disable pity? |
