Professor Stefan Rodde
roddesw@yorku.ca
Office Location:  S417 Ross Building
Phone Number:  (416) 736-2100 Ext. 40901

Office Hours:  Office hours will be held on Mondays and Wednesdays, immediately following the lectures. If you are unavailable at those times, please contact me to arrange an online meeting.

This course is an introduction to the main figures and problems in ancient Greek philosophy. The course focuses on the views of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle but aims at a broader understanding of ancient Greek philosophy by relating the views of these thinkers to those of their predecessors (the Presocratic philosophers) and successors (the Hellenistic philosophers). Through a close reading of primary sources students gain a basic understanding of these thinkers’ views on a range of topics, such as the nature of reality, the nature of the soul and its relation to the body, the acquisition of knowledge and wisdom, and the good life for human beings. This is an introductory course. No prior knowledge of ancient Greek philosophy is required.

Technical requirements for taking the course:

Lectures: The lectures and tutorials for this course will be delivered in-person. You will need a computer with an internet connection to upload assignments and online commentaries

Here are some useful links for student computing information, resources and help:

Student Guide to Moodle

Zoom@YorkU Best Practices 

Zoom@YorkU User Reference Guide

Computing for Students Website

Student Guide to eLearning at York University

To determine Internet connection and speed, there are online tests, such as Speedtest, that can be run.]

Times and locations:

Lectures: The lectures for this course will be delivered in-person on Mondays and Wednesdays, 12:30-1:20 in SLH A (Stedman lecture Hall).

Tutorials: The tutorials will also be delivered in-person. Please see your schedule for information about the location and time of your tutorial

Office Hours: Office hours will be held on Mondays and Wednesdays, immediately following the lectures. If you are unavailable at those times, please contact me to arrange an online meeting.

Required Course Text / Readings:

Plato. Plato,Five Dialogues: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo, 2^nd ed.

Trans. by G.M.A. Grube, revised by John Cooper. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2002.

Aristotle. Aristotle: Introductory Readings. Trans. by Terence Irwin and Gail Fine.

Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1996.

Hellenistic Philosophy: Introductory Readings, 2^nd edition. Trans. by Brad Inwood

and L.P. Gerson. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1997.

Additional readings will be made available online.

Note: All of the readings in this course are translated from ancient Greek or Latin. Some translations are better than others. If you would like to use a different translation than one from the assigned texts, please talk to me first.

Discussion Forums (2). . . . . . . 25% (12% each and a 1% bonus if you do both)

Online Commentaries (10) . . . .10% (Due before material covered in lecture)

Essay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35%

Tutorial participation. . . . . . . . . 10%

Final Exam. . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . 20%

Lectures and tutorials will be delivered in-person. The final exam will scheduled by the Registrar and will also be written in-person. All other assignments will be submitted online.

By the end of this course you will have read selections from the works of a number of philosophers and you should have a basic familiarity with their views. In addition, you should have developed your ability to:

• Read and understand difficult and challenging texts
• Critically assess the strengths and weaknesses of arguments
• Appreciate unfamiliar ideas and points of view
• Express yourself clearly in discussion
• Write clearly, concisely and effectively in support of your claims

Additional Information:

• The late penalty for the essay is 2%/day. We will not accept late submissions of online commentaries or discussion forum posts
• Don’t cheat, don’t plagiarize and don’t assist or enable others to cheat or plagiarize
• Posting material on Course Hero or other Notes Sharing Websites is considered a breach of York’s Academic Honesty Policy
• Students may not use ChatGPT or other forms of generative AI on any assignments. Students who do so, will be in breach of York’s academic honest policy

The university recognizes that persons with disabilities may require reasonable accommodation to enable them to perform at their best. The university encourages students with disabilities to register with Student Accessibility Services to discuss their accommodation needs as early as possible.