ARISTOTLE. PHILO 381(W) Sec. 051[4810] Fall 2009 Professor Adluri Monday/Wednesday, 7:00-8:15pm

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1 PHILO 381(W) Sec. 051[4810] Fall 2009 Professor Adluri Monday/Wednesday, 7:00-8:15pm ARISTOTLE Dr. V. Adluri Office: Hunter West, 12 th floor, Room 1242 Telephone: Office hours: Wednesdays, 6:00 7:00 P.M and by appointment DESCRIPTION: The course will pursue a close scholarly reading and interpretation of Aristotle s essential writings. We will consider basic Aristotelian ideas such as form, matter, actuality and potentiality, causes and principles, the nature of knowledge, natural science, reality, perception, moral excellence, and human happiness. We will also consider broader questions about Aristotle s philosophical aims, methods, and principles. Required Texts: Irwin, Terrence and Gail Fine. Trans. Aristotle: Selections. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, $ Ross, David. Trans. Aristotle. 6 th Ed. New York: Routledge, $ All textbooks are on order at Shakespeare & Co. Booksellers (939 Lexington Avenue between 68th and 69th streets; ). Shakespeare & Co. also has a limited number of used copies available at lower prices. COURSE OBJECTIVES: This course is intended to give students a comprehensive overview of the principal Aristotelian texts, including those of the Organon, his Physics and Metaphysics, and the Nicomachean Ethics. We will also read selections from his other ethical and political treatises, although these are not assigned reading. The logic of the course is to build up a comprehensive view of Aristotle as a systematic thinker, while pointing out some of the problems Aristotle bequeaths to the philosophical tradition. Throughout, we will emphasize Aristotle s deep debt to Plato, especially with regard to his theology. In addition, the course will teach basic analytic and critical skills, especially how to read texts carefully paying attention to literary form, structure, context, and nuance. Students will learn how to interpret texts rigorously, to research secondary sources, and to reconstruct an argument in their own language. Opportunities for class participation will allow students to develop the ability to formulate and discuss ideas, objections, and their own solutions to problems. Regular writing assignments will give students the opportunity to train their expository writing skills, i.e., organization, clarity, precision, and fluidity of expression. This is a writing-intensive course. GRADES AND REQUIREMENTS: 1. All students are responsible for a mid-term paper and a final paper (both 15 pages min.). 2. The mid-term paper focuses on any one section (Language and Logic; Physics; Metaphysics) we have covered up to this point. 3. The final paper will be either on the second half of the Metaphysics or on the Nicomachean Ethics and must relate this back to the topics covered in the first half. 4. The final paper is due two weeks before the end of the semester and will be returned with your grade in the final week; you will have the option of rewriting your paper for a better grade if you hand it in on time. 1 of 3

2 5. Regular attendance is required; any student who misses more than two classes without notice will have to see me before he/she can continue attending. SPECIAL NEEDS: In compliance with the American Disability Act of 1990 (ADA) and with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Hunter College is committed to ensuring educational parity and accommodations for all students with documented disabilities and/or medical conditions. It is recommended that all students with documented disabilities (emotional, medical, physical and/ or learning) consult the Office of AccessABILITY located in Room E1124 to secure necessary academic accommodations. For further information and assistance please call ( )/TTY ( ). ACADEMIC HONESTY: Hunter College regards acts of academic dishonesty (e.g., plagiarism, cheating on examinations, obtaining unfair advantage, and falsification of records and official documents) as serious offenses against the values of intellectual honesty. The College is committed to enforcing the CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity and will pursue cases of academic dishonesty according to the Hunter College Academic Integrity Procedures. A detailed statement about plagiarism is posted on Blackboard and will be distributed before papers are submitted. CLASS SCHEDULE AND REQUIRED READING: This course is designed to fit 25 lectures. These do not exactly correspond to the calendar as discussion may extend beyond one class into the next. It is the student s responsibility to attend every single class to note the necessary reading material for the next class. In case a student is absent, it is the student s responsibility to find out what the assigned reading for the next class is. The course is organized into four sections, progressing from Aristotle s logic through his psychology and epistemology, his Physics, the Metaphysics, and culminating with Aristotle s definition of the human good in the Nicomachean Ethics. SECONDARY SOURCES: Secondary sources for each text will be provided as needed. In general, I emphasize closereading of the primary texts. When you write your papers, you will be required to provide a brief bibliography comprising at least two monographs pertaining to your dialogue and a minimum of five relevant articles. I will provide guidance on this portion of your research. CITING ARISTOTLE: Aristotle is traditionally cited according to a scheme known as the Bekker numbers. You are not expected to memorize the numbers, but you should read the attached handout (www1.union.edu/wareht/aristotle/how_to_cite_aristotle.pdf) on citing Aristotle and know how to refer to relevant portions of the text using the Bekker numbers, or, if given the Bekker numbers in class, know how to look up the relevant section. CLASS SCHEDULE: No. Text Introduction to course and requirements Required reading None 2 of 3

3 A: Language and logic 1. Categories I & F 1-12; Ross De interpretatione I & F 13-28; Ross Prior Analytics I & F 29-36; Ross Posterior Analytics I & F 37-42; Ross Posterior Analytics I & F43-68; Ross B: Psychology and epistemology 5. Overall argument I & F ; Ross Major concepts: sensing and thinking I & F ; Ross Salient passages of other texts I & F (An. Post. 2.19), (Phys. 2.3), (Met. 1.1), (Met. 7.15) 8. Mind I & F ; Ross Plato s Ideas and other problems I & F C: Physics (Phys.) 10. Overall argument I & F 83-95; Ross Physical knowledge & causes (Phys ) I & F ; Ross Chance, luck, & telicity (Phys ) I & F ; Ross Motion, time, & Zeno s Paradoxes (Phys. 3, 4, 6) I & F ; Ross The role of form and matter in change (Met ) I & F The Unmoved Mover (Phys. 8) I & F ; Ross D: Metaphysics (Met.) 15. The quest for wisdom and the history of philosophy I & F ; Ross (Met. 1) 16. The science of being (Met. 3-4) I & F ; Ross Substance: subject, essence, form, definition, universal I & F , ; Ross (Met. 7) Substance, Form, Actuality, Potentiality (Met. 8, 9) I & F ; Ross The Unmoved Mover (Met 12) I & F ; Ross E: Nicomachean Ethics (NE) 20. The highest good, happiness (NE ) I & F ; Ross Virtues of character defined (NE ) I & F ; Ross Moral action; courage (NE 3.1-7) I & F ; Ross Justice; virtues of thought (NE 5, 6) I & F ; Ross Continence and incontinence; friendship (NE 7, 8) I & F ; Ross True friendship (NE 9) I & F ; Ross of 3

4 HOW TO CITE ARISTOTLE Background: Why Bekker numbers? In 1831, the German scholar Immanuel Bekker published the most authoritative edition yet of Aristotle s surviving works in Greek. This edition was in two volumes with continuous pagination (pp in volume 1 were continued by pp in volume 2). On each page, the Greek text was laid out in two columns. Between the columns line numbers were printed: 5, 10, 15, etc. Bekker numbers reference to the text by the page number, column ( a or b ), and line number of the Bekker edition became standard for subsequent scholars and students. Because these numbers are printed in every modern Greek edition and in different translations of Aristotle s work, they enable precise reference to Aristotle, even for someone using a different edition. (Similar standard schemes of numeration exist for most classical authors.) This is why the page numbers of your textbook are not the appropriate form of reference. Before Bekker, there was already a longstanding traditional division of Aristotle s works into books and chapters. Bekker retained these divisions, and we continue to use them as well (they are more natural, if less precise). Two examples of correct citations (A) If any person thinks the examination of the rest of the animal kingdom an unworthy task, he must hold in like disesteem the study of man. For no one can look at the primordia of the human frame blood, flesh, bones, vessels, and the like without much repugnance (Arist. PA I.5, 645a27-30, trans. Ogle). Compare how this passage appears on p. 657 of The Basic Works of Aristotle. Let s look carefully at each part of the reference: Arist. PA I.5, 645a27-30, trans. Ogle (1) author abbreviation, (2) work abbreviation, (3) book and chapter reference, (4) Bekker numbers, (5) translator s name 1. If you are referring to primary texts by several authors, you need to indicate the author first. In this course, you will usually not need this, because you will have already made it clear that you are writing about what Aristotle says in his texts! 2. The abbreviation of the title is italicized (because it s a book title). The abbreviations for the works read in this course are: Met. (Metaphysics), EN (Ethica Nicomachea, the Latin name of Nicomachean Ethics), Phys. (Physics), PA (Parts of Animals), Pol. (Politics), DA (De Anima, the Latin name of On the Soul), and Rhet. (Rhetoric). This can sometimes be omitted after the first reference if it is very clear you continue to discuss only the single work. 3. Roman numeral for book number and Arabic numeral for chapter number, separated by a period. 4. Bekker numbers, with no spaces. 5. Translator s name (found on the work s title page, in this case p. 641). This can be omitted after the first reference to the work. (B) Aristotle thus says that a half glimpse of persons that we love is more delightful than a leisurely view of other things, whatever their numbers and dimensions (PA I.5, 644b35-645a1).

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