Introduction to Greek Philosophy.pdf

COURSE GUIDEBOOK

for

An Introduction to Greek Philosophy

Part I

David Roochnik, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Philosophy, Boston University

David Roochnik did his undergraduate work at Trinity College (Hartford,

Connecticut), where he majored in philosophy. He received his Ph.D. from Pennsylvania

State University in 1981.

From 1982 to 1995, Professor Roochnik taught at Iowa State University. In 1995, he

moved to Boston University, where he teaches in both the Department of Philosophy and the

"core curriculum," which is an undergraduate program in the humanities. In 1997, he won the

Gitner Award for excellence in teaching in the College of Arts and Sciences. In 1999, he won the

Metcalf Prize, awarded for excellence in teaching at Boston University.

Professor Roochnik has written two books on Plato: The Tragedy of Reason: Toward a

Platonic Conception of Logos (1991) and Of Art and Wisdom: Plato's Understanding

ofTECHNE. In addition, he has published some thirty articles on a wide range of subjects in

classical Greek philosophy and literature, as well as on contemporary issues. He has also

published one short story and numerous opinion pieces in the Des Moines Register, The Boston

Globe, and The Chronicle of Higher Education.

David Roochnik is married to Gina Crandell, a professor of landscape

architecture at both Iowa State University and Harvard University. He is the father of

two daughters, both of whom attend the Brookline public schools.

Table of Contents

An Introduction to Greek Philosophy

Part I

Professor Biography 1

Course Scope

Lecture One:

A Dialectical Approach to Greek Philosophy

Lecture Two:

From Myth to Philosophy: Hesiod and Thales

Lecture Three: The Milesians and the Quest for Being

Lecture Four: The Great Intrusion: Heraclitus

Lecture Five:

Parmenides: The Champion of Being

Lecture Six:

Reconciling Heraclitus and Parmenides

Lecture Seven: The Sophists: Protagoras, the First "Humanist"

Lecture Eight: Socrates

Lecture Nine: An Introduction to Plato's Dialogues

Lecture Ten:

Plato versus the Sophists, 1

Lecture Eleven: Plato versus the Sophists, II

Lecture Twelve: Plato's Forms, I

Timeline

Glossary

Biographical Notes

Bibliography

An Introduction to Greek Philosophy

Scope:

This series of twenty-four lectures will introduce the student to the first

philosophers in Western history: the ancient Greeks. The course will begin

(approximately) in the year 585 B.C.E. with the work of Thales of Miletus and end

in 325 with the monumental achievements of Aristotle. (All dates used throughout

this course are B.C.E.) These lectures have two related goals: (1) to explain the

historical influence of the Greeks on subsequent developments in Western

philosophy and (2) to examine the philosophical value of their work. The Greeks

asked the most fundamental questions about human beings and their relationship to

the world, and for the past 2,600 years, philosophers have been trying to answer

them. Furthermore, many of the answers the Greeks themselves provided are still

viable today. Indeed, in some cases, these ancient thinkers came up with answers

that are better than any offered by modern philosophers.

The course is divided into four parts. Lectures One through Eight are

devoted to the "Presocratics," those thinkers who lived before or during the life of

Socrates (469-399). Lecture Nine discusses Socrates himself. Lectures Ten

through Seventeen concentrate on the works of Plato (429-347). Lectures Eighteen

through Twenty-Four are devoted to Aristotle (384-322).

These lectures take a "dialectical" approach to the history of Greek

philosophy, meaning that they treat the various thinkers as if they were

participating in a conversation. (The word "dialectical" comes from the Greek

dialegesthai, "to converse.") Therefore, for example, Anaximander (610-546), who

also lived in Miletus, will be conceived as directly responding to, and specifically

criticizing, his predecessor, Thales. Anaximander, like any good thinker,

acknowledged what was positive and valuable in his opponent, but then

significantly disagreed and tried to improve upon him. In a similar manner, Plato

responded to his predecessors, Protagoras and Gorgias, and Aristotle, despite the

fact that he studied with Plato for twenty years, was a critic of his teacher. The

purpose of this course is not only to inform students about the first great

conversation in Western thought, but also to invite them to participate. The

questions the Greeks struggled with are perennial ones that concern all of us. As

far away in time as these ancient Greeks were, they can nonetheless be brought

back to life and talk to us today.

This course places two special demands on its students. First, there is the

issue of the Greek language. It is remarkably expressive, and as a result, it is often

very difficult to translate into English. Therefore, several crucial Greek words will

be left untranslated, in the hope that they will become part of the students'

vocabulary. Those Greeks words that have been left untranslated, as well as their

English derivatives, can be found in the glossary.

The second demand facing the student is the nature of the textual evidence*

Hint remains from ancient Greece. For the Presocratics, the evidence IN

frtiKtncnlnry, and very little of it remains. This part of the course, then, must be

.somewhat speculative. When it comes to Plato and Aristotle, the problem is the

opposite: there is too much evidence. Both wrote an extraordinary number of

works. This part of the course must, therefore, be highly selective. The selection of

material discussed in this course is based on one principle: each thinker is treated

as responding to his predecessors. Therefore, for example, the lectures on Plato

will concentrate on those of his works in which he criticized the Presocratics.

Similarly, the discussions of Aristotle will focus on his response to Plato.

Lecture One

A Dialectical Approach to Greek Philosophy

Scope: This first lecture introduces the two basic goals of this course: (1) to

show the extraordinary impact of the ancient Greeks on the subsequent

development of Western philosophy and (2) to explain the enduring philosophical

value of these thinkers. The Greeks asked fundamental questions and, amazingly,

some of their answers are as good as any that have ever been proposed.

The course is divided into four parts: Lectures One through Nine are devoted to the

"Presocratic" philosophers, those thinkers who lived before or during the life of

Socrates (469-399). Lecture Ten discusses Socrates himself. Lectures Eleven

through Seventeen concentrate on the works of Plato (429-347). Lectures Eighteen

through Twenty-Four are devoted to Aristotle (384-322). Throughout, the

approach of the course is "dialectical." It treats the development of Greek thought

as a conversation in which each thinker acknowledged what was positive in his

predecessor, but then criticized and attempted to move beyond him.

Outline

This lecture will introduce the course by answering four questions:

A. What are we going to study? In other words, what exactly is ancient

Greek philosophy?

B. Why should we study ancient Greek philosophy?

C. How will we study it?

II. Ancient Greek philosophy can be divided into four basic periods.

A. The Presocratics: these were thinkers who lived before and during the life

of Socrates. The first Presocratic was Thales of Miletus, whose date is

traditionally given as 585 B.C.E. (All dates in this lecture series are

B.C.E.)

B. Socrates: the Athenian philosopher who lived from 469-399.

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