Ancient Greek Philosophy

Ancient Greek Philosophy is a graduate-level course about the nature of philosophy as defined within a particular historical period. The course challenges the student to read primary texts of Plato and Aristotle to discover what each philosopher contributes to the understanding of philosophy.

At the end of the course, the students shall have been able to:

define philosophy according to Plato and to Aristotle;
differentiate Plato's from Aristotle's understanding of philosophy;
synthesize both Plato's and Aristotle's understanding of philosophy to define philosophy according to the Ancient Greeks; and
write a paper on philosophy according to the Ancient Greeks.

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Lecture Slides

Introduction (11/25/2017)

Plato's Rival Lovers (12/2/2017)

Plato's Symposium (12/16/2017)

Plato's Apology of Socrates (1/6/2018)

Aristotle's Metaphysics Book 1 (1/23/2018)

Aristotle's Metaphysics Book 4 (2/10/2018)

Aristotle's Metaphysics Book 6 (2/24/2018)

Final Papers (as of 3/27/2018)

Aaron, Allan S.
Abaquita, Francis Anthony F.
Amora, Jayka Reign G. (draft)
Aznar, Nestor dlT.
Bayod, Rogelio P.
Borda, Jezreel Kim C.
Cabreros, Miguel Antonio T.
Castillo, Joe Carl B.
Cruz, Kristine Ann B.
Dafielmoto, Venice Belle R.
Davan, Ruben T.
Dinorog, Von Ryan B.
Fabular, Kimberly Gayle
Jaquias, Zandee B.
Layos, Glio Joy S.
Literatos, Rhina Jane S.
Lusanez, Leonido S.
Mabida, Jahmil B.
Narciso, Hilbert S.
Orque, John Orly C.
Ortiz, Francis Edmund D.
Roa, Mave Rick T.
Sobejano, Glenn Denniel R.
Tumlad, Bryan Paul L.
Urtola, Glenn B.
Vergara, John Dave G.

According to the Ancient Greeks, what is philosophy?

Introduction
Plato: Philosophy is “the love of wisdom,” which is a “care of the soul.”

a. Rival Lovers [On Philosophy]

There are three sources for this little known and contested dialogue.

i. Plato (1997). Rival lovers. Translated by Jeffrey Mitscherling. In Plato: Complete Works. Edited by John M. Cooper & D. S. Hutchinson. Indianapolis & Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company. Pp. 618-626. [This is the most recent translation available. A digital copy is downloadable at http://libgen.io.]

ii. Plato (1987). Lovers [or On philosophy]. Translated by James Leake. In The roots of political philosophy: Ten forgotten Socratic dialogues. Edited by Thomas L. Pangle. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Pp. 80-90. [A digital copy can be viewed online at Google Books. A print copy is available at the University Library with call number Gra JC71 .P22 1987 Part: Miguel Pro Learning commons.]

iii. Plato (1927). The lovers. Translated by W. R. M. Lamb. In Plato Volume VIII: Charmides, Alcibiades I & II, Hipparchus, The lovers, Theages, Minos, Epinomis. Edited by W. R. M. Lamb. Loeb Classical Library No. 201. William Heinemann, Ltd., G. P. Putnam Sons. Pp. 308-340. [A digital copy is downloadable at http://libgen.io.]

The Bollingen edition (Edith Hamilton & Huntington Cairns, 1961) and the Reginald E. Allen edition (1984-1997) of Plato's complete works do not include Rival Lovers, which they consider as one of the spurious Platonic dialogues.

b. "Diotima's Speech" in The Symposium

There are many available translations for this dialogue. The preferred translation is that of Nehamas and Woodruff (1997) in the Cooper edition.

c. The Apology of Socrates

There are many available translations for this dialogue. The preferred translation is that of Grube (1997) in the Cooper edition.

3. Aristotle: Philosophy is “the search for Wisdom, which is the knowledge of the first principles and causes of things.”

a. Metaphysics

There are many available translations for this text.

i. The standard and commonly available (both online and offline) translation is still that by W. D. Ross (1924, Oxford). This is an English translation of the Greek texts heavily informed by Latin translations.

ii. A new English translation by Joe Sachs (1999, Green Lion Press) comes directly from the Greek text, avoiding the English translations of Latin translations of Greek texts. A print copy owned by Prof. Jamil Adrian Khalil Matalam is available through Ms. Kimberly Gayle Fabular.

4. Conclusion

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