Unit Two
 

Ok, everybody, here's the game plan.

Your Unit Two assignment is to write about ONE of the pre-Socratic philosophers. The assignment page may look like a lot of reading, but really it is designed so that the links and the intro to the chapters are all short (but informative and interesting!), so please don't get overwhelmed or think you can't do it.

Please start Unit Two by viewing the powerpoint presentation.

You have the following resources at your disposal:

1. Your textbook (particularly the short introductory comments to each philosopher)

2. The links by C. Marc Cohen, editor of our textbook which supplement the pre-Socratic chapters on each philosopher in the book

3. The website by Thomas Knierim with intros to the philosophers

All of this is enough to give you an overview of the early philosophers. There is so much here that in-depth study is not possible for our study group. Hence the assignment to become familiar with them and to choose one person to share with the class through your essay.

Following Unit Two, we will move on and away from the most fragmentary of early records. For now, this cursory overview of the pre-Socratics will have to suffice (with apologies to the "founding fathers" of philosophy for our too-quick glance their direction).

So, as we proceed with Unit Two, my advice is to relax, and enjoy the reading, taking it in small bites but reading steadily, a little each day. If you do this, you will become familiar with our friends the pre-Socratics and you will be enabled to focus on one of them to practice your writing skills and analysis skills.

All work is due Monday, September 25 by 8 pm (extended deadline). Plan to have your readings done by Wednesday, September 20, so that you can spend the next days writing your essay. Pace yourself and keep a checklist of your accomplishments. At some point, the checklist will be turned in - you are keeping your own record of accomplishments in this study group.

Above all - enjoy the adventure!
 

Watch this first! Studying the Pre-Socratic Philosophers Powerpoint Presentation Click here for transcript

 

Enjoy an online interview with Paul Beach, as he answers the questions: 1. How did you get into studying philosophy? 2. What does it mean to 'do philosophy'? 3. What kind of philosophy do you do? 4. What do you like most about philosophy? 5. What do you like least about philosophy? 6. Has studying philosophy changed you as a person? 7. Does philosophy have social value? 8. Any advice for beginners at philosophy? 9. What's your favorite philosophical quotation? Paul Beach is currently working towards a Ph.D. under the direction of Martin Tweedale. His area of study is Ancient and Medieval philosophy, but he also enjoys Ethics, Religion and the history of ideas in general.

 

Important Note:   For more on philosophical arguments, see Writing the Philosophy Paper and Rules of Thumb for Writing Papers.  During the course, we will be making an on-going study of writing and improving our methods of writing, including improving our logical arguments.

Greek Philosophy, by Thomas Knierim (This link is to a 25 page .pdf file and contains essays on Thales, Anaximander, Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Zeno, Empedocles, Anaxagoras, Leucippus, and Democritus.  Or if you would prefer to view these essays on the web, click here).

 

 

Readings in Ancient Greek Philosophy:  From Thales to Aristotle (by C. Marc Cohen, P. Curd and C.D.C. Reeve, Hackett: Indianapolis, 1995, second edition 2000, third edition 2005). Get to know  your textbook in the following readings.
Introduction to philosophy and to the birth of Western philosophy	AGP, 1–7
The Pre-Socratics: Making Sense of the Physical World
The Milesians: Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes	AGP, 8–14 The Origin and Nature of the Kosmos
Pythagoras, Xenophanes	AGP, 15–23 Gods and the Soul
Hereclitus	AGP, 24-34 'Everything is always changing'
The Eleatics: Parmenides and Zeno of Elea	AGP, 35–41  The Impossibility of Change or Motion
The Pluralists: Empedocles and Anaxagoras	AGP, pp. 42–47, 47–56 (to fragment #59)
The Atomists: Democritus and Leucippus	AGP, 64–71 Atoms and the Void
Professor Cohen has generously agreed to share his lecture notes on the Pre-Socratic philosophers.  Hey, guys, he wrote the book - he knows what he is talking about.  Don't miss these on your tour de force of the early Greek philosophers. Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Heraclitus Heraclitus Parmenides: Stage 1 Parmenides: Stage 2 Zeno: the race course Zeno: plurality Zeno: race course, conclusion; Zeno: Paradox of the Arrow Empedocles Anaxagoras Atomism Recent picture of S. Marc Cohen, principle editor of our textbook.  Read his bio here.

 

 

"Anything that can be said, can be said clearly." (Ludwig Wittgenstein) Writing the Philosophy Paper ...Every sentence in an argument should be short and clear and precise. A sentence should not be vague (i.e. it is not clear to the reader what is being asserted) or ambiguous (i.e. it can be legitimately interpreted as making at least two non-equivalent assertions). Each sentence should make a point, and it should make just one point. Avoid over-complication. Keep each claim simple. Assume that your reader has not read the philosophers you discuss in your paper. Assume that your reader has never encountered the arguments you examine. Assume, however, that your reader teaches advanced logic and that she enjoys pointing out to people that their arguments are hopelessly muddled.  It helps to assume that your reader believes that your conclusion is false. This way you really will have to present the best argument possible for your conclusion. You should possess a dictionary (Oxford, Collins, or Webster's) and a thesaurus (e.g. Roget's Thesaurus), and not merely rely upon online dictionaries. You may invest in a dictionary of philosophy if you wish. However, a good dictionary is usually sufficient. It is much more important that you actually use your dictionary and thesaurus...  (Article continued at this link .  Note:  This website uses an annoying black background.  You might want to copy and paste the text into Notepad for easier reading).

Rules of Thumb for Writing Papers

Applying these rules of thumb will require that you spend some time editing your papers after writing a first draft. But the additional time will be worth it. Your papers for this course will be better than they would otherwise be, and you will eventually start to edit as you write.

How to Read a Book | Chapter 2: The Reading of "Reading"

One of the primary rules for reading anything is to spot the most important words the author uses. Spotting them is not enough, however. You have to know how they are being used. Finding an important word merely begins the more difficult research for the meanings, one or more, common or special, which the word is used to convey as it appears here and there in the text.

You already know "reading" is one of the most important words in this book. But, as I have already suggested, it is a word of many meanings. If you take for granted that you know what I mean by the word, we are likely to get into difficulties before we proceed much further.

 

1.  By the end of Unit Two, you will read through page 80 in Cohen, et. al., (the pre-Socratic philosophers).  You have two weeks to do this. 2.  For Unit Two, be prepared to thoroughly discuss in an essay which you will post to the bulletin board ONE of the following pre-Socratic Philosophers (your choice):   Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Pythagoras, Philolaus, Xenophanes, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Anaxagoras, Empedocles, Zeno of Elea, Leucippus, Democritus, Diogenes of Apollonia, Melissus. Information on these philosophers is found in Readings in Ancient Greek Philosophy from Thales to Aristotle, by Cohen, Curd, and Reeve (eds), pp. 1-80, in The Blackwell Guide to Ancient Philosophy, in the internet readings assigned for Unit One and Unit Two, and on the internet. Concepts you may include (but are not limited to) in your discussion of your "chosen philosopher" are: details of his background and personal history, his major philosophical contributions, and how his ideas fit into the development of Greek philosophy (which ideas came before and which came after).  What do you think of your philosopher's ideas? Your essay will be posted on the bulletin board.

 

To think about... "Why is it so important to have an end in mind?  I'll give you two good reasons.  The first is that you are at a critical crossroads in life, and the paths you choose now can affect you forever.  The second is that if you don't decide your own future, somone else will do it for you.  Let's take a look at the first important reason.  So here you are.  You're young.  You're free.  You have your whole life before you.  You're standing at the crossroads of life and you have to choose which paths to take:  Do you want to go to college or graduate school? What will your attitude toward life be? Should you try out for that team? What type of friends do you want to have? Who will you date? What values will you choose? What kind of relationships do you want with your family? What will you stand for? How will you contribute to your community? "The paths you choose today can shape you forever.  It's both frightening and exciting that we have to make so many vital decisions when we're so young, but such is life.  Imagine an eighty-foot rope stretched out before you.  Each foot represents one year of your life.  "Teenagehood" is only seven years, such a short span of rope, but those seven affect the remaining sixty-one, for good or bad, in such a powerful way."  (from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, by Sean Covey).

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