Ancient Philosophy - PHI00098M

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  • Department: Philosophy
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: M
  • Academic year of delivery: 2023-24

Module summary

In this module, we shall focus on a work by an ancient philosopher—for instance, one by Plato or Aristotle—in English translation and aim to provide a close reading of it to discern its argument and structure.

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Semester 2 2023-24

Module aims

Content

  • To understand the claims and arguments made by the author in the work (or, in the case of a Platonic dialogues, to understand those Plato has his characters put forward and their dialectical structure).
  • To deepen the students’ understanding of how to interpret a philosophical text, both paying attention to the details of that text but making appeal to philosophical virtues in choosing between different possible interpretations of it.
  • To deepen the students’ appreciation of the historical tradition of whatever area of philosophy the text is concerned with.

Skills

  • To develop students’ ability to provide convincing and justified readings of philosophical texts
  • To expand students’ knowledge of the history of the subject
  • To develop students’ skills in writing
  • To develop students’ philosophical skills in seeing how they are involved in making sense of philosophical texts.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of this module students should be able to:

  • Develop and defend interpretations of ancient philosophical texts.
  • Critically engage with secondary literature concerning ancient philosophy.
  • Evaluate the philosophical claims made by ancient philosophers, and defend informed opinions about which, if any, ancient philosophical theses should still be accepted today.
  • Identify the appropriate ways to approach an ancient text, depending on its form (e.g. dialogue).

Indicative assessment

Task % of module mark
Essay/coursework 100

Special assessment rules

None

Indicative reassessment

Task % of module mark
Essay/coursework 100

Module feedback

All feedback will be returned in line with current University and Departmental policy.

Indicative reading

To be confirmed.