LPHIL5228 Ancient Philosophy Course Descriptor

Course Overview

The course provides a survey of the rich traditions of philosophy in the ancient world, focusing on ancient Greece. A range of topics will be covered reflecting the diversity and richness of ancient Greek thought, from the theoretical to the practical. The course features the study of Plato’s influential work, Republic, in which political philosophy is set in relation to other key concerns in ancient philosophy. It studies Republic in the context both of Plato’s predecessors (the ‘pre-Socratics’) and his successors. The course equips students both with a background in ancient philosophy that will help illuminate later philosophical discussions, and with a sense of the liveliness of debate in ancient philosophy on topics that continue to be of vital importance today, such as the nature of knowledge and virtue, the status of mathematical knowledge and the place of artists in society, or the authority of the state.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding

Subject Specific Skills

Transferable and Employability Skills

Teaching and Learning

This course has a dedicated Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) page with a syllabus and range of additional resources (e.g. readings, question prompts, tasks, assignment briefs, discussion boards) to orientate and engage students in their studies.

The scheduled teaching and learning activities for this course are:

Interactive lectures/seminars

40 scheduled hours – typically including induction, consolidation or revision, and assessment activity hours.

• Version 1:all sessions in the same sized group

OR

• Version 2: most of the sessions in larger groups; some of the sessions in smaller groups

Faculty hold regular ‘office hours’, which are opportunities for students to drop in or sign up to explore ideas, raise questions, or seek targeted guidance or feedback, individually or in small groups. 

Students are to attend and participate in all the scheduled teaching and learning activities for this course and to manage their directed learning and independent study.

Indicative total learning hours for this course: 150

Assessment

Both formative and summative assessment are used as part of this course, with purely formative opportunities typically embedded within interactive teaching sessions, office hours, and/or the VLE.

Summative Assessments

Further information about the assessments can be found in the Course Syllabus.

Feedback

Students will receive formative and summative feedback in a variety of ways, written (e.g. marked up on assignments, through email or the VLE) or oral (e.g. as part of interactive teaching sessions or in office hours).

Indicative Reading

Note: Comprehensive and current reading lists are produced annually in the Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students; the indicative reading list provided below is for a general guide and part of the approval/modification process only.

• Barnes, J. (ed.), Early Greek Philosophy. London: Penguin, 2002.
• Kenny, A., Ancient Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
• Long, A.A. and Sedley, D. (eds.), The Hellenistic Philosophers, Vol.1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
• Plato, Meno, in Meno and Phaedo, ed. D. Sedley and A. G. Long. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
• Electronic Resources: Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Indicative Topics

Note: Comprehensive and current topics for courses are produced annually in the Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students; the indicative topics provided below is used as a general guide and part of the approval/modification process only.

• Knowledge
• Philosophical method
• The soul
• Forms
• The state