Course: Ancient Philosophy I

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Course title Ancient Philosophy I
Course code KFR/BANT1
Organizational form of instruction Lecture + Seminar
Level of course Bachelor
Year of study not specified
Semester Winter
Number of ECTS credits 7
Language of instruction Czech
Status of course Compulsory
Form of instruction Face-to-face
Work placements This is not an internship
Recommended optional programme components None
Lecturer(s)
  • Krása Ondřej, Mgr. Ph.D.
Course content
unspecified

Learning activities and teaching methods
unspecified, Monologic (reading, lecture, briefing), Dialogic (discussion, interview, brainstorming), Work with text (with textbook, with book)
Learning outcomes
Lecture The aim of the course in ancient philosophy is to acquaint students with the basic outlines of Plato's ethical, epistemological, and metaphysical thought. We will also consider selected philosophical conceptions on which Plato builds (Parmenides, Heraclitus) as well as those that offer alternatives to his approach (Epicureanism, skepticism). In the ethical strand of the course, we will examine Plato's account of the good life as presented in the dialogues Gorgias, Theaetetus, and Philebus, and we will discuss the Epicurean doctrine of the good life grounded in the proper cultivation of pleasures. In the epistemological part of the course, we will ask what knowledge is and how it differs from other ways of engaging with the world (perception, opinion). Our focus will be on the dialogues Theaetetus, Phaedo, and Sophist; as an alternative to Plato's conception of knowledge, we will consider Pyrrhonian skepticism, which is highly reserved about the possibility and usefulness of knowledge. In the metaphysical part of the course, we will present the basic contours of Plato's theory of Forms and concentrate on the difference between the changeable world of sensory experience and the eternally self-same domain of intelligible realities (dialogues Phaedo, Parmenides, Sophist, Republic, and Timaeus). Seminar The aim of the seminar in ancient philosophy is to teach students how to work with Plato's dialogues and to understand the central ideas and argumentative procedures of the texts discussed. We begin with Plato's Apology of Socrates, a traditional and fitting introduction to Plato's work, and then turn to the Phaedo, which interweaves Plato's doctrine of the soul with metaphysical reflections on the Forms.

Prerequisites
unspecified

Assessment methods and criteria
Oral examination, Written examination, Discussion, Presentation

minimum 80% participation - active participation - completion of interim tests after each thematic block - oral presentation on a selected passage of the primary text - a final oral examination on one of three topics replicating the relevant questions for the Bachelor of Philosophy examination
Recommended literature
  • Diogenés Laertios. Životy, názory a výroky proslulých filosofů. Pelhřimov: Nová tiskárna, 1995. ISBN 80-901916-3-0.
  • Filip Karfík. Megista gené. Praha, 2009.
  • J. Jirsa (ed.). Rozum, ctnosti, duše. OIKOYMENH, 2010.
  • Kirk, Raven a Schofield. Předsókratovští filosofové. Oikoymenh, 2004.
  • Pierre Hadot. Co je antická filosofie?. Praha, 2017.
  • PLATÓN. Dialogy Prótagoras, Faidros, Gorgias, Kratylos, Theiatétos. Ed. Oikúmené. Praha, 1992.
  • Platón. Faidón. Praha: Oikoymenh, 2005. ISBN 80-7298-158-7.
  • Platón. Obrana Sókrata. Praha: Oikúmené, 2000.
  • Platón. Protagoras. Praha: OIKOYMENH, 1994.
  • Platón. Spisy I-V. Oikúmené, Praha 2003..
  • Sextus Empiricus. Základy pyrrhonskej skepsy. Bratislava, 1984.
  • Špinka, Štěpán. Duše a krása v dialogu Faidros : duše a řeč II. Praha: Oikoymenh, 2009. ISBN 978-80-7298-390-2.
  • Špinka, Štěpán. Duše a zlo v dialogu Faidón : duše a řeč I. Praha: Oikoymenh, 2009. ISBN 978-80-7298-423-7.


Study plans that include the course
Faculty Study plan (Version) Category of Branch/Specialization Recommended year of study Recommended semester