Course: History of Philosophy I: Antiquity

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Course title History of Philosophy I: Antiquity
Course code KFHS/B167
Organizational form of instruction Lecture + Seminary
Level of course Bachelor
Year of study not specified
Semester Winter
Number of ECTS credits 5
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)
  • Konrádová Veronika, Mgr. Ph.D.
Course content
1. Introduction: the origin of philosophy in ancient Greece in the 6th century BC; cultural and religious background of philosophy; myth and logos; philosophical approach to the world. 2. Presocratics: the oldest Greek thought, periodization; doxography and textual evidence; philosophical topics. 3. Natural philosophy: the arche and the world order (Milesians, Parmenides, Heraclitus, Pythagoras, Empedocles, Anaxagoras, Atomists); identity and difference; the relationship between thinking and being; the scope and limits of human knowledge (Xenophanes, Democritus). 4. Sophistry: the role of speech in public life; rhetoric and the power of speech; civic education and arete; sophistic relativism: epistemic relativism and relativism of values; physis and nomos; political and ethical topics in Sophistry. 5. Socrates: historical and literary figure; Sophistic vs Socratic discussion: eristics vs elenchos; ethical intellectualism; "I know that I know nothing"; the trial (Apology); followers of Socrates. 6. Plato: Plato's writing: dialogical form; unwritten doctrines and the Tübingen School; the dialogical nature of understanding (Gadamer); the form and theme of Plato's dialogues; Plato's critique of Sophists. 7. Plato's metaphysics and epistemology: the difference between knowledge and opinion (episteme and doxa) in Plato's dialogues (the Geometry Lesson in the Meno); knowledge and recollection (anamnesis); Plato's similes in the Republic (the Sun, the Line and the Cave); ti esti; ideas and individuals. 8. Plato: ethics and politics; the concept of the soul and the "care for the soul"; justice in the Republic; political models in the Republic and the Laws; classification of constitutional types. 9. Aristotle: philosophical method; classification of philosophical disciplines and foundations of science; polemic with philosophical predecessors; logic; categories: substance and accident. 10. Aristotle's metaphysics and epistemology: Aristotle's "first philosophy"; interpretation of change and movement in terms of dynamis/energeia and hyle/morfe; accidental and substantial change; causality; Aristotelian image of the physical world. 11. Aristotle: ethics and politics; good life and arete; ethical and intellectual virtues; man as a political animal (zoon politikon); constitutional theory. 12. Hellenism and late antiquity: philosophical thinking in a new cultural and political context; Stoics; Epicureans; Sceptics. 13. The legacy of classical Greek philosophy in Neoplatonism; Plotinus.

Learning activities and teaching methods
unspecified, unspecified, unspecified, unspecified
Learning outcomes
The course focuses on ancient philosophy and the systematic interpretation of key topics in ontology, epistemology, and ethics. Theory-based lectures are supplemented by seminar reading, which complements, clarifies and deepens the understanding of essential topics with the help of selected primary texts.
Learning outcomes: students will acquire the following academic knowledge: - can characterize the specifics of philosophy as an independent discipline - is familiar with academic terminology - can define fundamental lines of philosophical questioning - can describe selected philosophical problems in various areas of philosophical inquiry - can set the most relevant issues of individual philosophical disciplines in a historical context
Prerequisites
none

Assessment methods and criteria
unspecified
The exam consists of a discussion on seminar paper and oral examination. A seminar paper on a selected topic must have a length of 5 pages (+/- 9000 characters, including spaces); the oral examination will be based on issues presented during the lectures.
Recommended literature
  • Aristotelés. Metafyzika; Rezek. Praha, 2008. ISBN 80-86027-27-9.
  • Graeser, A. Řecká filosofie klasického období, Oikúmené, Praha. 2000.
  • Heidegger, M. Aristotelova Met. IX,1-3. Praha, 2000. ISBN 80-7298-042-4.
  • Heidegger, M. Aristotelova Metafyzika IX, 1-3 OIKÚMENÉ, Praha. 2001.
  • Hussey, E. Presokratici, Rezek, Praha. 1997.
  • Kirk, G.S., Raven, J.E., Schofield, M. (eds.). Předsókratovští filosofové. Praha, 2004.
  • Lear, J. Aristotelés. Touha rozumět. Praha, 2016.
  • Long, A. Hellénistická filosofie. Praha, 2003. ISBN 80-7298-077-7.
  • Platón. Sebrané spisy. Praha, 2003. ISBN 80-7298-067-X.
  • Platón. Spisy I-V. Praha, 2003.
  • Platón. Ústava. Praha, 1996.
  • Platón. Ústava. Praha, 2003.
  • Ricken, F. Antická filosofie. Olomouc, 1999. ISBN 80-7182-092-X.
  • Schmidinger, H. Úvod do metafyziky; OIKOYMNEH. Praha, 2012. ISBN 978-80-7298-417-6.
  • Svoboda, K. Zlomky předsokratovských myslitelů. Praha, 1989.
  • Vernant, J.-P. Počátky řeckého myšlení. Praha, 1993. ISBN 978-80-7298-393-3.


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