PHIL 305
TOPICS IN THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY:
MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY
FALL 2004
Richard Nunan
Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies
14 Glebe (201); 953-6522 (nunanr@ashley.cofc.edu)
Office Hours: Tuesday 10:00-12:00; Thursday 1:00-3:00; and by appointment.
Required Texts:
Augustine, On Free Choice of the Will (Hackett, 1993)
Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy (Hackett, 2001)
Anselm, Proslogion (Hackett, 2001)
Peter Abelard, Ethical Writings (Hackett, 1995)
In addition to the above texts, you will have a number of web-based reading
assignments, denoted by ‘<___>’. You need only go to your WebCT
page (link on the College's homepage). There you'll find a link to this course
in the list of Fall 04 courses for which you are registered. Click on the
PHIL 305 link, and then click on the syllabus link. There you will find
live links on the relevant dates to all the web-based readings for this course.
Course Description:
We will undertake a thematic examination of some of the main issues addressed by major philosophical figures in the period ranging from Augustine to Galileo & Descartes, following some preliminary material on the Aristotelian/Ptolemaic two-sphere universe, and on what was familiar to medieval philosophers about Plato, Aristotle, the Epicureans and the Stoics (concerning especially the nature of matter, the structure and origin of the universe, the status of universals, and the question of free will versus determinism). These themes will be revisited, as appropriate, in our coverage of subsequent figures. We must begin with some preliminary background in Ancient Philosophy, especially the work of Aristotle, because much of the philosophy of the Medieval period was conducted in response to ancient authorities. (For those of you who have had PHIL 220, there won’t be much duplication of material.)
The thematic focus will be on the following topics:
(1) Free will & determinism (and the connection between these issues and
theological concerns about the concept of divine foreknowledge);
(2) The nature of sin & the concept of moral responsibility
(3) Classical medieval attempts to prove the existence of God (from Anselm
& Aquinas);
(4) The extended medieval debate about realism versus nominalism (i.e., whether
universals exist);
(5) The emergence, development, and gradual evolution away from Aristotelian
conceptions of the laws of physics, the nature of the universe, and our
place in it.
As evident in this selection of topics, the focus of this course will rely
heavily on the interplay between theology, science, & philosophy in this
period. For medieval philosophy was not conducted independently of
concerns and convictions in these areas.
Course Requirements:
Exams: There will be three exams, mostly non-cumulative, except for comparative questions. Dates are noted in the reading assignment calendar on pp. 3-5 of the syllabus. Each exam will consist of a combination of multiple choice questions, quotation ID discussion Qs, and mid-length essay Qs (i.e., four or five paragraphs), with most of the weight on the quotation and essay questions. For each exam, the focus will be primarily on material covered since the previous exam, but there may be some comparative questions which will depend on your familiarity with earlier topics. I do hand out test-preparation study questions about a week in advance of each exam.
Commentary Papers: You will be required to submit two commentary
papers of three to five pages each (typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman 12 or
equivalent, with 1" margins), offering a critical analysis of some aspect
of one of our readings. These are not to be conceived as research term
papers involving external secondary sources. The point of this exercise
is to use your own skills of critical analysis to develop some comparative
analysis of some aspect of the primary source material. Your paper should
not merely be expository, but evaluative in some way. I.e., you need to
develop a thesis and an argument in defense of that thesis, by way of analysis
or anticipation of possible objections
The first commentary paper is a specific assignment: it will focus on
Lucian, "Some Awkward Questions for Zeus", one of your reading
assignments for 9/6. That reading won't be discussed in class, but is
relevant to themes raised in the reading material assigned on the Epicureans
and Stoics for that day, and also to readings from Books V and VIII in
Augustine's City of God that are assigned for the following day. You may
discuss any aspect of Lucian's satirical commentary you wish in comparison with
some aspect of one of these other reading assignments. For example, do
Lucian's criticisms apply to the Epicurean views that we've read? To the
Stoic views? If so, how in either case? Are they fair criticisms?
Are Lucian's concerns different from Augustine's? If so, how? If
not, what is it that they share in common, and do they respond to the problems
in the same way? These are just sample questions. The idea is to
pick one, or an entirely different one on your own, and deal with that
issue. Don't attempt to do everything in a three to five page
paper! The paper is due on 9/13 (a week after the first of these assigned
readings). The second commentary paper is due 10/11. The topic is up to you,
but need to focus on material covered between the first and second due date, in
some fashion. In each case, you need to do something novel with the
material, rather than simply regurgitating what we discussed in class.
Comparative topics, like the first one, are fine, but so is novel analysis of a
single text. If you hit upon a topic you like, my advice is to work on
that paper straight away, and turn it in early. Your life will be easier
if you don't delay until the due date is looming.
Term Research Paper: You will be required to submit a final research paper (10 pp., due last day of class), on a topic of your choice. It could focus on some of the material we have read in class, or on something we have not read. For this paper I will expect some (modest) outside research in secondary source material, and I expect some of that research to come from print sources (i.e., no bibliographies filled with internet references). Be mindful of the College’s honor code, and be sure to adequately cite all your sources. Draft papers may be submitted for comments anytime prior to the Thanksgiving break.
Grading:
Commentary Papers 10% each
Class Presentation 10%
Exams
15% each
Research Paper
20%
Class Participation 05%
Ancient Antecedents of the Medieval Worldview
8/25 Introduction: The Ancient Two-Sphere Universe
<Ancient
Astronomy Chronology>
8/30 <Plato on Knowledge, Observation, and
Nature>
<Plato,
Timaeus -- excerpts>
9/1 <Aristotle on Nature and Science>
<Aristotle
on Universals>
9/6 <Epicureanism and Stoicism>
<Lucian,
"Some Awkward Questions for Zeus">
The Reevaluation of Classical Philosophy I:
Augustine on Plato, Fate, Free Will, Moral Responsibility, & Sin
9/8 <Augustine, City of God, Bk VIII,
excerpts>
<Augustine, City of God, Bk V -- excerpts>
9/13 Augustine, On Free Choice of the Will, Bk I (1-28)
[First commentary paper due
date]
9/15 Augustine, On Free Choice of the Will, Bk II (29-69)
9/20 <Augustine, Confessions, "The
Psychology of Infancy" & "The Stolen Fruit">
<Augustine,
City of God, Bk XIV -- excerpts>
9/22 <Augustine & Pelagius>
Augustine, On Free Choice
of the Will, "Reconsiderations" (124-129)
9/27 <Hebrew Bible, Paul, & Peter Damian on
Human Sexuality>
<Peter
de Rosa, Pope Patrick -- excerpt>
<Karol
Wojtyla, Love and Responsibility -- excerpt>
9/29 EXAM #1: Augustine & the Ancient World [10/5 = last day to
withdraw with 'W']
The Reevaluation of Classical Philosophy II:
Boethius on Stoicism & Christianity, Divine Foreknowledge, &
Universals
10/4 Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy, Book I: Meter 1, Prose 1,
3, & 4 (1-3, 6-8, 8-14);
Book II: Prose 1, Prose/Meter 6, Prose/Meter 7, Prose 8 (22-24,
39-46);
Book III: Prose 2, Prose/Meter 9 (50-53, 67-72)
10/6 Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy, Book IV: Prose 5, 6
(110-11, 112-120);
Book V: Prose 3-6 (130-150, but skip Meter sections)
10/11 <Boethius, "2nd Commentary on Porphyry's
Isagoge">
<Gregory
the Great on Biblical Exegesis>
[Second commentary paper
due date]
Twelfth Century Renaissance: Anselm of Canterbury & Peter Abelard
10/13 Williams Introduction (Anselm, vii-xi)
Anselm, Proslogion,
Prologue & Chapters 2-7 (Anselm, 2-3, 7-11)
Anselm, "Gaunilo's Reply
on Behalf of the Fool" (Anselm, 28-33)
Anselm, "Reply to
Gaunilo" (Anselm, 36-46)
10/18 Fall Break
10/20 Marilyn McCord Adams, "Introduction: Abelard's Life and
Works" (Abelard, vii-ix)
Abelard, Dialogue Between a
Philosopher & a Jew, ¶s 1-8, 11-58, 71-79, 90-91, 126-34
(Abelard, 59-60, 63-71, 76-77,
79, 87-89)
Abelard, Dialogue Between
Philosopher & a Christian, ¶s 137, 145-50, 177-226, 246-54
(Abelard, 91, 92-93, 99-105,
110-111)
10/25 Abelard, Ethics, ¶s 1-131 (Abelard, 1-29)
10/27 Abelard, Ethics, ¶s 150-60, 167-69, 182-85 (Abelard, 33-36, 39, 43-44)
11/1 EXAM #2: Boethius, Anselm, & Abelard
High Middle Ages: Averroes, Maimonides, Aquinas, & Ockham
11/3 <Usamah Ibn Munqidh>
<Islamic
Intellectual Renaissance>
<Medieval
Critics of the Aristotelian Universe>
<Maimonides,
"Five Theories Concerning Providence">
11/8 <Averroes, The Harmony of Religion and
Philosophy>
<Condemnations of 1277>
11/10 <Aquinas, Summa Theologia,
Existence of God>
<Aquinas,
Summa Theologia, Divine Knowledge & Universals>
11/15 <Aquinas, Summa Theologia, Free Will, Divine Foreknowledge, & Predestination>
11/17 <Noone, "William of Ockham,"
excerpt on Universals, 697-701>
<Ockham,
Ordinatio: Question 3, & Quodlibet V: Question 10, excerpts>
11/22 <Noone, "William of Ockham,"
excerpt on Universals, 702-706>
<Ockham,
Ordinatio: Question 8, excerpts>
[Research paper due date]
11/24 Thanksgiving Break
From a Closed World to an Infinite Universe
11/29 <Copernicus, De Revolutionibus>
<Kepler,
Harmonies of the World>
<Fate
of the Two-Sphere Universe>
12/1 <Galileo, Dialogue Concerning the Two
Chief World Systems, excerpts>
<Galileo
& the Church>
12/6 <Descartes, Principles of Philosophy, excerpts>
Exam #3: High Middle Ages & Transition to Modernism
(Scheduled time period during finals week)