Class meeting time: MWF 2:00-2:50

Location: Alphin Building, Long Room

Professor: Dr. Martha Beck

Office: Alphin 214

Office phone: 793-1774

Home phone: 793-2740

Office hours: 4:00-5:00 MTWRF and by appointment

Aristotle in Outline, by Dr. Timothy Robinson

In his book, Aristotle in Outline, Dr. Timothy Robinson gives four reasons for why reading Aristotle is still worthwhile:

1. "Aristotle…represents a case study in systematic thought, and one which is more accessible than many of the alternatives" (5).
2. "Aristotle is a very methodical philosopher…the procedures he follows are deliberate and consistent…anyone who wants to study methodical thinking in one of its best representatives could hardly do better than…Aristotle" (5).
3. "his [Aristotle’s] system and his methods, as well as the particular conclusions he reached, have been tremendously influential" (5).
4. "Aristotle’s…theories of ethics and political science remain viable competitors against more recent theories" (6).
5. "In reading Aristotle, you’ll encounter a mind of the first rank…One comes away from Aristotle’s philosophy with a powerful sense that here, if anywhere, was a person who felt at home in this universe" (7).

Robinson, Timothy A. Aristotle in Outline. Indianapolis, Indiana: Hackett Publishing

Company, Inc., 1995.

Assuming Dr. Robinson is correct, the course objectives are as follows:

1. To enable students to study a systematic and methodical mind.
2. To enable students to understand the influence of Aristotle’s views on Western society both in the past and today.
3. We will focus particularly on Aristotle’s Ethics and Politics because the ideas in these texts have had and continue to have the most impact on Western society and culture.
4. We will also examine the biases of Aristotle and the biases which have evolved from Aristotle’s ideas. We will discuss whether Aristotle’s view has led Westerners to be blind to the virtues of other cultural traditions and have justified Western oppression of people with different ideas and cultures. One could not do much better than a careful reading of Aristotle in order to study the overall strengths and weaknesses of Western culture.
5. Students will be able to reflect on whether they have consciously or unconsciously absorbed the beliefs of Aristotle. They can then go on to adapt those ideas they think are worth preserving and try to change those aspects of Aristotle’s thought which they believe need to be changed or rejected.
6. The final paper will enable each student to apply Aristotle to his or her life and interests so that each student can continue to reflect on the influence of Aristotle’s ideas on the culture in which they live for the rest of their lives.

The class will consist mostly in dialogue about the readings. Students will lead about two class sessions out of the three each week.

Attendance is required. If you are absent, leave a voice mail message (1774) or an email message (mbeck@lyon.edu) or a note on my office door (Alphin 214) within 24 hours of the class you missed. Otherwise, I will assume the absence was unexcused. If you have a legitimate reason for being gone, you may hand in a written assignment for the reading that day and receive credit.

Ten written assignments related to the reading for the day: 10 points each. These will be posted on the Website and will be due when class begins. Total: 100 points.

Five class presentations: each of you will be responsible to begin the class discussion five times during the semester, beginning September 17 through November 7. These presentations will cover Aristotle’s Ethics, Politics, Poetics and Rhetoric. I will lecture and give assignments for the first four weeks of class, when we are studying an overview of Aristotle’s works and doing a close reading of Aristotle’s DeAnima and during the last few weeks when we are reading Aristotle’s Physics and Metaphysics, because these books are much more difficult to understand. 20 points each. Total: 100 points.

One paper, 1,000 words, on Aristotle’s De Anima. Due Monday, September 17. Topics will be available on the Website a week before the paper is due. 40 points.

Final paper: 1,500 words minimum. I will design a topic which I think reflects your own interest in Aristotle’s ideas as it evolves over the semester. You don’t have to write on my topic and I will have a few generic topics to choose from. Due Thursday, December 13 at noon in my office. 60 points.

If you will be unable to attend class the day you are supposed to give a presentation you must contact me before the class, preferably a few days before, so I can prepare differently. I will use my judgment, based on the reason for the absence, to determine whether or how much your grade will be lowered. If you are sick, your grade will not be lowered, as long as you hand in an outline of what you had planned to present within a week after you were due to present (unless you are very ill). If you are absent on a day when a written assignment is due, contact me within 24 hours and we will discuss how you can make up the work.

Please read the section on the honor code in your student handbook very carefully. The discussion of plagiarism is very important. If you are quoting or even paraphrasing something from one of the course texts, simply refer to the author and title of each course text (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, p. x). If you are using a text other than those in the syllabus, please give a complete bibliographic note. I don’t care which bibliographic style you use.

Please feel free to discuss ideas with anyone, especially members of the class. When you sit down to write your papers, however, make sure your thesis statement, the quotes you use to support it, and the organizational structure of the paper are all your own work.

August 29: Introduction

August 31:

1) Read Tim Robinson, Aristotle in Outline, p. 3-22: Before doing the reading, however, I want you to create an object someone would/could refer to as a "sculpture."

2) Then write down answers to the following questions: What is it? Why did you make it? Is there a reason behind the materials you chose? The color? The shape?

3) Read Aristotle in Oubline through p. 22. Then write down answers to the following: What would Aristotle say are the four causes of your sculpture: What is the material cause? The efficient cause? The formal cause? The final cause?

4) Bring to class an object from the natural world (a stick, leaf, etc.). Write down answers to the following: What would Aristotle say are the four causes of this object: What is the material cause? The efficient cause? The formal cause? The final cause?

September 3: Read Robinson, p. 22-42. An assignment will be announced.

Sept. 5: Robinson, p. 42 (only) and excerpts (xeroxed handouts) from Aristotle’s Metaphysics and On the Parts of Animals.

Sept. 7: Robinson, p. 43-45 and Aristotle’s DeAnima, Book One, p. 9-35.

Sept. 10: De Anima, Book Two, p. 37-71.

Sept. 12: De Anima, Book Three, p. 73-103 and Robinson, p. 43-51.

Sept. 14: xeroxed handouts: Paul Davies: "Mind and Soul" and "The Self"

Sept. 17: Paper #1 due. Read Nicomachean Ethics, Book I.

Sept. 19: Ethics, Book II; Student presentations #1

Sept. 21: Ethics, Book III; Student presentations #1

Sept. 24: Ethics, Book IV; Student presentations #1

Sept. 26: Ethics, Book V; Student presentations #1

Sept. 28: no class; I will be out of town

Oct. 1: Ethics, Book VI; Student presentations #2

Oct. 3: Ethics, Book VII; Student presentations #2

Oct. 5: Ethics, Book VIII; Student presentations #2

Oct. 8: Ethics, Book IX; Student presentations #2

Oct. 10: Ethics, Book X, conclusions; Student presentations #3

Oct. 15: Politics, Book I; Student presentations #3

Oct. 17: Politics, Book II; Student presentations #3

Oct. 19: Politics, Book III; Student presentations #3

Oct. 22: Politics, Book IV; Student presentations #4

Oct. 24: Politics, Book V; Student presentations #4

Oct. 26: Politics, Book VI; Student presentations #4

Oct. 29: Politics, Book VIII, conclusions; Student presentations #4

Oct. 31: Poetics, p. 1-25; Student presentations #5

November 2: Poetics, p. 26-42; Student presentations #5

Nov. 5: Rhetoric, excerpts (xeroxed); Student presentations #5

Nov. 7: Rhetoric, excerpts (xeroxed); Student presentations #5

Nov. 9: Philoctetes (a tragedy)

Nov. 12: Philoctetes

Nov. 14: Philoctetes

Nov. 16: Abraham Lincoln speeches: xeroxed

Nov. 19: Physics, page numbers TBA

Nov. 26: Physics, page #s TBA

Nov. 28: Physics, page #s TBA

Nov. 30: Metaphysics, page #s TBA

Dec. 3: Metaphysics, page #s TBA

Dec. 5: "The Systems View of the World: A Holistic View for Our Time," (xeroxed)

Dec. 7: Conclusions, discuss final papers