Catalog Description

Advisory: Eligibility for ENGL 1A
Hours: 54 lecture
Description: A study of the origin and rise of Western Philosophy from the pre-Socratic philosophers, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, up to the Hellenistic period. (C-ID PHIL 130) (CSU, UC)

Course Student Learning Outcomes

  • CSLO #1: Compare and contrast the various Pre-Socratic contributions to Philosophy.
  • CSLO #2: Explain major philosophical positions of Socrates and Plato.
  • CSLO #3: Explain major philosophical positions of Aristotle.
  • CSLO #4: Describe, compare and contrast Stoicism, Epicureanism and Skepticism.

Effective Term

Fall 2022

Course Type

Credit - Degree-applicable

Contact Hours

54

Outside of Class Hours

108

Total Student Learning Hours

162

Course Objectives

1. Compare and contrast ancient Greek mythological methods of knowledge and accounts of reality with the methods of the pre-Socratic philosophers;
2. Describe, compare and contrast the varying accounts of the composition of Reality according to the original fragments of Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Xenophanes, Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Parmenides, The Eleatics, Empedocles, and Anaxagoras;
3. Analyze the shift in philosophical approach and methodology in the historical movement from the pre-Socratic philosophers to Socrates;
4. Read primary philosophical texts of Plato and explain Platonic and Socratic Epistemology, Metaphysics, Ethics and Political Philosophy;
5. Read primary philosophical texts of Aristotle and describe and explain Aristotelian Epistemology, Metaphysics, Ethics and Political Philosophy;
6. Compare and contrast Plato's philosophical concepts with Aristotelian philosophy;
7. Describe, compare and contrast Ancient Greek Stoic, Skeptic and Epicurean approaches to Philosophy.

General Education Information

  • Approved College Associate Degree GE Applicability
    • AA/AS - Literature & Language
  • CSU GE Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU approval)
    • CSUGE - C2 Humanities
  • Cal-GETC Applicability (Recommended - Requires External Approval)
    • IGETC Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU/UC approval)
      • IGETC - 3B Humanities

    Articulation Information

    • CSU Transferable
    • UC Transferable

    Methods of Evaluation

    • Classroom Discussions
      • Example: In an instructor led discussion students will be prompted to distinguish Stoicism from Epicureanism in relation to how each philosophical position recommends how to deal with tragedy. A formative assessment will follow and students will answer the following question: "What the clearest point you learned today?"; and, "What point remains least clear to you?"
    • Essay Examinations
      • Example: Instructions: In a 500 word essay, answer all parts of the question below using a large Blue Book. Interpretations need to be thorough, reasonable in relation to the text, and justified using quotes from the related dialogues. In Plato’s Apology, Socrates compares himself both to Achilles and to a gadfly. Explain the moral and political significance of these analogies with respect to Socrates’ statement, “To let no day pass without discussing goodness and all the other subjects about which you have heard me talking and examining both myself and others is really the very best thing that a man can do, and life without this sort of examination is not worth living” [38a]. Student essays will be assessed based upon a rubric that includes criteria such as correctness of response, thoroughness of explanation, relevance of quote provided, and demonstration of "justification" by way of quote selection.
    • Objective Examinations
      • Example: Students will take a multiple-choice examination aligning the various pre-Socratic contributions to philosophy by assessing student knowledge of names, terms, and concepts of the pre-Socratic period of philosophy. Example: According to Aristotle, the moral virtues (moral goodness) is a result of what? A. Being instructed B. Practice C. A well-ordered soul D. Discipline and punishment
    • Projects
      • Example: Pre-Socratic Comparison Chart: Create a chart comparing and contrasting the pre-Socratic philosophers regarding (a) What is ultimately Real? (b) how do we know what's real? and (c) what accounts for diversity and change? Charts will be evaluated based upon (a) correctness and (b) thoroughness.

    Repeatable

    No

    Methods of Instruction

    • Lecture/Discussion
    • Distance Learning

    Lecture:

    1. Instructor will assign reading selections from a collection of pre-Socratic Philosophers and have students outline the major points. In class, the instructor will lead students in discussions comparing and contrasting the assertions of the pre-Socratic Philosophers with regards to the basic substance of reality and their theory of how one substance changes into the plurality of objects we experience.

    Distance Learning

    1. Through video lecture, the instructor will demonstrate the historical and political context of Plato's dialogue, Apology. In an online discussion assignment, students will be asked to interpret Socrates' declaration that "the unexamined life isn't worth living" from 38a of the Apology, and support their interpretation using the primary text of Plato to support their interpretation. Students will reply to a peer post by reviewing it for accuracy, thoroughness, and justification.

    Typical Out of Class Assignments

    Reading Assignments

    1. Read Plato's dialogue, Meno, and come to class able to describe Socrates' theory of knowledge. 2. Read Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics, book 1, and come to class able to describe why happiness is not the same thing as pleasure according to Aristotle.

    Writing, Problem Solving or Performance

    1. Group Presentation: Instructions: Students will be organized into groups of three to five students and assigned one of the following pre-Socratic philosophers. (1) Thales (2) Anaximander (3) Anaximenes (4) Xenophanes (5) Pythagoras (6) Heraclitus (7) Parmenides (9) Anaxagoras (10) Empedocles (11) Democritus Each individual must identify the particular task and role contributing to the presentation. Groups can present in any way that effectively communicates answers to the following questions to the class: 1. Identify the pre-Socratic philosopher, and the main sources of him. 2. What is his position on the nature of reality, and how do they justify this? 3. How could it be said that their ideas about the nature of reality are reasonable? 4. What other claims does he make (e.g., knowledge, the soul, ethics or theology)? 5. Give some contemporary examples of how these ideas are still with us today. 6. In what way is this individual doing philosophy and in what way is he not? 2. Writing: Instructions: After reading Plato’s dialogue, Euthyphro, answer the following question in a 500 word essay. Identify an instance of Socrates guiding Euthyphro towards a definition of Piety by showing how Euthyphro’s definition cannot possibly be the case because it entails a contradiction.

    Other (Term projects, research papers, portfolios, etc.)

    Required Materials

    • The First Philosophers: The Presocratics and Sophists
      • Author: Robin Waterfield
      • Publisher: Oxford University Press
      • Publication Date: 2009
      • Text Edition: 1st
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:
    • The Nicomachean Ethics
      • Author: Aristotle
      • Publisher: Penguin
      • Publication Date: 2004
      • Text Edition:
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:
    • A Plato Reader: Eight Essential Dialogues
      • Author: Plato
      • Publisher: Hackett Publishing Co
      • Publication Date: 2012
      • Text Edition:
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:
    • Readings in Ancient Greek Philosophy: From Thales to Aristotle
      • Author: S. March Cohen
      • Publisher: Hackett Publishing Co
      • Publication Date: 2011
      • Text Edition: 4th
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:
    • Stoics, Epicureans and Sceptics: An Introduction to Hellenistic Philosophy
      • Author: R.W. Sharples
      • Publisher: Routledge
      • Publication Date: 1996
      • Text Edition:
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:

    Other materials and-or supplies required of students that contribute to the cost of the course.