Unit name | History of Thought |
---|---|
Unit code | CLAS22366 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | I/5 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
Unit director | Dr. Lampe |
Open unit status | Open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | Department of Classics & Ancient History |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit introduces students to several foundational texts in western intellectual history, and to the modes of thinking and writing which characterize them. The overarching theme will be how Greeks and Romans think about and use logos (language, thought, speech) to understand and manipulate the world around them. This theme is of profound importance for western culture today, since we constantly use evaluative terms like “logical” and “illogical”. But what is logos? We’ll look at how traditions as diverse as shamanism, myth, physics, jurisprudence and politics interact in the creation of western ideas of thought, speech and knowledge.
Aims:
The aim of this unit will be to explore the emergence and transmission of a number of ancient modes of thought, studying a number of key texts and engaging with issues related to the development of knowledge and its movement through cultures and time.
On successful completion of this unit, all students should:
(through discussion and questions) and in written communication (through essay work and examinations)
Lectures, but with the use of small-group work for discussion and of informal presentations by students.
One continuous assessment essay (Level 1: 2000 words, Level 2: 2500words): 50 marks
One written examination of 90 minutes, consisting of:
(a) Comment on two out of four passages (2 x 15 marks)
(b) Write on one out of four essays (20 marks)
Total: 50 marks
Short texts: Gorgias, Helen, Palamedes, epitome of On What Is Not; Antisthenes, Ajax and Odysseus; Antiphon, Third Tetralogy; Parmenides, fragments
Plato, Timaeus. Trans. R. Waterfield. Oxford.
Lucretius, On the Nature of Things. Trans. A. E. Stallings. Penguin.