Reading philosophical texts: Antiquity [LPHIB221]

Learning outcomes

This unit contributes to the development of the student's attitude to reading and explaining some of the essential texts of ancient philosophy. This reading task does not require any particular knowledge of ancient languages. However, the student will be confronted with ancient texts in their original language and guided to tame them. At the end of the course, the student should be able to • read and explain an ancient philosophical text : • clarify what the text actually said; • provide a synthetic summary of the text, highlighting the different articulations of the argument proposed by the author; • to restore the historical framework in which the text was created. • produce a written summary of the work done on one of the texts examined in the course (explanation of the text as well as formulating a more personal critique of the text).

Objectives

This teaching unit aims to introduce students, philosophers or not, to the reading of a philosophical text from antiquity. It aims to lead them to approach an ancient philosophical text, familiarizing them with its specific characteristics (handwritten text, copied several times, often translated - from Greek or Latin - into several modern languages, etc.), and its specific concepts. ), and its own concepts. The aim is to teach them to carry out an in-depth explanation of the ancient philosophical text in order to understand what the text really meant, given its author and the context in which it was produced. The texts will be read in French, but a systematic look will be taken at the text in its original language. However, no particular linguistic knowledge is required. The student will be asked to participate actively in the course and will be expected to give an oral presentation and to write a paper on the texts discussed in class. For those students taking the course who are not enrolled in the 'Philosophy' teaching profile, the objective remains the same. The student will be guided to acquire the ability to read an ancient philosophical text, but a special programme will be considered for them.

Content

Each year, the teaching unit focuses on the reading of a text (or several texts) belonging to the Greek and Latin philosophical tradition. In 2020-2021 the course will seek to understand what the ancients thought about the notion of freedom and democracy. While paying attention to texts from antiquity, this teaching unit proposes to dialogue with contemporary texts that question the issue of democracy as well as the relationship between nature and culture, norm and nature, justice, etc. Texts discussed • Plato: Apology of Socrates, Protagoras, Republic (extracts) • Aristotle: Nicomachean Ethics, (extracts) and Politics • Epictetus: Manual, (extracts) • Greek tragedies • Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War (extracts)