Reading philosophical texts: Middle Ages [LPHIB222]

Learning outcomes

This course is designed to develop the student's attitude to reading and explaining some of the essential texts of medieval philosophy. This reading work does not require any particular knowledge of ancient languages. The student will, however, 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 synthesis of the work done on one of the texts examined in the course (explanation of the text as well as a more personal critique of the text). The course does not require any prior philosophical knowledge.

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 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

The course aims to familiarise students with the founding texts of the philosophical tradition of the Western Middle Ages. It is conceived as a direct link with the History of Medieval Philosophy course and will offer students the reading of a series of texts that will already be covered in the History course (Augustine, Anselm, Abelard, Thomas Aquinas and Duns Scotus). However, a particular theme will be addressed this year in the course: the question of the relationship between the soul and the body.