PHIL 421, Section 001
Spring 2006 M W 4:30 - 5:45 PM
SEMINAR IN PHILOSOPHY: PLATO
Knowledge, Justice, and Good
Instructor: Prof. Cherubin
Office: Robinson B462
Office Hours: M 1:45 - 2:45, W 1:45 - 2:45 and 6:00 - 7:00 PM; further times available by appointment
Office Phone: 993-1332
E-Mail: rcherubi@gmu.edu
Description
This course will study three works of Plato: Meno, Theaetetus, and Philebus.
These three works all pose questions about the nature and possibility
of knowledge, the nature of human good, the nature and possibility of
right or justice, and - crucially - the relationships between these.
A guiding question will be that of what Plato has
bequeathed to us in these three works: Are there any clues as to what
he might have thought was important (or about what we might find
valuable) about addressing questions about knowledge, right, and good
together? Are there reasons to think that something is lost if these
are addressed only separately, as we are used to do today? What
problems and questions did he explore? What if any conclusions or
discoveries did he reach? What is contributed by addressing the same
(or closely related) questions in different contexts and different
dialogues?
In this seminar we will approach Plato by a close
reading of what is actually in the texts, without beginning from
certain common and problematic presuppositions about what should be in
the texts. These presuppositions include the assumption that Plato
always intends in his work to present and espouse a doctrine; that the
statements made by some character in each dialogue represent all and
only that which Plato wants us to learn from the dialogue; the
assumption that Plato’s conclusions are for the most part unconditional
and therefore are meant to be applicable across all contexts; and the
assumption that Plato always intends to provide (or believes he is
providing) an accurately detailed or verbatim account of historical
conversations. Therefore a secondary focus will be on matters related
to the problems of reading the dialogues: What could be meant, and what
of value or importance could be contributed, by Plato’s use of the
dialogue form in general and the specific frames and forms of the
individual dialogues in particular? What does the dialogue form do,
philosophically? What does it do politically, pedagogically,
dramatically? How can we tell what Plato is trying to convey or give to
us?
As in all sections of PHIL 421, students are
expected to have completed at least 9 credits in philosophy. Students
with fewer than 9 credits in philosophy may be admitted to the course
with permission of the instructor.
This course is designated as a writing-intensive (WI) course.
Aims
The course aims to give students a background in
Plato’s work on learning, wisdom (sophia and phronesis), knowledge
(episteme, gnosis, eidenai, etc.), virtue/excellence (arete), justice,
and the nature and goals of philosophy. We will focus on primary
sources. Students will develop skill in reading ancient philosophical
texts closely and critically; in writing both analytically and
constructively; and in assessing secondary sources. Students will
also investigate whether or to what extent the questions, ideas, and
ways of thinking developed by ancient philosophers may be used to
address issues of present-day significance; and they will learn to
assess, criticize constructively, and further develop these ancient
contributions.
This course aims in addition to help students
develop the skills necessary for research and communication in
philosophy. These include, but are not limited to: articulating
questions; identifying and finding electronic and print sources of
relevant information, ideas, and discussion; analyzing arguments;
evaluating and using secondary source material; and developing critical
and constructive reasoned responses to one’s questions based on
reflection on primary (Plato) and secondary source material. There will
be in-class demonstrations of research resources and practices. A
meeting with library research staff will be arranged if there is
interest.
Technology Skills
By the end of the semester students should be able
to use e-mail; to use on-line library catalogs and other library
databases including but not limited to Philosopher’s Index, JSTOR,
Ingenta, and Web of Science; to find reserve and non-reserve materials
such as books and journal articles; to use word-processing programs
such as WordPerfect or Word to format documents with correct margins
and (if needed) footnotes or endnotes; to be able to access documents
on the course web site, on other web sites, and on the GMU electronic
reserve system.
All students must make sure they have activated
their GMU e-mail accounts. If you are unsure of how to do this, please
see your instructor. (You can arrange to have messages from your GMU
account forwarded to other e-mail accounts you have.) University
policies now require students to activate their GMU e-mail accounts and
to check their GMU e-mail regularly. (See the Schedule of Classes or go
to http://www.gmu.edu/catalog/apolicies/#Anchor4 .) Try to check your
GMU e-mail account at least once per day. Many official university
communications (announcements; messages from Financial Aid, the
Library, instructors, etc.) are sent by e-mail, and students are
responsible for knowing the information conveyed in this way. If I need
to communicate with students in between class meetings (for example, if
a class is cancelled due to weather conditions and I need to alter the
schedule of readings), I will do so via your GMU e-mail addresses.
Course Requirements
Texts
1. Plato, Meno. Trans. Grube. Hackett Publishing Co. Required.
2. Plato, Theaetetus. Trans. Levett. Hackett. Required.
3. Plato, Philebus. Trans. Frede. Hackett. Required.
All of these should be available in the GMU Bookstore. If you already
own other translations, you may use them; please bring up in class any
ways in which these translations differ from the ones ordered for the
class, as these differences can be instructive.
4. Some additional short texts (original
translations, supplements to lecture notes, etc.) will be made
available on the course web site.
5. Further readings, some but not all of them
required, will be placed on reserve, either in the Johnson Center
Library or on electronic reserve. These will be indicated on our course
web site.
6. Some supplementary materials in the form of
journal articles will be found either in the Periodicals Section of
Fenwick Library, or in on-line journal databases.
Please check our course web site
at least once per week to see new postings and links concerning
supporting materials (recommended readings, things you might find
useful in your papers, etc.).
Classwork
Unless otherwise noted, class sessions begin at 4:30 PM. Students are
expected to come to each class session having read the material
assigned for that day, and prepared to discuss it or to ask thoughtful
questions about it. Thoughtful class participation is expected. Please
bring to class each day the text(s) we will be discussing that day.
If you don’t have questions you haven’t done the reading.
Written Work
1. Four short papers (about 5 pages each).
Each week, I will assign either an exegesis (a passage of text to
explicate) or a question or both. Each week you should select a maximum
of one of these passages to explicate OR one question to answer.
Your response should be about 5 pages in length (4 full pages minimum,
6 maximum). Each paper will be due in class the week after it is
assigned. In other words, some weeks you will explicate one passage,
some weeks you will answer one question, and some weeks you will do
neither. Everyone, however, is to do the first week’s writing
assignment. (If you choose to do more than 4 short papers, I will count
the 4 highest grades.)
2. One longer semester paper
(about 15 pages). The final version of this paper will be handed in on
the day scheduled as your final exam day, May 10. An outline of this
paper will be due March 1, and a rough draft will be due on April 5.
The outline and draft will not receive letter grades, but they will
receive comments. The semester paper must focus on material from one or
more of the dialogues under study in this course.
Students will select and
develop their own paper topics, subject to instructor approval. Paper
topics must be approved by the instructor before the final version of
the paper is written. Guidance and help in identifying and developing a
topic will be available. Approval of the outline constitutes approval
of the topic. If, after the outline is approved, you decide to change
your topic, you must submit a brief description of the change to me and
I must approve it before you write the final version of the paper.
Papers on topics that have not secured instructor approval will not be
accepted.
Further details on the specifics
of outlines, drafts, and papers will be distributed and discussed in
class.
There is no final exam for this course.
Please do not submit assignments
via e-mail. Attachments frequently fail to open, material that is
pasted into the body of an e-mail message sometimes comes through with
pieces of text missing, and viruses are sometimes inadvertently
transmitted via attachments.
Grading
The short papers taken together
will account for 60% of your grade. The longer semester paper will
account for 40% of your grade. Regular and thoughtful class
participation is helpful to your grade, especially in situations where
your numerical average comes out in between two letter grades.
To get an A on a paper, you need
to: answer the question(s) correctly (there may be several ways to do
this); cover your topic thoroughly; follow all instructions; explain
how you came to your conclusions if any; support your conclusions (if
any) or explain why you have doubts; show your reasoning; make no
factual errors. To get an A+ you must do all the things that would earn
an A, in a way that shows a higher level of understanding and clarity
(for example, presenting an especially comprehensive explanation or an
especially detailed analysis or an especially nuanced conclusion).
A paper that gets a B is one
that gets most parts of the question(s) right, but makes some
noticeable and relevant factual error OR does not answer the
question(s) completely (leaves out something fairly important) OR makes
a relevant error in answering the question OR makes a relevant error in
reasoning or in understanding of the point or text studied OR does not
show the students understanding or reasoning OR comes to unexplained
conclusions.
A paper that gets a C is one
that answers the question somewhat, but leaves out crucial points OR
makes several significant factual errors OR includes little
explanation or shows little reasoning OR combines several of the
problems mentioned in the paragraph on “B” papers and exams OR is not
written clearly enough to convey your understanding of certain
important points.
A paper that gets a D shows
minimal understanding of the texts OR covers little of the question(s)
correctly OR makes major factual errors that undermine your answers OR
is so unclear that I can only tell whether a few parts are right OR
includes no explanations.
A paper will get an F if it
covers less than 60% of the question(s) or topic correctly OR if it
does not address the question(s) OR if it is so unclear that I cannot
tell what you are saying.
Grades of A-, B+, B-, C+,
etc. will also be given. An A- paper is between an A paper and a B
paper but closer to an A paper; a B+ paper is between an A paper and a
B paper but closer to a B paper, etc.
As required by University
policy, a letter grade of A+ is equivalent to a numerical grade of 4.0;
a grade of A is also equivalent to a numerical grade of 4.0; a grade of
A- is equivalent to a 3.67; a B+ is equivalent to a 3.33; a B is
equivalent to a 3.0; etc.
For a full listing of the University’s policy for converting letter
grades into numerical grades to compute your GPA (grade-point average),
see the University Catalog online at http://www.gmu.edu/catalog/apolicies/examsgrades.html
Late assignment policy
Work that is handed in late
with a documented legitimate excuse will be accepted without penalty.
Examples of documented legitimate excuses include a doctor’s note or
emergency room receipt if the absence was due to illness; a receipt
from a mechanic for emergency car repairs on the day of class; an
official document (such as a syllabus) from one of your other courses
proving that you had a required field trip for that class on the day
our class meets; an official document from your workplace proving
that your job sent you out of town on the day our class meets; an
official document from an athletic team proving that you had a
competition on the day our class meets; etc.
Other work that is handed in
late, without a documented legitimate excuse, will lose one grade
increment per class session that it is late. For example, an assignment
that would receive a B+ if handed in on a due date of Feb. 15 will
receive a B if handed in on Feb. 16 or 17 or 20 (the 18th and 19th are
a weekend), a B- if handed in on Feb. 20 or 21; and so on. The maximum
penalty is two full letter grades: assignments handed in three or more
weeks late will lose two letter grades. In the case of the short
papers, the class will be discussing the assigned passages on the due
date. Therefore any exegesis paper or other short paper that is handed
in late must NOT contain material taken from notes on the lecture and
discussion on the original due date. A late short paper found to
contain material from notes taken in class on the original due date
will not be accepted. Short papers will be accepted late only if they
contain solely the student’s own analyses.
Policy concerning required assignments that are not handed in at all
Any required assignment that
you do not submit by the time that the last assignment is due will
receive a grade of F, unless you have requested a grade of IN (see
below).
Policy concerning grades of IN (incomplete)
Grades of IN will be given only in either of the following situations:
(1) If you submit a written request for a grade of IN at least 24 hours before the last assignment is due, OR
(2)
If a sudden emergency arises less than 24 hours before the assignment
is due AND you can provide documentation of this emergency (as
described above).
If you do not request (in writing) a
grade of IN and cannot provide documentation of emergency, you will
receive a grade of F for each assignment that is missing as of the end
of the business day on May 10. If you provide a written request for a
grade of IN and do not provide documentation of emergency or other
legitimate excuse (medical notes, etc.), the work you submit after the
semester ends will be accepted but will be subject to the usual grading
penalties. If you request a grade of IN and also provide documentation
of emergency or other legitimate excuse, there will be no grading
penalty.
Special situations
If you have a learning disability, physical disability, or other
condition that requires that you receive modified assignments,
note-takers, extended time for assignments, etc., please get the proper
documentation from the Disabled Students Office to me as soon as
possible, so that we can set up appropriate arrangements. If you
have any other special situation (a temporary medical condition, for
example) that requires that you receive modified assignments, extended
assignment time, etc., please get the proper documentation to me as
soon as possible so that we can set up appropriate arrangements. Please
take a moment (before or after class, in office hours, etc.) to make
sure I understand exactly what you will need. Do not wait until just
before the due date of the final assignment to do this; if you wait too
long, there may not be time to set up the arrangements you need.
Honor Code policy
You are responsible for knowing, understanding, and obeying the
University Honor Code and the Honor Code Statement for this course. For details please see the Honor Code Statement attached at the end of this syllabus. The policy for this class is in accordance with University policy as outlined in the online University Catalog at http://www.gmu.edu/catalog/apolicies/honor.html. If you have any questions, please ask your instructor.
Schedule
Please note that this
schedule may change slightly should that become necessary. Any changes
that occur will be announced as soon as the instructor knows of them.
Please check the schedule of readings on the web site regularly for
updates.
This schedule lists the parts of
Plato’s texts on which lecture and discussion will focus each day.
Since Plato did not divide the works into sections, and the dialogues
present essentially continuous action or speech, the parts cannot
justly be studied in isolation from one another or from the wholes of
which they are parts. Therefore it is strongly recommended that you
read the whole of each dialogue at least once by the second week in
which it is under discussion (for example, it is a good idea to read
the whole Meno at least once by February 2.) Then go over the specific part assigned for the week.
Jan. 23: Introduction
Jan. 25: Meno 70a-74b
Jan. 30 - Feb. 2: Meno 74b-86c
Feb. 6 - 8: Meno 86c - 95a
Feb. 13: Meno 95a - 100b
Feb. 15: Theaetetus 142a - 146a
Feb. 20 - 22: Theaetetus 146a - 158b
Feb. 27 - March 1: Theaetetus 158b - 171d
March 1: Semester paper outline due
March 6 - 8: Theaetetus 171d - 183d
March 20 - 22: Theaetetus 183d - 195b
March 27 - 29: Theaetetus 195b - 206c
April 3: Theaetetus 206c - 210d
April 5: Philebus 11a - 16e
April 5: Semester paper draft due
April 10 - 12: Philebus 16a - 28c
April 17 - 19: Philebus 28c - 42e
April 24 - 26: Philebus 42e - 54a
May 1 - 3: Philebus 54a - 67b
May 10: Semester paper due
Important Dates this Semester
Last day to add classes: Feb. 7
Last day to drop classes: Feb. 20
Spring Break: March 12-19
Elective Withdrawal period ends: March 24
Last class meeting for this course: May 3
Last day of classes: May 6
Semester paper due date: May 10
******************************************************************
This course is conducted in accordance with the GMU Honor Code, as
outlined in the University Catalog. The GMU Honor Code is as follows:
To
promote a stronger sense of mutual responsibility, respect, trust, and
fairness among all members of the George Mason University community and
with the desire for greater academic and personal achievement, we, the
student members of the University Community have set forth this honor
code: Student members of the George Mason University community pledge
not to cheat, plagiarize, steal, or lie in matters related to academic
work.
See also the online version of the most recent catalog; the University Honor Code policy is outlined at http://www.gmu.edu/catalog/apolicies/#Anchor12 .
Each student is to do his or her own work; collaboration on required written assignments (exams, papers, etc.) is not permitted.
All answers on exams and papers must be in the student’s own words.1
Short quotations from the class texts or from other sources may be
used, provided that all quotations are properly attributed (you must
cite the author’s name, the title of the source, and the page number or
URL if any). If you do not know how to do this, please see your
instructor and I will be glad to help you.
Further clarification: Earlier
versions of the University Catalog provided good general accounts of
what is meant by ‘plagiarism’ and ‘cheating’ here, and I will continue
to use these for purposes of this course, as clarified below:
Earlier versions of the University Catalog included
under the heading ‘Plagiarism’ two kinds of thing. First is “[p]resenting as one’s own the words, the work, or the opinions of someone else without proper acknowledgment.”2
This means that if you quote from any source without giving proper
credit to that source, what you have done counts as plagiarism, and
will not be permitted. By ‘source,’ I mean printed material, electronic
material (information from internet sites, e-mail, etc.), films,
videotapes, audiotapes, radio, television, human beings other than
yourself, or any other presenter of verbal information. By ‘proper
credit’ I mean clear identification of the source of each quotation you
have used, including the title of the source, the name of the author
(where available), the URL if the source is a web site, the journal
title if the source is a journal article, the date of publication (or
of download from a web site), and the publisher if the source is a
book. If you have any question as to whether what you are doing
constitutes quotation from a source, or if you are unsure about how to
quote a source or how to give proper credit, please see your instructor.
The second kind of plagiarism outlined in the Catalog was “[b]orrowing
the sequence of ideas, the arrangement of material, or the pattern of
thought of someone else without proper acknowledgment.”
This means that if you take a passage from something you have read, and
change a few of the words - without changing the meaning - and then
claim that these ideas are yours (or simply fail to mention whose they
are), that is also plagiarism, and is not permitted. There is nothing
wrong with quoting (briefly) from sources; just acknowledge when you do
it. If a source you find says exactly what you yourself think, show why
you think it is correct. As long as you explain this in your own words,
there is no problem. If you have any questions about what counts as
“borrowing the sequence of ideas...,” please see your instructor, and I
will be glad to help.
Both kinds of plagiarism are forbidden at GMU.
According to the earlier catalogs whose descriptions this class will follow, “cheating
encompasses the following: (1) The willful giving or receiving of an
unauthorized, unfair, dishonest, or unscrupulous advantage in academic
work over other students.
(2) The above may be accomplished by any means whatsoever, including,
but not limited to, the following: fraud, duress, deception, theft,
trick, talking, signs, gestures, copying from another student, and the
unauthorized use of study aids, memoranda, books, data or other
information.
(3) Attempted Cheating.”
All such cheating and attempted cheating are forbidden at GMU.
Since required assignments for this course specify that students are
not to collaborate, any collaboration between students in the writing
of required assignments will be considered to be a case of giving and
receiving of “unauthorized and unfair advantage in academic work over
other students.”
Again, if you have any questions about whether something you intend to
do on a paper or exam is acceptable, please speak to your instructor
before the assignment is due. I will be glad to help you -- really.
Penalties/Responses to Plagiarism and Cheating:
A. On assignments other than the final exam or final assignment.
If there is evidence that a student has collaborated with others, or
evidence that a student as presented others’ words or sequences of
ideas as his or her own, that student’s paper or exam will be
invalidated, and the student will be required to do the paper or exam
again in a satisfactory manner in order to receive credit. (In the case
of mid-semester exams, the student may be given alternate exam
questions.) No credit will be given until the work is re-submitted
satisfactorily.
B. On the final exam or final assignment.
If there is evidence that a student has collaborated with others or has
presented others’ words or sequences of ideas as his or her own, the
case will be reported to the Honor Committee. No credit will be given
unless the case is resolved with a finding of “Not Guilty.”
Note. By ‘evidence’ I
mean something in writing that clearly shows proof of plagiarism or
illegitimate collaboration. For example, if two students submit
identically-worded answers; if two students hand in assignments written
in the same handwriting when they have previously had different
handwritings (if you are injured and suddenly cannot write, let me know
of this before making arrangements for another student to “help you”!);
if a student submits a paper which I find to consist substantially of
material copied from a book or web site without attribution and I can
get hold of a copy of the book or can download pages from the web site
-- all of these are cases where I would say that there is evidence of
an Honor Code violation. If there is any question in my mind, I will
speak to the student(s) involved before making the determination as to
whether to take action.
1. Hint:
Paper topics and exam questions will be such that you cannot answer
correctly or sufficiently simply by copying sentences from the class
texts or other sources. You will need to be able to show that you have
understood what you have read. (In general, I ask that quotations make
up no more than 20% of your answer to each numbered exam question and
no more than 20% of the total length of your papers; this gives
you space to answer the questions adequately and to discuss your
quotations.)
2. This and all quotations in this Honor Code Statement
are taken from the 2003-2004 GMU Catalog, p. 29.