602 Spring 06 syllabus

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 course 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, in these works? What does it do politically, pedagogically, dramatically? How can we tell what Plato is trying to convey or give to us?

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

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 7:20 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.

Written Work

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.

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 student=s 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 (below). 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.

Important Dates this Semester

Honor Code Statement

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

PHIL 602, Section 001

Spring 2006 W 7:20 - 10:00 PM

Selected Dialogues of 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

Course web site: http://www.gmu.edu/courses/phil/ancient/p6026.htm

Prof. Cherubin’s main web site (has links to materials useful in this course): http://www.gmu.edu/courses/phil/ancient/index.htm

Philosophy Department web site: http://www.gmu.edu/departments/philosophy/

Description