PHIL 301: History of Western Philosophy: Ancient* 

Readings for PHIL 301

This page lists class readings both from our textbooks and from sources beyond the textbooks. Some of these readings are required and some are optional. They include print reserves, electronic reserves, web pages, journal (=periodical) articles from the stacks in Fenwick Library, articles in electronic journal databases, and books in the GMU libraries.

Some of the materials I have listed here are supposed to be available on-line. If you try to access them and find they are not there, let me know as soon as possible.

Note: I will update this page if I find additional items that I may place on reserve or items that become available as journal databases are upgraded.

Getting started:
General background on the first philosophers of ancient Greece

Accessing electronic journals and electronic versions of print journals

Accessing print reserves and e-reserves (electronic reserves)

List of readings

Due August 26 - 28
1. McKirahan, Philosophy Before Socrates Ch. 1, 3, 4,  and 5. Required.

2. "Anaximander's Columns Page" . Required (really short). (Clicking on the title will take you to the reading.)

3. "Illustrations of early Greek mythological views of the universe" and "Understanding Anaximander's Astronomy and Geography: Images." These images were shown in class; here is an opportunity to get a better look at them. Because these files includes copies of copyrighted material, they are only available through the Course Content tab of our Blackboard page. Required.

4. Christos Evangeliou, When Greece Met Africa. Binghamton, NY: Institute for Global Cultural Studies, 1994. On e-reserve. Optional.

5. Andrew Szegedy-Maszak, "Legends of the Greek Lawgivers." Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 19 (1978): 199-209. On e-reserve. Optional.

6. Gerard Naddaf, The Greek Concept of Nature. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2005. Optional. Available in Fenwick Library.

7. Thomas Worthen, "Herodotos' Report on Thales' Eclipse," online article in Electronic Antiquity: Communicating the Classics, vol. 3 no. 7, May 1997 . Optional . (Clicking on the title will take you to the article.)

8. Gerald Feinberg, "Physics and the Thales Problem." Journal of Philosophy 63, no. 1 (1966): 5-16. Available on-line through JSTOR. Optional.

9. D.R. Dicks, "Thales." Classical Quarterly 9 (1959): 294-309. Available on-line through JSTOR. Optional.

10. Dmitri Panchenko, "Thales and the Origin of Theoretical Reasoning." Configurations 1 (1993): 387-414. Available on-line through Project Muse. Recommended.

11. S.H. Rosen, "Thales." Arion 1 (1962): 48-64. Available on-line via JSTOR. Optional. 

12. Aryeh Finkelberg, "Anaximander's Conception of the Apeiron." Phronesis 38 (1993): 229-256. Available on-line via IngentaConnect and via JSTOR. Optional.

13. Gerard Naddaf, "On the Origin of Anaximander's Cosmological Model." Journal of the History of Ideas 59 (1998): 1-28. Available online via JSTOR and via Project Muse. Recommended but not required.

14. Dirk Couprie, "The Visualization of Anaximander's Astronomy." Apeiron 28 (1995): 159-182. Available online via JSTOR. Recommended but not required. Note: There are at least two different journals with the title Apeiron. Be sure to use JSTOR to access this article.

15. Dirk Couprie, "Anaximander's Discovery of Space." In A. Preus, ed., Essays in Ancient Greek Philosophy VI: Before Plato. SUNY Series in Ancient Greek Philosophy. Albany: SUNY Press, 2001. Recommended.

16. Robert Hahn, Anaximander and the Architects. SUNY Series in Ancient Greek Philosophy. Albany: SUNY Press, 2001. On print reserve at the JC Library. Optional. A great resource if you're interested in Anaximander; Greek, Egyptian, Near Eastern, or North African technology; archeology; etc.

17. Dirk Couprie, Robert Hahn, and Gerard Naddaf, Anaximander in Context. SUNY Series in Ancient Greek Philosophy. Albany: SUNY Press, 2003. On print reserve at the JC Library. Recommended.

18.  Joyce Engmann, "Cosmic Justice in Anaximander." Phronesis 36 (1991): 1-25. Available online via JSTOR. Optional.

19. Optional, though it isn't reading: The Aperion Project is a collaboration that creates music based on themes from ancient cultures and pre-Socratic philosophy, among other inspirations. Their main web site is here; the piece that inspired me to ask their permission to link to their site is "Anaximander's Lament," found as a free and legal download here. Enjoy! Thanks are due to Brandon Rizzo and the Aperion Project for their music, and to Mr. Rizzo for permission to link to his pages. (Note: Both Mr. Rizzo and I realize that the Greek word απειρον, alpha-pi-epsilon-iota-rho-omicron-nu, is properly transliterated as apeiron, not aperion.)


Due September 2
1. McKirahan, Philosophy Before Socrates Ch. 6 and 7. Required.

2. One or both of these descriptions of the felting process:
Either Gleason's Fine Woolies felting page OR Outback Fibers Beginning Felt-Making Instructions page (includes video). Viewing either one (your choice) is required.

3. Daniel Graham, "A New Look at Anaximenes." History of Philosophy Quarterly 20 (2003): 1-20. Available online via JSTOR. Recommended but not required.


Due September 4
1. McKirahan, Philosophy Before Socrates Ch. 7 and 9. Required.

2. J.H. Lesher, Xenophanes of Colophon. On reserve in the JC Library. Optional.

3. R. Vaas, "Time Before Time: Classifications of universes in contemporary cosmology, and how to avoid the antinomy of the beginning and eternity of the world." Optional. On the relevance of ancient Greek accounts for understanding scientific problems of today - problems modern philosophy did not address, according to Vaas.


Due September 9
1. McKirahan, Philosophy Before Socrates Ch. 9 and 10. Required.

2. Hugly and Sayward, "Did the Greeks Discover the Irrationals?" Philosophy: The Journal of the Royal Institute of Philosophy 74 (issue 288) (1999): 169-176. Available through JSTOR. Required.

3. Charles Kahn, Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2001. In Fenwick Library. Optional.

4. Walter Burkert, Lore and Science in Ancient Pythagoreanism. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1972. On print reserve at JC Library. Optional.

5. Crocker, "Pythagorean Mathematics and Music." The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 22.2 (1963): 189-198 (Part I) and 22.3 (1964): 325-335 (Part II). Available through JSTOR. Part I is recommended; Part II is optional.

6. Christoph Riedweg, Pythagoras. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2005. On print reserve at the JC Library. Optional.


Due September 11
1. McKirahan, Philosophy Before Socrates Ch. 10. Required.

2. R. Singh, "Herakleitos and the Law of Nature." Journal of the History of Ideas 24 (1963): 457-472. Required if you don't read #3 below; optional if you do. Available via JSTOR.

3. H. Granger, "Heraclitus' Quarrel with Polymathy and 'Historiê'." Transactions of the American Philological Association 134 (2004): 235-261. Required if you don't read #2 above; optional if you do. Available via JSTOR, ProQuest Research Library, and Project Muse.

4. Charles Kahn, The Art and Thought of Heraclitus. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979. On print reserve at JC Library. Optional.


Due September 16-18
1. McKirahan, Philosophy Before Socrates Ch. 11, 12, 15. Required.

2. "Notes on the Eleatics (Parmenides, Zeno, and Melissus)." Required. (Clicking on the title will take you to the reading.)

3. Another translation of the fragments of Parmenides. Required. (Clicking on the title will take you to the reading.)

4. Patricia Curd, "Parmenidean Monism." Phronesis 36 (1991): 241-264. Available online via JSTOR.  Recommended.

5. Patricia Curd, The Legacy of Parmenides, second edition. Las Vegas, NV: Parmenides Publishing, 2004. On print reserve at the JC Library. Optional.

6. Malcolm Schofield, "Did Parmenides Discover Eternity?" Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 52 (1970): 113-135. On e-reserve. Optional.

7. Arnold Hermann, To Think Like God. Parmenides Press, 2004. Optional.

8. N. Booth, "Did Melissus Believe in Incorporeal Being?" American Journal of Philology 79 (1958): 61-65. Available on-line through JSTOR.  Optional.

9. F.A. Shamsi, "A Note on Aristotle, Physics 239b5-7: What Exactly Was Zeno's Argument of the Arrow?" Ancient Philosophy 14 (1994): 51-72. Available online via Philosophy Documentation Center Collection. Recommended.

10. Alba Papa-Grimaldi, "Why Mathematical Solutions of Zeno's Paradoxes Miss the Point." Review of Metaphysics 50 (1996): 299-314. Available on-line through JSTOR,  Expanded Academic ASAP, and Infotrac Onefile. Optional.

11. Trish Glazebrook, "Zeno Against Mathematical Physics." Journal of the History of Ideas 62 (2001): 193-210. Available online via JSTOR. Recommended.
 

Due Sept. 24 - 30
1. McKirahan, Philosophy Before Socrates Chapters 13, 14, 16, and 18. Required.

2. Simon Trepanier, "The Structure of Empedocles' Fragment 17."  Essays in Philosophy 1 (2000):  1-16. Available online through Directory of Open Access Journals. Required.

3. "Notes on Anaxagoras and Philolaus." Required. (Clicking on the title will take you to the reading.)

4. D.W. Graham and E. Hintz, "Anaxagoras and the Solar Eclipse of 478 BC." Apeiron 40 (2007): 319-344. Required. Available online via JSTOR.

5. John Sisko, "Anaxagoras Betwixt Parmenides and Plato." Philosophy Compass 5 (2010): 432-442. Available online via Wiley Online Library. Recommended.

6. John Sisko, "Anaxagoras on Matter, Motion, and Multiple Worlds." Philosophy Compass 5 (2010): 443-454. Available online via Wiley. Highly recommended.

7. Ava Chitwood, "The Death of Empedocles." American Journal of Philology 107 (1986): 175-191. Available on-line through JSTOR. Recommended.

8. M.R. Wright, Empedocles: The Extant Fragments. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett, 1995. On print reserve at the JC Library. Optional.

9. J.H. Lesher, "Mind's Knowledge and Powers of Control in Anaxagoras DK B12." Phronesis 40 (1995): 125-142. Available online via JSTOR. Highly recommended (don't worry about the Greek words; Lesher translates them).

10. Patricia Curd, Anaxagoras of Clazomenae. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007. On print reserve at the JC Library. Optional.

11. Carl Huffman, Philolaus of Croton. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. On print reserve at JC Library. Optional.

12. Walter Burkert, Lore and Science in Ancient Pythagoreanism. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1972. On print reserve at JC Library. Optional.

13. Carl Huffman, "The Role of Number in Philolaus' Philosophy." Phronesis 33 (1988): 1-30. Available online through JSTOR. Recommended.


Due October 2 - 9
1. Plato, Euthyphro (in Five Dialogues). Required.

2. "Notes on Plato's Euthyphro." Required. (Clicking on the title will take you to the reading.)

3. Marlo Lewis, "An Interpretation of Plato's Euthyphro: Part One." Interpretation 12 (1984): 225-259. On e-reserve. Now also available in the online database Freely Accessible Social Science Journals. Recommended. Note: There are several journals titled Interpretation; be sure to access this one either via e-reserve or via Freely Accessible Social Science Journals.

4. ______. "An Interpretation of Plato's Euthyphro: Part Two." Interpretation 13 (1985): 33-65. On e-reserve. Now also available in the online database Freely Accessible Social Science Journals.  Recommended. Note: There are several journals titled Interpretation; be sure to access this one either via e-reserve or via Freely Accessible Social Science Journals.

5. If you have never studied Plato before, you may find it helpful to read the dialogues Apology of Socrates and Crito in Five Dialogues.


Due October 9 - 30
1. Plato, Phaedo (in Five Dialogues). Required.

2. Notes on Plato's Phaedo 70a-77e. Required.

3. Michael Davis, "Socrates' Pre-Socratism." Review of Metaphysics 33 (1980): pages 559-577. Available online via JSTOR. Recommended but not required.

4. James Arieti, "A Dramatic Interpretation of Plato's Phaedo." Illinois Classical Studies 11 (1986): 129-142. Available online via JSTOR. Recommended.

5. Diskin Clay, "Plato's First Words." Yale Classical Studies 29 (1992): 113-129. On e-reserve. Optional.

6. Charles Griswold, "E Pluribus Unum? On the Platonic 'Corpus.'" Ancient Philosophy 19 (1999): 361-397. Available online via Philosophy Documentation Center Collection. Highly recommended that you at least skim this.
 
 
Due October 30 - November 20
1. Your primary text, Aristotle's Metaphysics Book A, also known as Metaphysics Book I, can be found by following this link and clicking on Book I. This translation is by the great Aristotle scholar W.D. Ross. Required.

2. Here are some notes I have prepared on Metaphysics Book I, Chapters 1-2. Required.

3. Here are some further notes I have prepared on Metaphysics Book I, Chapter 3. Required.


Due November 20 - December 4
1. Lucretius, On the Nature of the Universe. Required.  

2. McKirahan, Philosophy Before Socrates Chapter 16. Required.

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General background on the first philosophers of ancient Greece

1. G.S. Kirk, J.E. Raven, and M. Schofield, The Presocratic Philosophers, 2d ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983. On print reserve at JC Library. Optional.

2. Jonathan Barnes, The Presocratic Philosophers, revised ed. New York and London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1982. On print reserve at JC Library. Optional.

3. Aryeh Finkelberg, "On the History of the Greek KOSMOS." Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 98 (1998): 103-136. Available on-line through JSTOR. Optional.

4. M.L. West, "Three Presocratic Cosmologies." Classical Quarterly 13 (1963): 154-176. Available on-line through JSTOR. Optional.

5. R. Martin, "The Seven Sages as Performers of Wisdom." Pages 198-127 in Cultural Poetics in Ancient Greece. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. In Fenwick Library. Optional.

6. Daniel Graham, Explaining the Cosmos. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2006. On print reserve at the JC Library. Optional.

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Accessing electronic journals and electronic versions of print journals

1. A "journal," in the sense in which the term is used in academic research, is a periodical: a publication that comes out one or more times a year to present short pieces (articles) of research by scholars. To see which journals have issues available to GMU electronically, go to the GMU Library main page, http://library.gmu.edu. Click on 'Articles & more' (left side of the page) and follow instructions from there.

2. To find the articles mentioned in the list of weekly readings above, either:
(a) Go to the 'Articles & more' search boxes and enter the name of the database in which the article appears, then go to that database and enter the title and author of the article; OR
(b) Go to the 'Articles & more' search boxes, and enter the journal title (not the article title) in the 'Search for full-text, electronic journals and publications' box. Click on the database title (JSTOR, ProQuest, etc.) that appears, and browse to reach the issue of the journal that you want.

3. Some databases that will be very useful for this class are JSTOR, ProQuest Research Library, Project Muse, Expanded Academic ASAP, and Infotrac Onefile. Many articles I have listed here can be found on one or the other of these databases, as noted. To reach them, go to the GMU Library main page, http://library.gmu.edu. Click on 'Articles & more,' then on the first letter of the database you want to search ('j' for JSTOR, etc.). Scroll down to what you want and follow instructions.
        You can also try browsing databases by subject from the same 'Articles & more' screen.
        If you're trying to log onto GMU's journal databases from off-campus, you will be asked to enter your GMU username and password - the same ones you use for your GMU email account. (That should not happen on-campus.)

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Accessing electronic reserves ("e-reserves") and print reserves

1. What are print reserves, and what are e-reserves?

• Print reserves are printed books that instructors have put onto reserve at the JC Library. These will be available to be consulted for two hours at a time, to make sure that all interested students get a chance to consult them.
• Electronic reserves (e-reserves) are electronic copies of book chapters, or of journal articles not currently available via GMU's journal databases.
• Note that electronic reserves are therefore not the same thing as electronic journals.

2. To find the print reserves for PHIL 301, go to http://library.gmu.edu and click on 'Course Reserves.'

3. Then click on 'reserve catalog.'

4. Using the drop-down box marked Instructor, select Cherubin and PHIL 301. This will  bring you to the list of print reserves. You will find the books themselves at the reserve desk in the Johnson Center Library.

5. To access the e-reserves, go to our PHIL 301 Blackboard page.

 

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*Note: As mentioned in class, a better term for what we will be studying is "ancient Mediterranean philosophy." Ancient Mediterranean philosophy does form part of the history of Western philosophy, but it also forms part of the history of some non-Western philosophy: Islamic philosophy, for example, draws upon and further develops Greek philosophy. Also, there was plenty of interaction between the Greeks, the Romans, and the Egyptians and East Africans. In addition, there are some conceptual similarities between Greek and Sanskrit thought. So, what you learn in this course will be of use in other courses on e.g. the Middle East, the Near East, North Africa, East Africa, sometimes South Asia, etc.

It is also helpful to remember that the Greeks and Romans did not see themselves as part of a "Western" culture or civilization; the notion of a "Western" culture or civilization did not exist. Moreover, geographically speaking, the Greeks and Romans saw themselves as at or close to the middle: there was some disagreement among ancient geographers, but they tended to put the center of the earth's surface either at the Nile Delta or at Delphi (in Greece). (back)

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Questions, comments?

Contact me at rcherubi(at)gmu(dot)edu.

PHIL 301: History of Western Philosophy: Ancient by Rose Cherubin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.