UCL - Philosophical texts I: Ancient philosophical texts

[FILO1315]

[30h] 3 credits

This course is taught in the 2d semester.

Teacher(s): Jean-Michel Counet, Pierre Destrée

Language: French

Level: First

Aims
Main themes
Content and teaching methods
Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Aims

The ability to analyze an Ancient philosophical text.

Main themes

The aim of the course is to teach the students how to arrive at an in depth "reading" and analysis of Ancient philosophical texts.

Content and teaching methods

The textual analysis is done by the lecturers themselves in a series of lectures. The aim of the lectures is to put the student in direct contact with Ancient philosophical texts so as to give the student a glimmering, through a representative selection, of the problems Ancient thinkers wrestled with and their way of philosophizing. The texts, obviously written in Greek or Latin, will be read and commented upon in French, so that knowledge of Ancient languages is not necessary. The texts chosen could be either a selection from a work by one author (selections from Aristotle's De Anima, for instance); or a selection from the entire corpus of an author (for instance the Aristotelian corpus) that treats of a specific problem; or a selection from various authors treating the same problem (for instance, the notion of "philosophy" in Antiquity). The students should look for a copy of the work being analyzed in a French translation; if the course is based on a selection of various authors, the professor will make a photocopied package available for purchase.

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Pre-requisites: Basic familiarity with the history of Greek philosophy

Assessment: an oral exam based on an essay prepared by the student.

Supporting material: texts or class notes.