PHH 3100: ANCIENT GREEK PHILOSOPHY (sect. 04A4)
Location: Little Hall 0113
Office Hours: MF 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. (OBA)
e-mail: palmerj@ufl.edu
Time: MWF 9:35 – 10:25 a.m. (Period 3)
Instructor: Dr. John Palmer
Office: 301 Griffin-Floyd Hall (tel. 273-1815)
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is designed to familiarize students with some of the main ideas of the thinkers who stand at the
beginning of the western philosophical tradition: the Presocratics, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. This course is the
first part of the Philosophy Department's history of philosophy sequence. Together with PHH 3400: Modern
Philosophy, PHH 3100 aims to give students an understanding of the major questions addressed in the history of
Western philosophy, the range of answers offered to these questions, and the methods employed in addressing them.
PHH 3100 is required of all philosophy majors and meets an area requirement for the philosophy minor. It also
counts towards the Humanities and International General Education requirements.
REQUIRED TEXTS
The First Philosophers: The Presocratics and Sophists. Trans. Waterfield. Oxford, 2000. ISBN 019953909X.
Plato. Five Dialogues. Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo. Trans. Grube. Hackett, 1981. ISBN 0872206335.
Plato. Republic. Trans. Grube. 2nd edn. Hackett, 1992. ISBN 0872201368.
Aristotle. Introductory Readings. Trans. Irwin and Fine. Hackett, 1996. ISBN 0872203395.
Lear, Jonathan. Aristotle: The Desire to Understand. Cambridge, 1988. ISBN 0521347629.
EVALUATION
Course grades will determined via three exams, each consisting of a take-home and an in-class
portion. The take-home portion of each exam will involve writing in response to one question
selected from a prescribed set of questions posted in Sakai one week before its due date. The inclass portion of each exam will be administered on the due date of the take-home portion and
will involve true/false questions and/or multiple multiple choice questions followed by short
answer questions. Exam 1 and Exam 2 will each count for 30% of the course grade, with the
take-home and in-class portions weighted equally. Exam 3, to be administered as the course's
final exam, will count for 40% of the course grade since its in-class portion will also include an
hour-long comprehensive section covering material from the entire course. The date of each
Exam is indicated below in the schedule of course meetings. No take-home exam response will
be accepted after the beginning of the exam's in-class portion except by 24-hour prior
arrangement with the instructor. Failure to submit a take-home exam essay before the beginning
of the exam's in-class portion will result in a grade of "0" for that portion of the exam.
Grade Scale
100-93=A
92-90=A89-86=B+
85-82=B
81-79=B78-75=C+
75-72=C
71-69=C68-66=D+
65-62=D
61-60=D59-0=E
Grade Value
A=4.0
A-=3.67
B+=3.33
B=3.00
B-=2.67
C+=2.33
C=2.00
C-=1.67
D+=1.33
D=1.00
D-=0.67
E=0.00
ATTENDANCE
Attendance in this course is mandatory. Students are expected to do the assigned reading in advance and to attend
class. Failure to do so will adversely affect students' ability to perform well in this course. Penalties for absences are
as follows: more than 2 unexcused absences will result in a 5-point deduction from the final course grade; more than
4 unexcused absences will result in a 10-point deduction; more than 6 unexcused absences will result in 15-point
deduction; and more than 8 unexcused absences will result in an automatic failing grade and prohibition from
attending the remainder of the course. Absences count from the first class meeting. Absences will be excused only
upon presentation of proper written documentation verifying the reason for the absence. Acceptable reasons for
absence from class include illness, serious family emergencies, special curricular requirements (e.g., judging trips,
field trips, professional conferences), military obligation, severe weather conditions, religious holidays and
participation in official university activities such as music performances, athletic competition, or debate. Absences
from class for court-imposed legal obligations (e.g., jury duty or subpoena) will also be excused.
ACADEMIC HONESTY
All students must conform to UF’s honesty policy regarding cheating, plagiarism, and the use of copyrighted
materials, which you can find at http://www.dso.ufl.edu/judicial/academic.php. Plagiarism on any assignment will
automatically result in a grade of "E" for the course. Plagiarism is defined in the University of Florida's Student
Honor Code as follows: "A student shall not represent as the student’s own work all or any portion of the work of
another. Plagiarism includes (but is not limited to): a. Quoting oral or written materials, whether published or
unpublished, without proper attribution. b. Submitting a document or assignment which in whole or in part is
identical or substantially identical to a document or assignment not authored by the student." Students found guilty
of academic misconduct will be prosecuted to the full extent of the UF honesty policy.
SAKAI E-LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
This course is supplemented by online content in the e-Learning environment known as "Sakai." To login to the eLearning site for this course, go to https://lss.at.ufl.edu/, click the Continue button under "Sakai System Entry," and
on the next page enter your Gatorlink username and password. Logging in will take you to the "My Workspace"
page, where you can access the PHH 3100 e-Learning environment by clicking on the course name in the banner
toward the top of the page.
• Check the "Resources" tool for all readings other than those in the required texts.
• Check the "Assignments" tools for writing assignments and submission guidelines.
• Check the "Announcements" and "Calendar" tools in the e-Learning environment for new course
content (such as recommended readings) and due dates for assignments.
The official recommended system requirements for e-learning in Sakai are a broadband Internet connection and a
fully updated and compatible browser. For Windows based PCs: Firefox 3.x or Internet Explorer 7.x or 8.x. For
Macs: Firefox 3.0 or Safari 4.x. (Other browsers such as Opera, Chrome, etc. are not recommended for use with
Sakai.) If you encounter any difficulties logging in or accessing any of the course content, contact the UF
Computing Help Desk at (352) 392-4537. Do not contact the course instructor regarding computer issues.
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
Students requesting classroom accommodation must first register with the Dean of Students Office
(http://www.dso.ufl.edu/drp/). The Dean of Students Office will provide documentation to the student who must
then provide this documentation to the instructor when requesting accommodation. Please do not hesitate to contact
the instructor during the semester if you have any individual concerns or issues that need to be discussed.
SCHEDULE OF ASSIGNED READINGS AND EXAMINATIONS
Week 1
(1) Wed. 8.22 — Course Introduction
(2) Fri. 8.24 — The First Philosophers, pp. 3-21: The Milesians
Week 2
(3) Mon. 8.27 — The First Philosophers, pp. 32-48
(4) Wed. 8.29 —Heraclitus, cont.
(5) Fri. 8.31 — The First Philosophers, 22-31: Xenophanes
Week 3
Mon. 9.3 — No Class (Labor Day)
(6) Wed. 9.5 — The First Philosophers, 49-68: Parmenides; "Parmenides" article in Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/parmenides/)
(7) Fri. 9.7 — Parmenides, cont.
Week 4
(8) Mon. 9.10 — The First Philosophers, 133-63: Empedocles
(9) Wed. 9.12 — The First Philosophers, 69-81: Zeno; "Zeno of Elea" article in Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/zeno-elea/)
(10) Fri. 9.14 — The First Philosophers, 116-32: Anaxagoras
Week 5
(11) Mon. 9.17 — The First Philosophers, 164-93: Leucippus and Democritus
(12) Wed. 9.19 —Plato, Euthyphro; Exam 1 Take-Home Topics Available in Sakai
(13) Fri. 9.21 — Plato, Euthyphro
Week 6
(14) Mon. 9.24 — Plato, Apology
(15) Wed. 9.26 — Exam 1 Take-Home Portion Due & In-Class Portion Administered
(16) Fri. 9.28 — Plato, Meno
Week 7
(17) Mon. 10.1 — Plato, Meno
(18) Wed. 10.3 — Plato, Phaedo
(19) Fri. 10.5 — No Class (Homecoming)
Week 8
(20) Mon 10.8 — Plato, Phaedo
(21) Wed. 10.10 — Plato, Phaedo
(22) Fri. 10.12 — Plato, Phaedo
Week 9
(23) Mon 10.15 — Plato, Phaedo
(24) Wed. 10.17 — Plato, Republic Book 1
(25) Fri. 10.19 — Plato, Republic Books 2-5
Week 10
(26) Mon. 10.22 — Plato, Republic Book 5
(27) Wed. 10.24 — Plato, Republic Books 6-7; Exam 2 Take-Home Topics Posted in Sakai
(28) Fri. 10.26 — Plato, Republic Books 6-7, cont.
Week 11
(29) Mon. 10.29 — Plato, Republic Books 8-9
(30) Wed. 10.31 — Exam 2 Take-Home Portion Due & In-Class Portion Administered
(31) Fri. 11.2 — Aristotle, Physics II.1-3 (Irwin and Fine [I&F] pp. 42-50), Metaphysics VII.7-8
(on course website), & Lear's Aristotle pp. 15-27 (pp. 1-14 optional)
Week 12
(32) Mon. 11.5 — Aristotle Physics II.7-9 (I&F pp. 56-62) & Lear's Aristotle pp. 28-42 (pp. 4354 optional)
(33) Wed. 11.7 — Aristotle, Physics I.1, 7-8 (I&F pp. 36-42), III.1-3 (on course website), &
Lear's Aristotle pp. 55-65
Fri. 11.9 — No Class (Homecoming)
Week 13
Mon. 11.12 — No Class (Veteran's Day)
(34) Wed. 11.14 — Aristotle, On the soul I.1, II.1-3 (I&F pp. 80-6) & Lear's Aristotle pp. 96-101
(35) Fri. 11.16 — Aristotle, On the soul II.5-6, 11-12, III.3-5 (I&F pp. 90-100) & Lear's Aristotle
pp. 101-141
Week 14
(36) Mon. 11.19 — Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics I.1-10, 13 (I&F pp. 196-216) & Lear's
Aristotle pp. 152-64
Wed. 11.21 & Fr. 11.23 — No Class (Thanksgiving Holiday)
Week 15
(38) Mon. 11.26 — Aristotle, Categories 1-5 (I&F pp. 1-8) & Lear's Aristotle pp. 265-73
(39) Wed. 11.28 — Aristotle, Metaphysics VII.1-3 (I&F pp. 150-3 & Lear's Aristotle pp. 273-8
(40) Fri. 11.30 — Aristotle, Metaphysics VII.4, 6, 10-11, 13, 15-17 (I&F pp. 154-74) & Lear's
Aristotle pp. 273-93
Week 16
(41) Mon. 12.3 — Aristotle, Metaphysics XII.6-7, 9-10 (I&F pp. 187-94), Physics VIII.5-6 (I&F
pp. 64-7), & Lear's Aristotle pp. 293-309
(42) Wed. 12.5 — Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics X.6-9 (I&F pp. 275-87) & Lear's Aristotle pp.
309-20; Exam 3 Take-Home Topics Posted in Sakai
Thursday, December 13, 12:30 – 2:30 p.m., Little Hall 0113
Exam 3 (Final Exam) Take-Home Portion Due & In-Class Portion Administered