Module CLAS42130: ANCIENT PHILOSOPHERS ON NECESSITY, FATE AND FREE WILL

Department: Classics and Ancient History

CLAS42130: ANCIENT PHILOSOPHERS ON NECESSITY, FATE AND FREE WILL

Prerequisites

• Some work in philosophy at Level 3.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• In accordance with the general aims of the MA in Classics, to promote self-motivated and self-directed research in ancient philosophy and further the students' theoretical and practical skills necessary to pursue independent academic research in the field.

Content

• please see separate file

Learning Outcomes

• close familiarity with some of the main ancient philosophical discussions of necessity, fate, logical, causal and theological determinism, free will and moral responsibility (with a focus on Hellenistic and post-Hellenistic debates) and with some of the central texts relevant to these topics;
• understanding of how the ancient views and arguments studied are historically and logically related to one another;
• understanding of how the ancient views studied are tightly intertwined with those on psychology, physics and metaphysics, theology, logic and ethics;
• understanding of the main philosophical problems involved in those discussions and how they remain relevant to current philosophical debates;
• familiarity with the main debates among contemporary scholars in the interpretation of the evidence.

• ability to understand philosophical texts of a wide range (linguistic, stylistic, and chronological), and their capacity to identify, analyse and assess the main theses and arguments set out in them with independent critical engagement;
• ability to handle fundamental philosophical concepts and terminology;
• ability to locate and use correctly relevant secondary literature;
• ability to use their philological, historical and philosophical skills to produce research essays at a reasonable level of sophistication, and to adopt the required academic conventions and style.

• capacity to sustain clear, well-structured and well-defended arguments both in oral and in written form;
• capacity to give constructive feedback and to receive it with profit;
• willingness to approach sympathetically ideas and arguments which might sometimes appear alien and surpassed;
• effective use of library and IT resources.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Teaching will be by fortnightly two-hour seminar, which will be structured, typically, around a student's presentation on the topic for the week, which will be usually flexible enough to accommodate the students' interests (if the number of students should be insufficient to cover all the sessions, some seminars could consists in joint discussion of some particularly significant pieces of the primary and secondary literature on the topic). The presentation will be followed by a discussion in which every student is strongly encouraged to bring a generous and personal contribution and to provide constructive feedback on the content and form of the presentation.
• the formative assessment (two essays written up from the seminar presentations) will help prepare for the summative assignment. It will be seen not only by the instructor, but also by at least another student, who will be asked to provide detailed feedback to his/her colleague.
• the summative assessment (one 5,000 word essay, to be submitted at the end of the year ) will test the level reached by the students in using their philological, historical and philosophical skills to write research essays at a reasonable level of sophistication and with the appropriate academic conventions and style.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

One essay of 2,500 words, written up from the seminar presentations. Formative essays will be seen not only by the instructor, but also by at least another student, who will be asked to provide detailed feedback to his/her colleague.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University