Module CLAS2701: Plato on Knowledge, Truth and Falsehood

Department: Classics and Ancient History

CLAS2701: Plato on Knowledge, Truth and Falsehood

Prerequisites

• CLAS1101 Early Greek Philosophy or CLAS1531 Classical Theories of Soul or CLAS1751 Ancient Philosophers on Memory and Recollection or CLAS2641 Creation and Cosmology or PHIL2161 Ancient Philosophies West and East or PHIL1021 Knowledge and Reality or PHIL 1041 Reading Philosophy or equivalent.

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• To promote the study and understanding of ancient philosophy in accordance with the general aims of the relevant Degree Programmes;
• To introduce students who have already studied philosophy at level 1 or 2 to one of the key Platonic dialogues and to some other central Platonic texts, ideas and arguments in epistemology, and to refine their skills in the analysis of ancient philosophical texts and arguments.

Content

• What is knowledge? Does it come from perception? Is truth relative? What is the relation between truth, falsehood, and appearance? How is it possible to believe something false? How do one's views about reality and about knowledge influence each others? This module will be centred on the close study, in translation, of one of the most influential texts in the history of epistemology, Plato's Theaetetus, in which these and other related questions are formulated and various answers are explored. This dialogue will be located in the broader context of Platonic thought and methodology, with constant reference to other Platonic texts and arguments which provide the fundamental background to interpret and understand it (e.g. from Plato's Apology, Euthydemus, Meno, Republic, Sophist, Timaeus). The study of these texts will offer also an invaluable opportunity to analyse Plato's unique way of dialoguing with his predecessors and adversaries (e.g. Heraclitus and Protagoras), and to understand how many different approaches and exegetical options Platonic writing leaves open to the interpreters, ancient and modern.

Learning Outcomes

• By the end of the module students will
• acquire in-depth knowledge of the text (in translation) and arguments of Plato's Theaetetus;
• become familiar with some of the other most important Platonic texts and arguments which are relevant to our understanding of this dialogue;
• understand the ways in which Plato confronts the views of his predecessors and adversaries;
• know the main alternative approaches to and interpretations of both Plato in general and this dialogue in particular, and of the philosophical and methodological issues raised by it;
• understand and assess the main philosophical questions discussed in this dialogue.

• The module aims at
• furthering the students' ability to read and understand philosophical texts of high literary and philosophical complexity, and their capacity to identify and analyse the main theses and arguments set out in them with some degree of critical engagement;
• fostering the students' capacity to handle properly secondary literature and engage critically with it;
• providing the ability to handle basic philosophical concepts with confidence, especially in the fields of epistemology and metaphysics;
• furthering the students' ability to write competent essays and commentaries on philosophical arguments and texts.

• The module aims at
• furthering the students' capacity to sustain clear, well-structured and well-defended arguments, both in oral and in written form;
• furthering the students' willingness to approach sympathetically ideas and arguments even when they appear alien and surpassed.

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

• The weekly lectures form the core of the module and are the main source of information concerning the dialogue, its arguments and its background. The essay component of the final examination tests assimilation and understanding of material across the breadth of the module.
• Seminars are devoted to discussion of the ideas introduced in the lectures and to closer analysis of some particularly important passages and arguments. Group presentations by the students will be required as a fundamental part of the formative process. Seminars will also give students further practice in 'slow reading' of specific sections of the primary and secondary literature. The commentary component of the final examination tests the level of competence reached in this exercise (one of the two formative assignments will also take the form of a commentary on a selected passage).
• The summative essay tests the students' capacity to locate, understand and critically discuss the primary and secondary sources relevant to the essay topic, and to present the results of their research in clear, well-structured and well-defended way.
• The tutorials are for feedback on formative assignments. Tutorials are meant to encourage constructive discussion of difficult points, and aim at being a really formative occasion, enabling students to revise and consolidate their knowledge during the year.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Two written assignments of about 2,000 - 2,500 words each (one in Michaelmas Term and one in Epiphany Term).

■ 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