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Semestre 1 Syllabus (1999-2000)

for details on lectures (syllabus, requirements, bibliographies, class-rooms etc.), press one of the following:

Hist. of Greek Philosophy (pt 1) (lecture B.A.; 107.1111a1);
English summary of the lectures in this course on this site

Aristotle's Psychological Theory (lecture B.A.; 107.3002.a 1)
English summary of the lectures in this course on this site

The Preparation for Death in Ancient Philosophy (lecture B.A.; 107.3003.a 1)

Rationalism and Medicine in 5th century Greece (seminar M.A.; 107.4103.a 1 )
English summary of the lectures in this course on this site

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Semestre 2 Syllabus (2000)

for details on lectures (syllabus, requirements, bibliographies, class-rooms etc.), press one of the following:

Greek Poetry as a Source for the History of the Archaic Period (proseminar B.A.; History Dept.; 108.2123.b 1)

Concepts of Time in Greek Philosophy (seminar M.A.; 107.4203.b 1)

The Development of Neoplatonic Philosophy (lecture B.A.; 107.3101.b 1 )

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Semestre 1 (1999-2000)

The History of Greek Philosophy (part 1) (107.1111.a1 )
lecture (first year);
Thursday 12.15-13.45. room 715

Contents of this section:

• Description of Course
• Texts and Bibliography
• Course Requirements
• Access summary of lectures
• class syllabus (in Hebrew: contains full bibliography & order of subjects listed by lecture in the course)

Description of Course


This semestre we will discuss the development of Greek philosophy from its beginning with Thales of Miletus (c. 580 B.C.E.) down to the early dialogues of Plato (427-347 B.C.E.). The course revolves around discussion of the fragments and works of the philosophers themselves. We plan to examine:



• The cosmological and physical theories of the thinkers who preceded Socrates (the Pre-Socratic philosophers);

• The social and moral problems raised by Socrates' contemporaries, the Sophists;

• The dialectic of Socrates and his criticism of the Sophists;

• The ethical and cognitive problems discussed by Plato in his early dialogues.


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Texts for discussion:
for Hebrew editions used in class, see Hebrew menu; English readers may otherwise use:

1. J. Barnes, Early Greek Philosophy (Penguin, 1987) along with

2. Aristotle's Metaphysics book 1 (R. Hope, Aristotle Metaphysics (Ann Arbor)

3. W.H.D. Rouse, Great Dialogues of Plato (Mentor): Protagoras, Apology, Charmides, Euthyphro, Meno

The following works are also useful

• W.K.C. Guthrie, History of Greek Philosophy vol 1-4 (Cambridge)
• Gregory Vlastos Socrates: Ironist and Moral Philosoher (Cambridge)
• Charles H. Kahn Plato and the Socratic Dialogue (Cambridge)

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Course requirements:
attendance, two assignments, end of term exam; final grade is based on a combination of these.
Further information is found in the class syllabus (in Hebrew)

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Access Lecture Summary

Registered students in the class are welcome to access English summaries of individual lectures in the course "History of Greek Philosophy pt. 1"
To access the index of contents, press here

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Semestre 1 (1999-2000)

Aristotle's Psychological Theory
lecture B.A. (2nd/3rd year) (107.3002.a 1);
Monday 14.15-15.45 room 622


Contents of this section:

• Description of Course
• Texts and Bibliography
• Course Requirements
• Acssess summary of lectures

Description of Course

Aristotle's theory of the soul is the basis for all subsequent functionalist approaches to the study of the mind. While Plato saw the soul as a separate entity independent of the body, Aristotle treated mind and sensation as the functional capacity of the body parts with little chance of survival at death. While Plato discussed mainly human souls, Aristotle was interested in the diverse capacity of the soul in all living beings, be they plants and insects or higher animals.
Aristotle's theory of life and ensouled body is based on his classification of self-movement as so many categorial divisions of movement in general (birth and death pertain to the individual entity, growth and diminution pertain to quantity, sensation pertains to qualitative change, and locomotion is in the category of place).
Furthermore, his explanation of the body-soul relationship is based on his theory of matter and form ‹ with form encapsuling the actualization of the body's capacity for change.
Aristotle's theory of mind, sensation and soul is set forth in his works:

• On the Soul (called by its Latin title de Anima)
• On Sense and Sensible Objects (de Sensu)

These 'books' are of paramount importance for understanding not only later Greek philosophers (Plotinus and the Neo-Platonic tradition), but also Jewish, Christian and Islamic philosophy of the medieval period.

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Texts for discussion in class :


• Menahem Luz - Aharon Ben-Zeev, 'al ha-nefesh (Oranim-Kibbutz ha-Meuhad)

  English readers may use instead:

• Hugh Lawson-Tancred, Aristotle De Anima Penguin
• W.D. Ross, The Works of Aristotle Oxford
  or any other translation

  a translation of On Sense and Sensible Objects is found in

• W.S. Hett, Aristotle On the Soul Parva Naturalia Loeb

• English translations of several of Aristotle's works can be downloaded from the web:
  classics on the web
  

Bibliography

A recommended discussion is also found in:

• D.W. Hamlyn, Aristotle's De Anima Oxford

The following works are also useful

• William Rober Wians Aristotle's Philosophical Development
• G.E.R. Lloyd Arisotle: The Growth and Structure of his Thought Cambridge
• Allan Gotthelf-James. G. Lennox, Philosophical Issues in Aristotle's Biology Cambrdige

• For further bibliography press
  this link

• bibliography is also appended to the end of each section of the summaries in English
  this link

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  Course requirements:
  attendance, mid-term assignment presented in class (depending on numbers enroled), end of term paper.

  For admission to the course, students must have already participitated in a previous course on Plato.

  ~~~~

  Access Lecture summaries

  Registered students in the class are welcome to access English summaries of individual lectures in the course "Aristotle's Psychological Theory"
  To access the index of contents, press here
  

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Semestre 1 (1999-2000)

• The Preparation for Death in Ancient Philosophy
  lecture (B.A.); (107.3003.a 1 )
  Thursday 18.00-20.00 -- room 1919 (Eshkol floor 19)

  
  Sarcophagus from Paestum, 470 B.C.
  The spirit dives into the waters of Oblivion

During the Hellenistic and Roman periods, there evolved a special philosophical genre known as 'Consolation Literature'. Often in the form of open letters, the authors of these compositions console friends and relatives on bereavement, or comfort and support them on their own impending death. These consolation pieces used philosophical arguments to assuage grief and fear of death. Since these works were written by members of a wide variety of philosophical persuasions, the arguments employed in any specific work were determined by the philosophical beliefs of the author. The Epicureans tried to assuage the fear of death by praising the peace resulting from the cessation of the mind after death, while the Platonists tried to give comfort by arguing for the souls future non-corporeal existence. The Stoa believed in a material destructible soul, but argued that our present comfort and happiness lies in accepting the harmony and cyclical rebirth of the universe. The Neo-Platonists argued for a continued emanation and return of the soul to and from the ontological principles of the universe.
In the early Roman empire, the moralist Seneca extended the consolation genre to include letters intended to comfort his relatives and friends not because of his own impending physical death, but rather because of his impending social death resulting from exile and banishment from Rome. Under the later Caesars, Boethius employed this genre when composing his Consolation of Philosophy while himself awaited execution.

In the course, we will trace the origins and development of the consolation genre, examine arguments used in a variety of philosophical schools and analyse texts from different periods.


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Texts for discussion:
In the course, we shall discuss a number of Hellenistic and Roman texts, to be included in a class handout (reference number to be announced on completion of the handout). These are extracts from

• Pseudo-Plato, Axiochus
• Pseudo-Plutarch, Consolation to Apollonius
• Cicero, Tusculan Disputations Book 1
• Cicero, Consolation to Sulpicius (Ep. iv.6)
• Seneca, Consolation to his mother Helvia
• Seneca, Consolation to Polybius
• as well as comparable extracts from other contemporary genres

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  The following works contain useful discussions:

• R. Garland, The Greek Way of Death Cornell 1985
• R. Lattimore, Themes in Greek and Latin Epitaphs Urbana 1962
• E.J. Kenney, in: Oxford Classical Dictionary (Oxford 1996) s.v. 'Consolation'
• D.R. Shackleton Bailey, Cicero's Letters to his Friends ii(Penguin 1978) 15-20;
• J.G.F. Powell, On Friendship and The Dream of Scipio (Wiltshire, 1990);
• P.H. de Lacy-B. Einarson, Plutarch's Moralia vii 'Consolation to His Wife' (Loeb, Harvard, 1968);
• F.C. Babbitt, Plutarch's Moralia ii 'A Letter of Condolence to Apollonius' (Loeb, Harvard, 1962).
• V.E. Watts, Boethius The Consolation of Philosophy (Harmondsworth, 1969);
• M. Luz, 'Axiochus'.
• A.A.Long-D. Sedley, The Hellenistic Philosophers, Cambridge 1987-1988;
• A.A. Long, Hellenistic Philosophy London 1974
• J.M. Rist, Stoic Philosophy Cambridge 1969; Epicurus An Introduction Cambridge 1977 Course requirements: end of term paper

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Semestre 1 (1999-2000)

Rationalism and Medicine in 5th century Greece
seminar M.A; (107.4103.a 1)
Tuesday 14.15 -15.45 room 1919 (Eshkol floor 19)


Roman mosaic, showing Asclepius, God of Medicine, arriving at Cos
Hippocrates (left) and an inhabitant of Cos greet him

The course will examine compositions found in the body of works associated with the famous Greek physician Hippocrates of Cos. Most of them originate in medical and sophistic discussions of the 5th-4th century BC
In them we find the framework of a developing rationalism concerned not only with strictly medical problems but also with the philosophical and ethical issues of the time. We will also examine the beliefs behind cultic 'alternative' medicine of the period in order to contrast it with the emergent rationalism of the Hippocratic collection. In addition we will compare the rationalism and irrationalism of the Hippocratic collection with the contemporaneous Greek philosophy and as well as their attitude to medical and philosohical ethics.

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Texts for discussion:
Most of the texts for discussion are found in:

• G.E.R. Lloyd, Hippocratic Writings (1978, Penguin) on sale at the university bookstore
  In the course, we shall discuss the following compositions contained in this book
  
  The Canon (Lloyd: p. 68-9)
  The Oath (Lloyd: p. 67)
  Dreams Regimen iv (Lloyd: pp 252-260)
  The Sacred Disease (Lloyd: pp 237-252
  The Science of Medicine (Lloyd: pp 139-148)
  Tradition in Medicine (Lloyd: pp 70-86)
  The Nature of Man (Lloyd: pp 260-271)
  Airs Water and Places (Lloyd: pp 148-169)

  We shall also read the following passgages
  On Nutriment (W.H.S. Jones, Hippocrates vol. I pp. 337-361 Loeb)
  Hero(n)das (Knox,pp. 114-123 Loeb)

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  Dowload from the web
  English translations of several of Hippocrates' works can be downloaded from the web:
  classics on the web

  A brief summary of some early works of the Hippocratic collection is found on my web-site:
  M. Luz, Ancient Medicine and Philosophy: twin professions

  a discussion of Hippocrates' On Nutriment is found at this site
  M. Luz, The Philosophical Background of Hippocrates' On Nutriment

  English summary of a few of the lectures in this course can be found at my site

  Bibliography
  The following works contain useful discussions:

• G.E.R. Lloyd, Magic, Reason and Experience Cambridge
• G.E.R. Lloyd, The Revolutions of Wisdom - Studies in the Claims and Practice of Ancient Greek Science, California
• L. Edelstein, Ancient Medicine , Baltimore-London
• E.R. Dodds, TheGreeks and the Irrational (California, 1951)
• K. Boudouris ( ed.,)Philosophy and Medicine I (1999 Athens)
• Michmanim 13 Museum Hecht (1999) Course requirements: end of term paper

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Semestre 2 (2000)

History Class


Greek Poetry as a Source for the History of the Archaic Period

proseminar (2nd/3rd year); (108.2123.b1)

• Sunday 16.15-17.45 room 617;
• Tuesday 16.15-17.45 room 385




Between the 8th-6th centuries B.C., the foundations of Greek cultural, political and philosophical concepts were laid. During this 'archaic' period of Greek history, ideas were expressed through poetry rather than prose. The earliest poems were epics:

• Around 700 B.C., Hesiod composed the earliest cosmological and theological work in Europe - an epic poem that bridges the gap between the myths of Anatolias and Greece.

  Around 720 B.C., the Homeric tradition produced two massive epics ostensibly describing the prehistoric period of the heroes, but including many of the concepts of Homer's own archaic period:

• The Iliad gives an early socio-political map of archaic Greeke life
• The Odyssey describes the conventions and relations of travel and palace life during this period From the 7th century B.C., we possess the Homeric hymns that tell of the religious and cultic practice and their use of myth to substantiate it.

From a slightly later period we also possess the first elegies and lyrics ‹ poems in which poets like Archilochus criticise their own society. Writers like Tyrtaeus and Callinos use elegy at a period of war and national struggle.Theognis uses elgey to delineate the aspirations and desires of the old aristocratic classes at the end of the archaic period. Solon cristalizes his idea for the new democratic age in elegaic verse.
Finally, in what has been called 'the Lyric Age of Greece', the poets Sappho and Alcaeus speak of the feelings of the individual with a new personal voice.


In the course we will read selections from the epic, elegiac and lyric poets in Hebrew translation. For the convenience of the students, a class handout will be deposited in the reservations room of the library (number to be announced).
The class will meet twice a week, in which we shall read and analyse the works contained in the handout (see bibliography below). Students with visual problems should note that there will be fequent use of slides videos.

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Texts for discussion:
for Hebrew editions used in class, see Hebrew menu; English readers may otherwise use:

• Dorothy Wender Hesiod Theognis(Penguin)

The following works are also useful

• Oswyn Murray Early Greece (Harvard)
• Lowell Edmunds Approaches to Greek Myth (John Hopkins)
• Moses I. Finley, Early Greece: The Bronze and Archaic Ages (London 1977)
• M.L. West Hesiod Theogony (Oxford)
• M.L. West Hesiod Works and Days (Oxford)

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Course requirements:
attendance, final exam and class presentation (or end of term paper)

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You may access English summaries of individual lectures in the course "Religious and Social Speculation in Archaic Greek Mythology" if you are a registered students in the class.
For the period of the strike, the password is 'hesiod'. To access by means of this password, press here



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Semestre 2 (2000)

• Concepts of Time in Greek Philosophy

  seminar (MA); 107.4203.b 1
  Tuesday 10.00-12.00 ‹ room 1919 (Eshkol Tower, fl. 19).




The ancient world discussed theories of time in a highly sophisticated manner. After a brief preview of the linear and cyclical understanding of time current in archaic Greek thought, we will examine the concepts of time and eternity as set out in Plato's Timaeus and the criticism of the existence of time as set out in Arisotle's Physics Book iv.10-14. We will close the course by examining various Neo-Platonic concepts of Time as simultaneously existing dimensions of reality each completing and developing from each other.

Texts for discussion:
For the convenience of the students, a class handout will be deposited in the reservations room of the library (number to be announced).
for Hebrew editions used in class, see Hebrew menu;

English readers may consult any translation of:

Plato's Timaeus

Aristotle's Physics book iv chapter 10-14

Plotinus' 'On Time and Eternity' Ennead iii.7
we will also use

S. Sambursky- S. Pines, The Concept of Time in Late Neoplatonism

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the following works are also useful:

W.K.C. Guthrie, History of Greek Philosophy vol 5 (Cambridge)

F.M. Cornford, Plato's Cosmology Routledge

Richard Sorabji, Time, Creation and the Continuum Duckworth

Course requirements:

attendance, mid-term assignment presented in class (depending on numbers enroled), end of term paper.

For admission to the course, students must have already participitated in a previous course on Plato.

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Philosophy Class semestre 2 (2000)

The Development of Neoplatonic Philosophy

lecture (B.A.); 107.3101.b1

Monday 14.15-15.45 room -- 1319 (Eshkol Tower fl. 13).

The Neo-Platonic School of Proclus
Renaissance print

Between the years 204-270, there lived the last of the great ancient philosophers - this was Plotinus, an Egyptian who taught at Rome, but taught in Greek.This philosopher created a system that was ostensibly a revision of Plato (hence called Neoplatonism ) but was really a combination of the philosophy of Plato with that of Aristotle - a philosophy of the absolute with that of Aristotelian empiricism. Plotinus' teaching shows how the physical world is a phenomenal reflection of our imagination, but that the imagination itself is but a reflection of our upper mind, which is itself a reflection of the Mind of the Universe, that is a reflection of the absolute principles of reality.

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The course is based on a reading of the 'Enneads' of Plotinus in Nathan Spiegel's Hebrew translation. We will also examine briefly the development of Neoplatonic thought from ancient times to modern.

Bibliography: For Hebrew text used in class, see Hebrew Menu

English readers may use the following:

Plotinus the Enneads, trans. S. MacKenna

English translations of several of Plotinus' works can be downloaded from the web:
classics on the web

as well as those of Plotinus' pupil Porphyry
classics on the web

the following works are also useful:

L. P. Gerson, The Cambridge Companion to Plotinus

J.M. Rist, Plotinus The Road to Reality

R.T. Wallis, Neoplatonism

Course requirements: attendance, mid-term assignment presented in class (depending on numbers enroled), end of term paper.

Entrance Requirements Previous participation in a course on Plato and Aristotle.

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