POT 6016 (section 08E9) Ancient Political Thought Spring 2017
Thursday 4-6 (10:40-1:30) Professor Thiele
Political Science Conference Room
Office Hours: Thursday 1:30-3:30 P.M. Tel. 392-0262 x273
302 Anderson Hall www.clas.ufl.edu/users/thiele/
This seminar investigates the political life and thought of the ancient Greeks and Romans. The foundations for modern western political theories and institutions were set in place by Greek and Roman philosophers and statespeople exploring the eternally troubling relationships between power and justice, freedom and obligation, democracy and tyranny, the individual and the community. These issues still animate the study of political thought today. Our task is to examine the achievements of these early theorists, interrogate their conclusions, and appreciate how and why their works continue to speak to us today, after two and a half millennia. Intensive reading of texts and the development of interpretive skills are emphasized.
Required texts:
Sophocles, Antigone, Oedipus the King, Electra (Oxford)
Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War (Penguin)
Plato and Aristophanes, Four Texts on Socrates (Cornell)
Plato, Republic (Basic Books, 2nd edition)
Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics (Oxford)
Aristotle, The Politics and the Constitution of Athens (Cambridge)
Epictetus, The Art of Living (Harper)
Marcus Aurelius, The Emperor’s Handbook (Scribner)
Josiah Ober, Democracy and Knowledge: Innovation and Learning in Classical Athens (Princeton)
Seminar requirements and grading:
1. A term paper of 15-20 double-spaced pages. It is due by 5pm on Thursday, April 20. Late papers without exception will be penalized 1/2 letter grade for each day late. Paper topics are to be closely aligned to the seminar readings and themes, and must be selected in consultation with Professor Thiele. Please set up an office meeting early in the semester to begin the process of developing a paper topic. Failure to schedule this meeting prior to March 23 will result in ½ letter grade penalty. The paper is worth 50% of your final grade.
2. Two presentations based on the weekly readings. The presentation is to be emailed to all seminar participants, including Professor Thiele, by noon of the Tuesday preceding the seminar. Late electronic submissions will be penalized 1/2 letter grade. Written presentations should consist of three components:
a) A single-spaced, one-page synopsis of the weekly reading.
b) A single-spaced page consisting of 3 full paragraphs, with each paragraph posing a question that interrogates the reading(s), addresses on the textual context of the question, and underlines its significance. Think of these questions as the sort you will be writing when you compose essay exams for your students.
c) A single-spaced, 2-3 page answer to one of the questions.
Seminar participants will summarize (not read) the synopsis, questions, and answer in a 20-minute oral presentation. Each presentation is worth 10% of the final grad.
3. A 10-minute response to a presentation. Your response should (1) critically evaluate the presentation and (2) address one of the questions left unanswered by the presenters. You are to compose and submit to Dr. Thiele a written outline to serve as an aid for your oral response. Do not read the outline verbatim. The oral response is worth 5% of your final grade.
4. A 5-minute oral discussion of your term paper, followed by Q&A. Students will email a 250-300 word abstract of their term paper and a complete bibliography to all seminar participants, including Professor Thiele, by noon of the Tuesday preceding the seminar. Do not read verbatim from your abstract for the oral presentation. The abstract, presentation, and Q&A response is worth 5% of your final grade.
5. Seminar Participation. The quality of a graduate seminar is determined by the diligence and thoroughness with which participants read the assigned texts, are attentive and engaged. Students should be consistently well prepared to discuss the weekly readings in an informed and articulate manner. It will not be possible for you to receive an A in this seminar unless you have thoroughly completed the readings each week and engage fully in seminar discussions. Seminar participation will count for 15% of the final grade.
Students requesting classroom accommodation for disabilities must register with the Dean of Students Office and provide documentation from this office when requesting accommodation. Plagiarism in presentations or term papers will result in failure of the course. All students are required to abide by UF’s Academic Honesty Guidelines, which may be viewed at http://www.dso.ufl.edu/judicial/procedures/honestybrochure.php
Grading Scale:
A 95 – 100% B- 80 – 82% D+ 67 – 69%
A- 90 – 94% C+ 77 – 79% D 63 – 66%
B+ 87 – 89% C 73 – 76% D- 60 – 62%
B 83 – 86% C- 70 – 72% E 59% or below
Seminar schedule:
Jaunary
1/5 Introduction to seminar; scheduling of presentations
1/12 Sophocles, Antigone, Oedipus the King, Electra
Presenters: Mike Respondents:
1/19 Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, Bks 1-4
Presenters: Respondents: Ernesto
1/26 Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, Bks 5-8
Presenters: Respondents: Mike
February
2/2 Plato and Aristophanes, Four Texts on Socrates
Presenters: Respondents:
2/9 Seminar cancelled: Dr. Thiele at Climate Engineering conference at Berkeley
2/16 Plato, Republic, Books I-V, and section of Bloom’s essay
Presenters: Respondents: Orlando
2/23 Seminar cancelled: Dr. Thiele at ISA conference in Baltimore
March
3/2 Plato, Republic, Books VI-X, and section of Bloom’s essay
Presenters: Respondents: Alec
Term paper prospectus:
UF Spring Break
3/16 Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics
Presenters: Nick Respondents:
3/23 Aristotle, The Politics
Presenters: Orlando Respondents: Karla
Term paper prospectus:
3/30 Epictetus, The Art of Living and Marcus Aurelius, The Emperor’s Handbook
Presenters: Ernesto Respondents:
Term paper prospectus:
April
4/6 Josiah Ober, Democracy and Knowledge
Presenters: Karla Respondents: Nick
Term paper prospectus:
4/13 Seminar cancelled: Dr. Thiele at WPSA conference in Vancouver
4/20 Seminar term papers due at 5pm
Suggested secondary readings:
A. Adkins, Moral Values and Political Behavior in Ancient Greece
L. Adkins, Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome
M. Aurelius, Meditations (The Emperor’s Handbook)
E. Barker, The Politics of Plato and Aristotle
M. Bernal, Black Athena
M. Bowra, The Greek Experience
A. Bloom, The Republic of Plato, “Interpretive essay”
J. Butler, Antigone’s Claim: Kinship between Life and Death
P. Cartledge, The Greeks: A Portrait of Self and Other
R. Connor, The New Politicians of Fifth-Century Athens
F.M. Cornford, Before and After Socrates; Thucydides: Mythistoricus
J.K. Davies, Democracy and Ancient Greece
M. Davis, The politics of philosophy
E.R. Dodds, The Greeks and the Irrational
K. Dover, Aristophanic Comedy
Epictetus, The Enchiridion
P. Euben, The Tragedy of Political Theory; Corrupting Youth
P. Euben, J. Ober and J. Wallach, eds., Educating Democracy
M. Finley, The Ancient Greeks, Politics in the Ancient World; Thucydides
S. Forde, The Ambition to Rule
E. Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
A. Gomme, A Historical Commentary on Thucydides
T. Gompers, Greek Thinking
M. Grant, Myths of the Greeks and Romans;The World of Rome
D. Grene, Greek Political Theory
M. Hadas, A History of Greek Literature; A History of Rome
E. Hamilton, The Greek Way
J. Howland, The Republic: The Odyssey of Philosophy
E. Hussey, The Pre-Socratics
R. Kraut, Socrates and the State
T. Irwin, Plato's Moral Theory; Classical Thought
W. Jaeger, Paideia
H. Kitto, The Greeks
J. E. Lendon, Empire of Honour: The Art of Government in the Roman World
N. Nahm Selections from Early Greek Philosophy
C. Meier, The Greek Discovery of Politics
F. Millar, The Roman Republic in Political Thought
S. Monoson, Plato’s Democratic Entanglements
M. Nichols Citizens and Statesmen: A Study of Aristotle's Politics
M. Nussbaum, The Fragility of Goodness
J. Ober, Mass and Elite in Democratic Athens
O. Patterson, Freedom: Freedom in the Making of Western Culture
Plutarch, Fall of the Roman Republic: Six Lives
P. Rahe, Republics, Ancient and Modern
J. de Romilly, Thucydides and Athenian Imperialism
A. Rorty (ed.), Essays on Aristotle’s Ethics
E. Segal, ed. Greek Tragedy
G. Sabine, A History of Political Theory, Chs. 1-6
A. Saxonhouse, Fear of Diversity
Sealy, The Athenian Republic
T. Sinclair, A History of Greek Political Thought; Democracy and Participation in Athens
B. Snell, The Discovery of the Mind
D. Stockton, The Classical Athenian Democracy (oxford)
I. Stone, The Trial of Socrates
L. Strauss, What is Political Philosophy?, Natural Right and History; The City and Man
J. Vernant, Myth and Tragedy in Ancient Greece; The Origins of Greek Thought
E. Voegelin, Order and History: Vol. 2
G. Vlastos, Socrates: Ironist and Moral Philosopher
B. Williams, Shame and Necessity
S. Wolin, Politics and Vision, Ch. 1-3