History of Ancient Philosophy

Student Learning Outcomes, Goals, Objectives:

Students successfully completing this course will be able to:

• Acquire and demonstrate an understanding of what philosophy is, what makes it different from other modes of inquiry, and how it emerged and developed as a discipline during this historical period.
• Acquire and demonstrate familiarity with the basic questions/positions of the thinkers addressed, including articulations of the ways they engaged with and built off the ideas of their predecessors.
• Acquire and demonstrate a sense of differing styles of doing philosophy that enable the organization of thinkers into “schools of thought.”
• Acquire and demonstrate familiarity with and ability to navigate the landscape of key philosophical dilemmas including: substance monism/pluralism, idealism/materialism, rationalism/empiricism, and ethical egoism/altruism.
• Development of close, critical, charitable reading skills, including argument reconstruction and analysis of written texts.
• Development of analytical writing and argument construction skills, including the productive use of the writing process to explore and refine arguments for and against a philosophical thesis.
• Analyze written texts to understand how they relate to particular audiences, purposes, and contexts as a way to inform one’s own writing. (CIC CW SLO 1)
• Create and revise written texts for particuar audiences, purposes, and contexts. (CIC CW SLO 2)
• Demonstrate awareness of one’s writing choices as well as how one’s own writing contributes to ongoing conversations in Philosophy. (CIC CW SLO 3)

Course Grading Information:

Activity/Performance Measure	Percentage/Points
Attendance/Participation	15%
Reading Quizzes	20%
Reflection Drafts	15%
Exams	30%
Final Paper	20%

Grading Scale

Percentage	Letter Grade
92% and above	A
90-91%	A-
88-89%	B+
82-87%	B
80-81%	B-
78-79%	C+
72-77%	C
70-71%	C-
68-69%	D+
62-67%	D
60-61%	D-
59% and below	F

Attendance/Participation:

Students are expected to be not only present, but prepared to substantively participate at every class meeting. Students are permitted up to three “free” no-questions-asked absences before those absences begin to affect their final grade.

Absence, conspicuously late arrival/early departure, or conspicuous unpreparedness are all justifiable reasons for losing full or partial Attendance/Participation credit for a given class meeting.

Course Materials Purchased by the Students:

No course materials are required.