PHIL 340 ANCIENT ETHICAL Ben Hole Winter 2016

PHIL 340: ANCIENT ETHICAL Ben Hole, Winter 2016 Office hours after class.

Week, Date Required Reading 1, 1/5 Syllabus for Phil 340 1, 1/7 Apology (all) 2, 1/12 Meno (70 -86); Phaedo (all) 2, 1/14 Republic Book 1 (all); Book 2 (357 -376) 3, 1/19 Republic Book 2 (357 -376); Book 4 (all) Where we are and what we’re doing / Admin Stuff Participation Weekly Writing & Final Papers Review Paper Structure 3, 1/21 Republic Book 4 (all); Book 8 (all) 4, 1/26 Nicomachean Ethics Book 1 4, 1/28 Nicomachean Ethics Book 1 -2 5, 2/2 Nicomachean Ethics Book 2 -3; Book 6. 13 5, 2/5 Nicomachean Ethics Book 3 -4 6, 2/9 Nicomachean Ethics Book 4 Euthydemus 6, 2/11 Anscombe, “Modern Moral Philosophy, ” Nussbaum, “Non-Relative Virtues: An Aristotelian Approach” 7, 2/16 Euthydemus (278 -281); Stoics (Primary texts, PDF form) 7, 2/18 Finish Stoics; Paper Outline Workshop 8, 2/23 Hursthouse, OVE Chapter 9; Annas, “Virtue Ethics: Which kind of naturalism? ” 8, 2/25 Driver, “Virtue Theory”; Hursthouse, “Are the Virtues the Proper Starting Place for Morality? " In-Class Paper Conference AGENDA Stoics (Diogenes Laertius 7. 84 -131) 9 & 10

Interpretation and Analysis: be able to analyze, interpret, and understand philosophical texts and discourse. PHILOSOPHICAL WRITING Argumentation: be able to effectively identify, evaluate, and formulate arguments. Writing Assignments (20%) The point of the weekly writing assignments is to serve as lower stakes opportunities for assessment and to provide you with practice of the philosophical skills you will need to master for the final paper. Philosophical Knowledge and Methodology: be able to demonstrate a high degree of fluency with the major traditions, figures, concepts, and methods of philosophy. Final Paper (50%) The point of the paper is for you to demonstrate that you are familiar with a major view in ancient ethical theory and are able to critically evaluate that view with philosophical rigor. Your critical evaluation is an opportunity for you to demonstrate your mastery of the philosophical skills you have practiced throughout the quarter. http: //writingcenter. unc. edu/handouts/understanding-assignments-demo/ Communication: be able to develop, organize, and express ideas in a precise, clear, effective, and systematic manner in writing and discussion.

FINAL PAPER

EXAMPLE OUTLINE

EUTHYDEMUS, 278 -282 Plato’s Socrates

THE EUTHYDEMUS Interlocutors SOCRATES, who is the narrator CRITO CLEINIAS EUTHYDEMUS DIONYSODORUS CTESIPPUS The Setting The Lyceum http: //www. perseus. tufts. edu Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vol. 3 translated by W. R. M. Lamb. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1967.

EUTHYDEMUS, 278 -282 “Now what result do we get from our statements? Is it not precisely that, of all the other things, not one is either good or bad, but of these two, wisdom is good and ignorance bad? ” (281 e 3 -5)

EUTHYDEMUS, 278 -282 “Now what result do we get from our statements? Is it not precisely that, of all the other things, not one is either good or bad, but of these two, wisdom is good and ignorance bad? ” (281 e 3 -5) Necessity Thesis Virtue is necessary for happiness, but not sufficient. Some other conditions are also necessary. Sufficiency Thesis Virtue is sufficient for happiness. Nothing but virtue is necessary for happiness.

EUTHYDEMUS, 278 -282 Aristotle’s Examples - Priam - Solon “Now what result do we get from our statements? Is it not precisely that, of all the other things, not one is either good or bad, but of these two, wisdom is good and ignorance bad? ” (281 e 3 -5)

THE ARGUMENT 3 Sub Arguments “(1) Happiness does not require good fortune added to wisdom (279 c 4– 280 a 8). (2) Wisdom is necessary and sufficient for the correct and successful use of other goods (280 b 1– 281 b 4). (3) Wisdom is the only good (218 b 4 -e 5). ” Irwin, T. Plato’s Ethics. OUP, 1995. Pg.

THE ARGUMENT 3 Sub Arguments “(1) Happiness does not require good fortune added to wisdom (279 c 4– 280 a 8). (2) Wisdom is necessary and sufficient for the correct and successful use of other goods (280 b 1– 281 b 4). (3) Wisdom is the only good (218 b 4 -e 5). ” Irwin, T. Plato’s Ethics. OUP, 1995. 279 c 4– 280 a 8 1. In each case the wise person has better fortune than the unwise (280 a 4– 5). 2. Genuine wisdom can never go wrong but must always succeed (280 a 7– 8). 3. Therefore, wisdom always makes us fortunate (280 a 6)

THE ARGUMENT 3 Sub Arguments “(1) Happiness does not require good fortune added to wisdom (279 c 4– 280 a 8). (2) Wisdom is necessary and sufficient for the correct and successful use of other goods (280 b 1– 281 b 4). (3) Wisdom is the only good (218 b 4 -e 5). ” Irwin, T. Plato’s Ethics. OUP, 1995. 280 b 1– 281 b 4 1. It is possible to use assets well or badly (280 b 7 –c 3, 280 d 7– 281 a 1). 2. Correct use of them is necessary and sufficient for happiness (280 d 7– 281 e 1). 3. Wisdom is necessary and sufficient for correct use (281 a 1–b 2). 4. Therefore, wisdom is necessary and sufficient for happiness (281 b 2– 4).

THE ARGUMENT 3 Sub Arguments “(1) Happiness does not require good fortune added to wisdom (279 c 4– 280 a 8). (2) Wisdom is necessary and sufficient for the correct and successful use of other goods (280 b 1– 281 b 4). (3) Wisdom is the only good (218 b 4 -e 5). ” Irwin, T. Plato’s Ethics. OUP, 1995. 218 b 4 -e 5 1. Each recognized good [e. g. , health, wealth] is a greater evil than its contrary, if it is used without wisdom, and each is a greater good than its contrary, if it is used by wisdom (281 d 6 – 8). 2. Therefore, each recognized good other than wisdom is, in itself, neither good nor evil (281 d 3– 5, d 8–e 1). 3. Therefore, each of them is neither good nor evil (281 e 3– 4). 4. Therefore, wisdom is the only good and folly

THE STOICS Diogenes Laertius 7. 84 -131

STOICS Naturalism & Intellectualism Virtue is Sufficient for Happiness External goods are not Necessary for Happiness Preferred Indifferents What is Happiness? §Zeno describes it as “a good flow of life” (AD, 63 A) or “living in agreement” §Cleanthes as “living in agreement with nature” (AD, 63 B) §The Stoic goal of life involves consistency (homologia), a “smooth flowing” life

READ § 85 -87, PAGE 191 “… an animal’s first [or primary] impulse is to preserve itself, because nature made it congenial to itself from the beginning … … as Chrysippus says in book one of his On Goals”

READ § 85 -87, PAGE 191 • Intellectualism & Naturalism • By nature, we are first “congenial to ourselves” • Not pleasure-seeking • Rational activity is like a skill for living one’s life, where “reason supervenes on impulse as a craftsman” (DL. VII. 86). • Telos is to live in harmony with nature

READ § 88 -90, PAGE 191 -2 “For our natures are parts of the nature of the universe … … as strength supervenes on the building of an arch. ”

READ § 88 -87, PAGE 191 -2 §The goal is “to live consistently with nature” §“Happiness lies in virtue insofar as it is the agreement of one’s whole life” §Naturalism and Intellectualism § [vice’s] “supervenient byproducts are low spirts and depression” (§ 95, pg. 193)

AUTONOMY VS. HETERONOMY • Only things within one’s power of choice (prohairesis) are relevant to virtue and happiness • The virtuous Stoic learns to live by a set of autonomous norms (or reasons), because they make her life consistent • Living by heteronomous norms, based on contingent factors outside of her control, will cause her to be unhappy

READ § 102 -107, PAGES 195 -6 “The virtues – prudence, justice, courage, temperance and the others… … are observable in these too”

READ § 102 -107, PAGES 195 -6 • 4 Cardinal Virtues • Good vs. Bad vs. Indifferent • Preferred vs. Rejected On the one hand, virtue is rationally “chosen” (haireton), based on considerations of the fine (ton kalon), On the other, preferred indifferents are naturally “selected” or “preferred” (proegmena), on the basis of their natural advantage.

ANNAS, “ARISTOTLE, KANT AND THE STOICS” 1. Aristotle is committed to “the claim that there are three kinds of good – goods of the soul, goods of the body, and external goods – and happiness requires the agent to have all three” (248). 2. “Aristotle takes morality to be a part of the world that is not essentially problematic in its relation to the rest of the world. He holds a view of the world in which there are no deep problems of principle as to how morality fits into the world and is explained as part of the world” (247) Aristotelian: morality exists in the actual world, it is not mysterious. Is naturalism enough? The Stoic and Kantian objectors claim Aristotle lacks “a special kind of motivational authority” (252).

SHOULD HAPPINESS BE UNIVERSALLY ACCESSIBLE? Marcus Aurelius Epictetus

NEXT TIME Bring Paper Outlines! Week, Date Required Reading 1, 1/5 Syllabus for Phil 340 1, 1/7 Apology (all) 2, 1/12 Meno (70 -86); Phaedo (all) 2, 1/14 Republic Book 1 (all); Book 2 (357 -376) 3, 1/19 Republic Book 2 (357 -376); Book 4 (all) 3, 1/21 Republic Book 4 (all); Book 8 (all) 4, 1/26 Nicomachean Ethics Book 1 4, 1/28 Nicomachean Ethics Book 1 -2 5, 2/2 Nicomachean Ethics Book 2 -3; Book 6. 13 5, 2/5 Nicomachean Ethics Book 3 -4 6, 2/9 Nicomachean Ethics Book 4 6, 2/11 Anscombe, “Modern Moral Philosophy, ” Nussbaum, “Non-Relative Virtues: An Aristotelian Approach” 7, 2/16 Euthydemus (278 -281); Stoics (Primary texts, PDF form) 7, 2/18 Finish Stoics; Paper Outline Workshop 8, 2/23 Hursthouse, OVE Chapter 9; Annas, “Virtue Ethics: Which kind of naturalism? ” 8, 2/25 Driver, “Virtue Theory”; Hursthouse, “Are the Virtues the Proper Starting Place for Morality? " In-Class Paper Conference 9 & 10