PHI 502: Classical Philosophy

This course surveys the origins and outcomes of the early thinkers who have come to be associated with the very core and foundation of classical philosophy. It begins with a study of Pre-Socratic thinkers and traces the evolution of the concepts of consciousness as developed by some of the world's greatest philosophers. Through a study of Pre-Socratic philosophers, we glimpse into the origins and early development of philosophy which later led to a system of thought developed by Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus and Proclus. These ageless insights into the nature of man and the world are profound as well as lastingly beautiful.

Student Outcomes for This Course

Outcome #1: Students will be able to explain the fundamental insights and problems of Ancient Philosophy through the writings of its classical philosophers.

Outcome #2: Students will be able to describe and compare the emphases of the Pre-Socratics, Platonic and Neo-Platonic philosophers and how they influence Science of Mind Philosophy.

Outcome #3: Students will analyze, compare, and contrast the approaches taken by these philosophers.

Outcome #4: Students will develop the ability to apply the the explicatio du text approach as they enter into Classical Thought. They learn the thoughts of another, listen to the other and appreciate the other’s vision.

Outcome #5: Students will be able to apply the explicatio du text approach to the study of other spiritual traditions and systems of thought.

Course Sessions and Topics

This course is organized into ten, one-hour audio sessions. The introductory session on The Beginning is presented in both an audio and video format to better acquaint the student with Dr. Grimes. The ten sessions are organized into a thoughtful effective presentation on this topic. We recommend you study the tapes in their sequential order:

Pre-Socratics
Session I	The Beginning: Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes as Understood by Aristotle and Aetius
Session II	The Wisdom of Heraclitus and Empedocles Explained
Session III	The Eleatics: Parmenides, Zeno and Melissus Revisited
Plato's Philosophy
Session IV	The Apology: The Divine Mission of Socrates
Session V	The Phaedo : The Separation of the Soul as the Condition for Wisdom
Session VI	The Central Idea in Hellenic Thought: Plato's Ion and the First Book of Plato's Republic
Session VII	The Symposium : The Steps Leading to the Vision of Reality
Session VIII	Plato's Timacus
NeoPlatonic
Session IX	An Exploration of Philosophy as Mysticism and Beauty
Session X	Proclus: The First Systematic Philosophy and Pseudo-Dionysius

The readings for Plato’s Timaeus can be found in the last section of O’Brien’s translation of the Essential Plotinus and should be considered a part of session VII and IX material. Pierre Hadot’s work What Is Ancient Philosophy? Was included in the required reading list because it is a clear indication of a most recent trend to re-examine classical philosophy, but it should not be considered as a subject of your paper assignment, but you can, of course, refer to it in your papers if you choose to do so.

Required Readings

Grimes, P., Classical Philosophy Course Reading Material, 1998. These lecture notes prepared by Dr. Grimes to accompany taped lectures. Including:
Proclus : The Bess Stecker translation of the 13th Proposition and 148th Proposition by Dodds translation
Ninth letter from Ronald F. Hathaway's Hierarchy and the Definition of Order in the Letters of Pseudo-Dionysius, Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague , 1969.
Available only through the Philosophical Research Society.

The Great Dialogues of Plato , translated by W.D. Rouse, paperback edition, Mentor Press. ISBN#0451527453

Barnes, J., Early Greek Philosophy, Penguin Edition, Revised 2001, ISBN#0140448152

O’Brien, Elmer,The Essential Plotinus, 1975, Hackett Publishing. ISBN#0915144093 Available at Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

Hadot, Pierre , What Is Ancient Philosophy?, Harvard University Press 2002, ISBN#0674007336

NeoPlatonism: The Summit of Ancient Idealism, Pamphlet edited by Robert K. Clark from the works of Manly P. Hall. Available from the Philosophical Research Society.

Recommended Readings

Grimes, Pierre, Is It All Relative, Hyparxis Press

Grimes, Pierre, Philosophical Midwifery: A New Paradigm for Understanding Human Problems, Hyparxis Press

Brehier, E., The Hellenic Age

Brehier, E., The Hellenistic and Roman Age

Reale, E., The History of Ancient Philosophy, (3 volume set)

Krammer, H. Joachim, Plato and the Foundations of Metaphysics, Suny Press , NY

Harris, R. Baine, Ed., Studies in Neo-Platonism: Ancient and Modern. A series of excellent works including NeoPlatonism and Christian Thought

Smith, H., Beyond the Post-Modern Mind, Quest Books. This is a very insightful book that brings the reader into the present state of philosophy.

Harris, R. Baine, NeoPlatonism and Contemporary Thought, two volumes, State University of New York Press, 2001

Phone Conferences:

Thursdays, January 25, 2007 and February 15, 2007
From 5:00 to 6:00 P.M. , Pacific Coast Time, all students participate in these conferences with Dr. Grimes. Each of these two conferences has been designed around topics and issues. However, the first conference will also give you an opportunity to clarify any questions related to the course. See Conference Calls with Faculty in Table of Contents for call in numbers and procedures.

Conference Call – Thursday, January 25, 2007 

1. Review tapes 1-3. Be prepared to discuss the development of Pre-Socratic Thought. 
2. Be prepared to discuss Heraclitus and the Logos, the rational element. 
3. Be prepared to discuss Parmenides idea of Being and Becoming. 

Topics and Issues for Second Conference Call – Thursday, February 15, 2007

1. Review tapes 4-7. Be prepared to discuss the evidence that Socrates was guilty of the charges:
     Plato's Apology and its relationship to philosophy.
2. Be prepared to discuss the Platonic Idea of Art.
3. Be prepared to make a comparison between the idea of beauty in the Symposium and the
     idea of death in the Phaedo.

Email Discussion Group:

ourquest@yahoogroups.com

This email discussion group has been set up to encourage students to discuss topics, issues and concepts presented in this course.Students are encouraged to use this discussion forum to share their ideas and insights as well as to use it as a link to the faculty member. A single email message reaches all students and the faculty member at one time. This discussion group has also been put in place to help remove some of the geographic isolation which can be felt between students, and add an extra link to the natural and vital bond that develops in any spiritual community. All students with a current email address, listed with the Holmes Institute Home Office, are automatically subscribed to this email discussion group. Use ourquest@yahoogroups.com like you would any other email address. If you desire to respond to an individual in the group, please use his/her personal email address on your class roster or the Faculty Directory for Winter Quarter 2006 in the Table of Contentsfor contact information.

• Students will be given credit for email discussion group participation.
• Students will be expected to be guided by the audio-tape material for identifying the major issues of the philosophers when they write their papers. If there is any question about the issues, students are encouraged to email the instructor for assistance.

Course Outline - Weeks 1 through 3

This outline gives a brief description of how to pace your self-study and gauge your progress in the required course activities throughout the academic quarter.

Lesson Objective:

1. Students will be able to identify and express in writing the fundamental insights and problems of Ancient Philosophy through the writings of such philosophers as Parmenides, Thales, Heraclitus, Zeno, Annaximenes, Plato and Proclus.

Required Reading : Barnes, J., Early Greek Philosophy, sections pertaining to the above philosophers

Lecture Tapes: Listen to taped lectures 1-3. Each lecture is self-contained and is structured in such a way as to bring the student into the text so they can compare the quoted material with the comments and conclusions that are developed by Dr. Grimes. Course Learning Outcomes: Review outcomes and individual progress toward these.

Assessment Experience #1: In a 5-7 page response paper, write on the Pre-Socratics selecting one of the authors and exploring his central idea(s) and using this idea as a basis to briefly contrast with the other Pre-Socratic authors. Your paper must be postmarked on or before February 6, 2006. Students who choose to send papers over the Internet can more easily transfer Microsoft Word files as .RTF files. Save as Rich Text Format files and attach to email.

Course Outline - Weeks 4 through 7

Lesson Objective:

2. Students will gain the explicatio du text approach to the study of philosophy by acquiring the ability to enter into Classical Thought. The student demonstrates in writing the ability to use the following skills:

     a. Learning the thoughts of another;
     b. Listening to the other;
     c. Learning and understanding as the other has; and
     d. Appreciating the other’s vision.

Required Reading : Continue your review of the course lecture notes and your reading of the text, The Great Dialogues of Plato
Lecture Tapes: Listen to tape lectures 4-8.

Assessment Experience #2: In a 7-9 page response paper, select one of the dialogues of Plato and prepare a topical paper that explores the central idea(s) discussed in the lectures up to this point, using quotes researched from the tapes themselves to support the conclusions reached and address the skills identified in Objective #2 above. Your paper must be postmarked on or before February 19, 2007.

Course Outline - Weeks 8 through 10

Lesson Objective:

3. As a consequence of being able to apply the explicatio du text approach to the study of spiritual traditions and systems of thought, students will:

     a. Recognize that their own spiritual quest will be enhanced by learning to participate in the
         thought patterns of those philosophers whose thought most clearly provided us with a
        direction for the spiritual path.
    b. Write statements demonstrating the understanding identified in #A.

Required Reading : Hathaway, Proclus and O’Brien books.
Lecture Tapes: Listen to tape lectures 9-10.

Assessment Experience #3b : The second requirement will be to write two short essays. The length of each essay is optional but should be sufficient enough to establish your points. The first essay should be a personal reflection on the issues or concepts which were most compelling to you and the personal reflections and insights stemming from all your work on the previous assessment papers. The second essay will deal with the implication of studying Ancient Philosophy on your future plans. Additional information on the specifics for these two final essays will be provided by Dr. Grimes on the 2nd conference call and/or posted on the email discussion group. The third paper and final essays must be postmarked on or before March 12, 2007

What You Should Know About the Classic Way of Learning
and Classical Thought

This course emphasizes critical learning through in-depth reading, review, contrasting and comparison, and introspective reflection. Papers written in this course must demonstrate the student has exercised and implemented this classic approach to learning.

It is possible that students may feel disillusioned after receiving my comments and corrections to their papers. Entering into classical thought requires a different approach to learning - as you will see. Consider, you have taken the challenge to deal directly with the thought of the Hellenics, the Ancient Greeks.

It is easy to collect, read and write about the many commentaries on the Greeks but when it is important to learn the thought of another, you must listen to them alone and ignore the gossip. Once you decide to focus on what they are saying, you are entering into Classical thought. Then you are trying to grasp what they were thinking and doing, to learn and understand as they have, and to appreciate their vision; that is no small task for anyone but more so for those of our age.

Most likely, your teachers persuaded you to become relativists. They have convinced you that there is no need to confront these thinkers directly. But, strange as it may be to say this...when you can respect the dignity of another, you are open to learn from them - meaning without intermediaries or commentaries. What that means for you is to work through the inevitable difficulty of holding back what you may believe another means until you can confirm it through their own words.

As you know, there is no other way, so you need courage to face the confusion you will feel in this course, but you can do it; others have gone through the same thing you are now facing. As your faculty member, I am here to help you but you have to enter alone into the challenge. You have, by taking this course, accepted an invitation to a banquet, and it is worth the effort to get there!

Guidelines for Success

Students are advised to compare what they hear and view in the taped course lectures with the text materials, so that what is being said in the taped lectures can be confirmed in the readings. This is the classic approach to learning that will be emphasized in this course. Your attention to this level of detailed comparison is essential for success in this course. Learning this method of critical analysis and comparison will help you write your responses to the specific topics requested in each assessment activity.

Students are strongly encouraged to maintain excellent notes of each taped lecture. As you draft your notes, identify the central issues found in each tape as well as what you have come to realize in your study and review of the course materials. Your notes will be used for comparative study of different authors. Your conclusion(s) and personal realizations will be important to note and journal along the way and will help provide a basis for writing your papers.

Late Policy on Meeting Deadlines

Any request to send in a paper after the published postmark date must be sent and confirmed with my office in advance of the deadline. Usually 1 week delay is okay, but your grade may be affected if no late request is made. Send your request for an extended due date to: pierregrimescc@mac.com

Grading Policy
Email Discussion Group participation		5%
Phone Conference Participation		15%
Paper 1		20%
Paper 2		25%
Paper 3a and 3b		35%
Total		100%