General provisions

The department responsible for the course is the Department of Philosophy.

Entry requirements

Students admitted to any one or two year master program in the humanities or with a bachelor's degree in the humanities.

Learning outcomes

After completing the course the students are expected to:

• Know the central theories of scientific philosophy or universal knowledge as described in Plato's dialogue the Sophist.
• Be acquainted with contemporary scholarship on the ancient theories of universal knowledge thematized in the source material.
• Be able to discuss knowledgably and critically the main justificatory framework for ancient theories of philosophical science and objections to these theories.
• Be able to discuss knowledgably and critically the main dramatic framework for the Platonic theory of a philosophical science.
• Be able to apply the knowledge gained of theory and drama to specific dialogical cases and discuss individual arguments in their larger socio-political context.

Content

This course concerns the conceptual roots of the idea that philosophy is a science. The central historical material is Plato's dialogue the Sophist. The central thematic focus is the idea that phi­losophy is like the science of grammar and thus structurally pertinent to all subject matters. This idea is studied in relation to contemporary ancient theories and evaluated in terms of its socio-political function in the dramatic framework of the dialogue. The scholarship on this matter is divined. It is either suggested that the idea of a philosophical science represents a mature and authentic platonic metaphysics or that it is as a sophisticated illusion staged to illustrate the seductive lure of sophistic deception, epistemic power and scientific complacency. This course does not only provide the conceptual and historical tools to assess the dialogue's arguments, but also their dramatic and socio-political framework. Through a close reading of the source materials, in conjunction with a critical examination of the central secondary literature, it offers a context sensitive survey of how the idea of a philosophical science was established and developed in its ancient Greek context. As such, the course also provides a foundation for students interested in pursuing other similar topics in ancient philosophy and in the history of philosophy more generally.

Instruction

Seminars and paper-writing.

Assessment

Examination consists of a take home essay exam..