Ancient Philosophy of Language. Selected Topics

seminaria monograficzne

w sali

The seminar will be devoted to selected topics from ancient philosophy of language. The following three sets of topics are planned:

1) Interpretations of Aristotle's "Categories".

2) Major semantic theories in Ancient Philosophy.

3) Neoplatonic interpretations of Plato’s "Cratylus".

The seminar will be devoted to selected topics from ancient philosophy of language. The following three sets of topics are planned:

1) Interpretations of Aristotle's "Categories".

Is Aristotle’s system of the categories a classification of types of beings or a classification of types of predication? We will consider both interpretations and their consequences. In this section, we will read not only passages from the "Categories" and "Metaphysics", but also short passages from ancient commentaries on the "Categories" (Porphyry, Simplikios). One of the additional topics in this section will be the question of the status of universals in the "Categories" - we will use a commentary by Simplikios (6th century) as our guide, which sums up the entire ancient exegesis of the "Categories", and in particular describes the disputes around the issue of universals.

2) Major semantic theories in Ancient Philosophy.

In this section, we will make a brief overview of the three most important theories in the ancient philosophy of language, namely: the pioneering reflections on language in the theory of Plato (based on the "Sophist" and the "Cratylus"), Aristotle's developed theory with added conceptual elements (based on "De Interpretatione" and "De Anima") and the theory of the Stoics, who introduced many important new ideas in semantics, e.g. the concept of abstract meanings and the notion of propositions.

3) Neoplatonic interpretations of Plato’s "Cratylus".

The “Cratylus” is one of Plato's most interesting and most controversial dialogues. In this text Plato discusses two crucial topics - the concept of a name, which plays a central role in Greek reflection on language, and the problem of the relationship between a name and a thing. During the seminar we will read passages from Plato’s dialogue and large sections of Proclus' commentary on the "Cratylus", in which we can find a developed version of Plato's theory of language, as well as Proclus's comments on other topics in the "Cratylus", such as the relationship between humans and gods.

Primary texts:

Plato: The Sophist, Cratylus; Aristotle: Categories, Metaphysics, De Anima; Proclus: On Plato’s Cratylus; Simplicius: On Aristotle’s Categories.

Secondary texts:

J. Ackrill, Aristotle’s Categories and De Interpretatione, Oxford 1963.

R. Berg, Proclus’ Commentary on the Cratylus in Context, Leiden 2007.

W.D. Ross, Aristotle’ Metaphysics, vols. 1-2, Oxford 1924.

D. Charles, Aristotle on Meaning and Essence, Oxford 2002.

D. Modrak, Aristotle’s Theory of Language and Meaning, Cambridge 2001.

B. Mates, Stoic Logic, Berkeley 1953.

A. Bäck, Aristotle’s Theory of Predication, Leiden 2000.

D. Morrison, „The Taxonomical Interpretation of Aristotle’s Categories: a Criticism”, in: J. Preus, J. Anton (eds.) Essays in Ancient Greek Philosophy, New York 1992.

F. Lewis, Substance and Predication in Aristotle, Cambridge 1991.

Knowledge:

- the student has basic knowledge about main directions of development and new interpretations in the research on ancient philosophy of language

- knows basic research methods typically used in the area of history of philosophy

- knows the principles of working out interpretations of philosophical texts

Skills:

- is able to read, understand and compare different philosophical texts

- is able to listen and understand oral presentations of philosophical ideas and arguments and is able to prepare his/her own presentations

- is able to analyze the logical structure of the argument presented by other participants of the seminar and is able to assess the possible influence of logical mistakes on the validity of the conclusions (2nd degree of studies)

- is able to choose suitable argumentative strategies, present objections and formulate arguments in favour of his/her own position

- is able to conduct research on a basic (1st degree) or advanced (2nd and 3rd degree) level under the guidance of the teacher

Social competence:

- without the help of the teacher sets up and carries out simple research tasks

- is open to discussion and new solutions of the presented problems

- is able to cooperate within a group, assuming different roles within the group

The course requirements are: reading of obligatory texts, seminar presentation or essay and a short final written test. The final grade will be based on student’s activity, the presentation/essay and the result from the test.

Acceptable number of missed classes without formal explanation: 2 per semester.