Epicurus

This course is an introduction to Epicureanism, one of the major philosophical systems, along with Stoicism and academic skepticism, competing for the allegiances of thoughtful people in the Hellenistic world. This course will range fairly broadly over Epicurus’ (resolutely materialistic and reductionist) metaphysics, (empiricist and anti-skeptical) epistemology, and (egoistic and hedonistic) ethics. Some particular topics to be covered include:

• Why we should favor mechanistic explanations of phenomena to teleological ones that refer to the will of the gods, inherent purposes in nature, or the like;
• Why the mind is identical to a bodily organ and death is annihilation;
• How a random atomic swerve helps preserve our freedom;
• Why skepticism is unlivable and self-refuting;
• Why living a simple life and reducing your desires leads to the most pleasant life;
• Why you have to love your friends as much as yourself (and in what sense) for the purposes of obtaining pleasure for yourself;
• Why realizing that death is annihilation should help relieve the fear of death.

Note: This course has as a prerequisite one course in philosophy or the consent of the instructor.

Class format

This class will primarily be seminar format, and class discussion of the readings will play a major role. The midterm and final exam will consist of take-home essay questions, and you will compose one short paper during the course of the semester and a longer final paper.

In each class we'll have a member of the class contribute a short reading response paper. I will rotate the schedule of reading response papers, so that every class period one or two students will submit a paper. These papers will typically involve setting out and evaluating one of the arguments in the reading for that class day. You will post this paper to the class bulletin board, at https://gsu.view.usg.edu/. Please post your paper the night before the class. Everybody will be responsible for reading the reading response papers before the class meeting and posting a reply to one of the papers, or a reply to one of the replies, even.

You can post several types of replies:

1. Clarification request. You claim p, but I don't know what you mean by saying p. Please clarify. Do you mean by this p', p''...?
2. Argument request. You claim p. I think I know what you mean by p. But why do you claim p? I don't see any argument for p, and I think you need to give an argument for it.
3. Objection. You claim p (and maybe you argue for it). However, I think that p, (or your argument for p), is problematic. Here's my objection to p (or to your argument for p): q. What do you say in response to q?
4. Assistance. You claim p. I agree with you that p, but I think the following additional reason (which you do not mention) can be given in support of p: q.
5. Competing interpretation. You say that the reading claims that p. However, I don't think that this is exactly what it says. Instead, I think it says p' (and here's why I think this).
6. Suggestion of parallels. You claim p. P (or your argument for p) reminds me of so-and-so's claim that q (or his argument for q). Are the two really similar? Does comparing p to q help illuminate p, or is it just misleading?

Typically, I will explain the material in the first part of the class, and the latter part of the class will be devoted to discussing the material, using the reading response papers and replies as a way to start the discussion. But this division is not meant to be hard and fast: discussions and evaluation will often break out during the first part of the class, and during the course of discussing the material in the second part, sometimes I may go back to clarify some points in the material.

The bulletin board also has a forum for posting questions about the material. If anything in the reading is unclear to you, or you have any other questions about the material, please post them in this forum. I will look over it before class.

The bulletin board, announcements, copies of this syllabus, regularly updated reading assignments, and a trove of other information is available from the course web site.

Texts:

• The Epicurus Reader: Selected Writings and Testimonia. Brad Inwood and Lloyd Gerson, eds. Hackett Publishing Company, 1994.
• Lucretius, On the nature of things. Martin Ferguson Smith, trans. Hackett 2001.
• Course packet (contains additional primary and secondary literature). Available at The Printshop, 6 Decatur Street, SE (near Five Points).

February 15: First paper due
March 3: Midterm exam due
April 24: Final paper due
Wed., May 3, 4 p.m.: Final exam due

If you will be unable to turn in an exam or paper when it's due, please let me know beforehand and let me know why you'll be unable to turn in the assignment on time. We can arrange for an extension (although your grade may be reduced). I'm usually much more understanding of people who come to me before an assignment is due and say they'll have difficulty completing it on time than I am of those who tell me afterwards that they were unable to do it. However, if you miss the deadline for an assignment, please contact me as soon as possible to arrange to make it up. Unless there is some compelling excuse (e.g., you had to be rushed to the hospital the night before a paper was due), there will be a penalty for tardiness, and there is no guarantee that you will be allowed to make up the assignment.

You're also responsible for attending class regularly. If you know beforehand that you'll be unable to attend a class, let me know so that we can arrange for you to receive notes, discuss the material, or do anything else necessary so that you do not fall behind. If you miss a class without notification, you will still be responsible for knowing course content discussed in the class that day, learning about any announcements made in class, etc.