Simple Index of Course Web Pages
Short Form Detailed Syllabus. For greater detail, see the Detailed Weekly Assignments 2021 page.
Part 1 : Marquette (MU) only 2 September – 23 September.
Lectures, texts, discussions on Aquinas and the Arabic Tradition.
2 September 2021
- Introduction to the course and its webpages
- Review & overview of Aristotle’s philosophical works and thought
- Student Assignment: Christopher Shields, Aristotle, in SEP: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle/
Christopher Shields, Aristotle’s Psychology, in SEP: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-psychology/ - Student Assignment: Read Aristotle on the soul: De Anima (i) 1.4, 408b19-32; (ii) 2.1, 412a3-413a10; (iii) 2.12, 424a17-b19; and (iv) 3.4, 429a10-b10. Use the translation of Shields in Aristotle De Anima, Christopher Shields (trans.,comm.) Oxford University Press (2016) or that in the Loeb Classical Library, Aristotle, De Anima, tr. Hett: archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.183331/mode/2up.
- Alexander of Aphrodisias and the Reforming of Aristotle’s Teaching on the Soul. Two distinctive views in his De Anima and in his De Intellectu. Remarks on the misreading of Alexander’s text. Read Taylor 2016, The Epistemology of Abstraction, pp. 273-275.
- Course student teams assignments for submission to me and on the class TEAMS site 24 hours before our 9 September class.
International Philosophical Bibliography:
Team 1: Prepare a list of all articles and books on Aristotle’s philosophical psychology 2010-12
Team 2: Prepare a list of all articles and books on Aristotle’s philosophical psychology 2013-15
Team 3: Prepare a list of all articles and books on Aristotle’s philosophical psychology 2016-18
Team 4: Prepare a list of all articles and books on Aristotle’s philosophical psychology 2019-21
Team 5: Prepare a list of all articles and books on philosophical psychology in Alexander of Aphrodisias 2010-15
Team 6: Prepare a list of all articles on philosophical psychology in Alexander of Aphrodisias 2016-21
9 September 2021 Lecture Outline and Assigned Readings
- 1. Presentation of some basic principles of Aristotle’s philosophy
- 2. Human knowing in Aristotle and the Classical Rationalist Arabic Philosophical Tradition. Study the two sets of lecture notes before class. Link. I will go through these in detail in class but you will understand much better if you study the notes in advance of class. Also watch the linked videos embedded in the notes for Lecture 2.
2.I. Lecture 1 Aristotle, with Alexander and Themistius
2.2. Lecture 2 The Classical Rationalist Arabic Tradition.
3.1. Student Assignments: Read through the lecture notes above. Take the time to watch the linked video lectures.
3.2. Important articles from the online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy assigned for student study:
Cristina D’Ancona, Greek Sources in Arabic and Islamic Philosophy SEP
Luis Xavier López-Farjeat, al-Farabi’s Psychology and Epistemology SEP
Dimitri Gutas, Ibn Sina [Avicenna] SEP
Fouad Ben Ahmed & Robert Pasnau, Ibn Rushd [Averroes] SEP
Dag Hasse, Influence of Arabic and Islamic Philosophy on the Latin West, SEP. - 4. Student teams exercises due before our 16 September class: using the bibliography of Th.-A. Druart. See https://philosophy.catholic.edu/faculty-and-research/publications/dr.-druarts-bibliographic-guide.html and also via this Link see the compiled entire bibliography in one PDF.
Team 1: Prepare a list of all articles and books on the Theology of Aristotle, which is the Arabic Plotinus.
Team 2: Prepare a list of all articles and books on the Kalam fi madh al-khair (Discourse on the Pure Good), in Latin called the Liber de causis.
Team 3: Prepare a list of all articles and books on al-Kindi’s philosophical psychology
Team 4: Prepare a list of all articles and books on al-Farabi’s philosophical psychology
Team 5: Prepare a list of all articles and books on Ibn Sina’s (Avicenna’s) philosophical psychology
Team 6: Prepare a list of all articles on Ibn Rushd’s (Averroes’s) philosophical psychology
16 September 2021: Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas and Latin Averroism on Human Knowing.
- Required readings for class: (i) Shields, De Anima, General Introduction, pp. xi-xlix; (ii) lectures 1 on the Arabic Tradition and 2 on Albert, Thomas and Averroism; and (III) Taylor 2018, “Remarks on the Importance of Albert the Great’s Analyses and Use of the Thought of Avicenna and Averroes in the De homine for the Development of the Early Natural Epistemology of Thomas Aquinas.” Link.
Taylor 2013, “Aquinas and the Arabs: Aquinas’s First Critical Encounter with the Doctrines of Avicenna and Averroes on the Intellect, In 2 Sent. d. 17, q. 2, a. 1.” Link.
Recommended: Ralph McInterny & John O’Callahan St Thomas Aquinas SEP - Team Assignments: Just complete the assignment given earlier, scil. the work with the bibliography of Druart indicated above.
23 September 2021: The Nature of the Human Soul: the Arabic Tradition, Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas and Latin Averroism.
- Catch up on your reading of Shields, De Anima, General Introduction, pp. xi-xlix and also read his translation of De Anima Book 1, ch. 1, and ALL of Book 2.
- Catch up on SEP assigned articles.
- Read the two articles by Bazán on Agent Intellect (2021) and Averroism (2020) available via thisLink.
- Reserve time to read my lecture notes for Thursday. They are forthcoming tonight or tomorrow.
- Teams assignment: Each team (after members confer) is asked to submit three (3) questions to me via email and to post them on the TEAMS site by Wednesday 4:59 pm.
30 Sept connection of MU & KUL: Introduction to reading the De Anima of Aristotle:
Student Assignments: (1) Catch up on your sleep so you can be sharp for this rich class meeting; and (2) Catch up on any of the assigned reading from previous classes that you have not yet done. It is extremely important that you are able to use what we have studied for the first three weeks in your later work in this course.
9-9:30 / 16h00-16h30 Prof. Lisa Devriese of the Aristoteles Latinus Project at KUL on the Greek De Anima in the Latin tradition;
9:30-10:00 / 16h30-17h00 Prof. Taylor on the Greek De Anima in the Arabic tradition and from Arabic into Latin;
10:00-11:00 / 17h00-18h00 Joining of the two courses at MU & KUL, with a tour of the course webpages and details on Student Presentation Procedures with Prof. Taylor. 11-11:10 / 18h-18h10: short 10 min. break.
11:10-11:40 / 18h10-18h40: Research: bibliographical research and a bibliography of philosophical bibliographies in European Languages and in Arabic with Dr. Ismail Kurun and Ms. Nicoletta Nativo.
11:40 / 118h40: MU class ends; KUL only: Discussion of KUL class requirements and clarifications on the course structure.
Part 2 MU & KUL: reading Aristotle’s De Anima.
Student Team Class Presentations Begin.
7 Oct MU-1 Arist DA 1.1 on method with selections from accounts by Avicenna, Averroes, Aquinas & Shields, with that of Hicks consulted as needed.
MU-2 Arist DA 2.1 def of the soul with selections from accounts by Avicenna, Averroes, Aquinas & Shields, with that of Hicks consulted as needed.
14 Oct MU-3 Arist DA.2.2 second def of soul with selections from accounts by Avicenna, Averroes, Aquinas & Shields, with that of Hicks consulted as needed.
MU-4 Arist DA 2.3 faculties of the soul with selections from accounts by Avicenna, Averroes, Aquinas & Shields, with that of Hicks consulted as needed.
21 Oct MU-5 Arist DA 2.5 sensation with selections from accounts by by Avicenna, Averroes, Aquinas & Shields, with that of Hicks consulted as needed.
MU-6 Arist DA 2.12 sensation summary acct with selections from accounts by Avicenna, Averroes, Aquinas & Shields, with that of Hicks consulted as needed.
28 Oct KUL-1 Arist DA 3.1-2 senses & common sense with selections from accounts by Avicenna, Averroes, Aquinas & Shields, with that of Hicks consulted as needed.
KUL-2 Arist DA 3.3 imagination with selections from accounts by Avicenna, Averroes, Aquinas & Shields, with that of Hicks consulted as needed.
31 Oct Belgium Time Change
4 Nov 8-9 am KUL only: Robiglio on how to write philosophy articles. [Record] 9-11 KUL & MU together. 9-10 Taylor on how to write philosophy articles [Record]. 10-11 Dr Wietecha on writing papers, articles and dissertations [Record]. 11-11:40 MU students only: Robiglio recording on how to write articles.
7 Nov US Time Change.
*11 November KUL class excused Belgium Armistice Day.
11 Nov only MU 9-11:40 am 5-10 min. students present course paper plan to MU class with one page handout. [To be video recorded].
17 Nov KUL-3 Arist DA 3.4 receptive intellect with selections from accounts by Avicenna, Averroes, Aquinas & Shields, with that of Hicks consulted as needed. Students will also use QDDA 3.
KUL-4 Arist DA 3.5 agent intellect with selections from accounts by Avicenna, Averroes, Aquinas & Shields, with that of Hicks consulted as needed. Students will also use QDDA 4. After students’ presentations, instructors will discuss QDDA 5. [To be video recorded]
*25 Nov Thanksgiving. MU class excused. Video record KUL meeting for MU students to study later.
25 Nov KUL-5 DA 3.6 operations of intellect with selections from accounts by Avicenna, Averroes, Aquinas & Shields, with that of Hicks consulted as needed.
KUL-6 Aquinas, Disputed Questions on the Soul / Questiones Disputate De Anima (QDDA) 1.
2 Dec KUL-7 QDDA 2.
KUL-8 Aquinas, QDDA 12.
9 Dec KUL-9 Aquinas QDDA 14.
KUL-10 Aquinas QDDA 16.
Part 3: KUL only: short presentations.
16 Dec KUL short presentations re. final paper.
23 Dec KUL short presentations re. final paper.
Student Class Presentations: Assignments for Presenters and Other Students
Student Presenter teams of 2-3 students will be assigned to prepare presentations on texts and topics assigned by the instructors. Presentations will be made at class weekly followed by discussion and questions for an hour or a bit more.
(1) Instructions for Student Presenter teams:
From their research on the assigned texts and topic presenters are to provide by 11:59 pm US Central Time / 6h59 CET a handout of no more than 6 single spaced pages plus a 2 page bibliography. This is to be sent to the instructors via email and posted on TEAMS before the deadline.
On Thursday the Student Presenter team will make a summary oral presentation of 10-12 minutes (no more) which will be followed by comments by the instructors and then general discussion.
(2) Instructions for Other Class Students: Other students in the class are to post two questions on the texts, topic and Student team presentation on TEAMS no later than Wednesday 4:59 pm US Central Time / 23h59 CET. This is part of the MU student participation grade for the course. For KUL students it is a simple expectation for any serious student of philosophy. Students who do not post questions should expect that the instructors will ask questions of them regarding the course materials.
MU Grading & Attendance in brief: Team presentation (25%), Class participation (25%) Course paper (50%). Attendance at every class is mandatory.
KUL Grading: see KUL Grading Page 2021
Addenda
Some philosophy models, with thanks to Prof. Joseph Steineger:
Links for Ibn Sina’s cosmology and view of the soul: