Term Paper Topics for PHIL410, Classical Philosophy
The following list includes suggested topics for term papers
in PHIL410. These are generally topics, that is, subjects about
which various positions are possible. Some are questions; some
are issues about which there has been scholarly disagreement;
some are fairly broad areas of inquiry. Although the
description of each is brief, it should give you enough
information to start research on it and decide whether you want
to pursue it further.
- Anaximander and Anaxagoras
- What similarities are there between Anaximander's view that
all things arose from an "unlimited" or
"indefinite" and Anaxagoras' philosophy?
- Anaximander's Fragment
- A brief passage from Anaximander appears to be the
earliest direct quotation preserved from an ancient Greek
philosopher. What is its significance?
- The Pythagoreans and Mathematics
- The Pythagoreans, according to Aristotle, maintained that
"all things are numbers".
- Heraclitus and Change
- Perhaps the best-known aspect of Heraclitus' views is the
thesis that all things constantly change. There are many
views about just how he meant this.
- Heraclitus, Cratylus, and Plato
- Aristotle says that Plato's view of the perceptible world
as constantly changing was influenced by Cratylus, who in
turn was influenced by Heraclitus.
- The Interpretation of Parmenides' Poem
- The fragments we have of Parmenides' poem argue for a very
striking position: what is, is one, unchanging, and
unifferentiated. What does this mean? Did he really mean it?
- Zeno's Paradoxes
- Plato says that Zeno's paradoxical arguments were intended
to support Parmenides' views by showing that the views of
Parmenides' opponents were inconsistent.
- Democritus' and Anaxagoras' Responses to Parmenides
- Both Democritus and Anaxagoras seem to be directing some of
their arguments at Parmenides. How does this shape their
views?
- Empedocles' Four Elements
- Empedocles held that all things were ultimately composed of
four "roots": earth, water, air, fire. Why did he
hold this? Is this
- Democritus on Appearance and Reality
- Democritus says that the sensory qualities we perceive,
such as colors, are only "by convention", and that
in reality there is nothing bu "atoms and the
void".
- Are Socrates' Positions in the Crito
and Apology Consistent?
- At his trial, Socrates said that he would not obey the
court if they ordered him to "live quietly". in
the Crito, he argues that he must remain in prison to
be executed, in accordance with the court's decree, rather
than escape. Are these consistent?
- Was Socrates a Sophist?
- Socrates' activity is often contrasted sharply with that of
the Sophists in Plato's dialogues. However, some other
figures (particularly the comic poet Aristophanes) saw
Socrates as one of the Sophists.
- Protagoras on Truth and Knowledge
- Protagoras began his book Truth with the statement
that "Man is the measure of all things". Much of
what we know about Protagoras, and his Truth, comes
from Plato's Theaetetus, which is ultimately critical
of it. What did Protagoras really say? Are Plato's
criticisms of it valid?
- Love and the Theory of Forms in Plato's Symposium
- In the Symposium (specifically in Socrates' account
of Diotima's speech), Plato gives an account of a path to
knowledge that begins with love between two individuals.
- Plato's Sicilian Voyages: Plato and Practical Politics
- Plato visited the court of Dionysius I at Syracuse, and
later he visited Syracuse when Dionusius' son Dionysius II had
succeeded him. Do Plato's interactions with political events
in Syracuse indicate anything about his political
philosophy?
- Plato's Use of Myths (in the Gorgias, Phaedo,
Republic, Symposium, Phaedrus, Statesman,
Critias)
- In the dialogues listed, Plato presents myths (that is,
tales involving fanciful or fantastic places, gods, remote
history. However, he also often expresses a distrust of
poetry (as in Republic X) as somethning that
encourages irrationality. Why does he put myths in his
dialogues? What is the significance of each particular
myth? (There are several possible topics here.)
- Plato's "Unwritten Doctrine"
- Aristotle ascribes some views to Plato that do not appear
to be found in any of Plato's written works. What were these
"unwritten doctrines"? Or were there any at all?
- Socrates' Philosophical Autobiography in
the Phaedo
- In the Phaedo, Socrates gives an account of his
early interest in the philosophical views of Anaxagoras and
his subsequent disenchantment with them. What does this tell
us about the historical Socrates, or about Plato?
- The "Euthyphro Problem" and the
Philosophy of Religion
- In the Euthyphro, there is a discussion of the
question whether the gods love what is pious because it is
pious or, on the other hand, what is pious is pious because the
gods love it. This issue is also important in the later
history of the philosophy of religion.
- The Geometrical "Experiment" in
Plato's Meno
- A critical section of the Meno is a conversation
between Socrates and Meno's slave. What is its
significance?
- "The Good" in Plato's Republic
and Symposium: Plato as Mystic?
- Some passages in Plato have been taken by later
philosophers, ancient as well as modern, as presupposing a kind
of mystical experience. One prominent example is the vision of
The Good at the end of Republic X; another is the
"ascent of love" in the Symposium.
Interpreters disagree on how important this is in
interpreting Plato.
- Plato on Rhetoric
- Plato's Gorgias is sharply critical of the art of
rhetoric that Gorgias teaches. Plato's Phaedrus has a
more positive view of rhetoric. Book X of
Plato's Republic is very distrustful of any kind of
poetry. What can we make of all this?
- The Riddle of the Second Part of Plato's Parmenides
- The second part of Plato's Parmenides is often seen
as baffling. What does it mean?
- Plato and Aristotle on Democracy
- Plato is critical of democracy as a form of government in
the Republic. Aristotle's views about democratic
government, as expressed in the Politics, are more
complex.
- Plato as Totalitarian
- It has been argued that Plato's political views, at least as
expressed in the Republic, are "totalitarian"
in a certain sense. Yes or no?
- The "Third Man" Argument and Plato
- A famous objection to Plato's theory of forms is the
"Third Man", a version of which appears in
Plato's Parmenides. Did Plato have an answer to it?
Or did he abandon the theory of forms because of it?
- Aristotle's Criticisms of Plato's Theory of Forms
- Aristotle presents objections to Plato's theory of forms
(for example in Metaphysics I). . What are
they? Are they justifiable?
- The Problem of Aristotle's Account of Substance
inMetaphysics VII
- In Book Zeta (VII) of the Metaphysics, Aristotle
seems to maintain that: (1) a thing's substance is its form;
(2) forms are universal; and (3) no universal is a
substance. These appear to be inconsistent. Are they
really?
- Aristotle's Ethics and Contemporary Moral Philosophy
- Aristotle's ethical views are often appealed to by more
recent philosophers. One important example is "virtue
ethics" .
- Aristotle and Functionalism
- Some philosophers have seen Aristotle as holding an early
version of functionalism about the soul; others have
disagreed.
- Aristotle on Women and on Slavery
- In the Politics, Aristotle maintains that some people
are natural slaves. He also says (or seems to say) that women
(and children) have natural characteristics that make them
incapable of
- Aristotle's Criticisms of Plato's Political Views
- In the Politics, Aristotle criticizes some of the
views found in Plato's Republic. Are they on
target?
- Aristotle and Plato on the Nature of Women
- In the Republic, Plato argues that women and men
have the same essential nature. In the Politics and
elsewhere, Aristotle appears not to agree. Sorting out the
views of either philosopher on this subject is a good topic
by itself; so is comparing their views.
- Aristotle and Biology
- Aristotle was a good observer of biological phenomena, and
much of what he wrote concerns animals. This is sometimes
seen as having an important influence on other aspects of his
philosophy, for instance his conception of a
"nature".
- The Two Best Lives in Aristotle
- In Book X of the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle
contrasts the "active" life of political excellence
with the life of the philosopher, devoted to theoria
("contemplation" or "study"), arguing
that the latter is the highest form of human happiness.
However, the preceding nine books of the Nicomachean
Ethics concentrate almost entirely on political
excellence.
- Aristotle's Unmoved Mover and Theology
- The arguments given by Aristotle in Metaphysics XII
and Physics VII for the existence of an "unmoved
mover" that is the cause of all motion were later adopted
by Christian and Islamic theologians as arguments for the
existence of God. Is Aristotle's unmoved mover properly called
God?
- Democritus and Epicureanism
- Epicurus rests his philosophy on a version of atomism. How
is it like, or unlike, Democritus' views?
- Pyrrho the Skeptic: What Did He Really Believe?
- Pyrrho's philosophical position seem to be incredible: no
one knows anything (including the proposition "No one
knows anything"). What did he really believe? How is
his position related to later philosophers, for instance
Hume?`
- Epicurus' Argument against Fearing Death
- Epicurus argued that since dying is simply going out of
existence, there is no reason to fear death, since we cannot
be harmed by it. This argument has received significant
attention in recent years.
- Socrates and the Stoics
- The Stoic ideal of the virtuous man (the "Stoic
sage") is often seen as influenced by Socrates.