Download Summer 2017 Preceptorial Topics

Summer 2017 Graduate Institute Preceptorial Descriptions
All preceptorials are open to students in any of the Summer 2017 segments: History,
Literature, or Philosophy & Theology.
Aristotle, On the Soul and Descartes, Passions of the Soul
Living beings, Aristotle observed, are distinguished by an internal source of motion: they nourish
themselves, grow and produce offspring. He attributes these activities to the soul, which sets
plants, animals and humans apart from inert matter. The souls of animals and humans also
facilitate sensation, motion and cognitive activities. In On the Soul, Aristotle discusses the
nature, parts and activities of the soul, and how to investigate them. Descartes rejected
Aristotle’s view that living bodies are governed by souls. Instead, he proposed material accounts
of all bodily functions and argued that humans alone have souls, which is the seat of all cognition.
In Passions of the Soul (1649), Descartes addressed questions about the relationship between
bodies and souls. In particular, he inquired how bodily, emotional and mental conditions affect
each other. His aim was to help readers gain control over passions, such as desire and sadness,
and put them to good use. Our aim in reading these books will be to reflect on what makes
something living, what distinguishes different kinds of living beings, the relationship between
our external and internal experiences and how best to investigate these questions.
Recommended Editions: Aristotle, De Anima (On the Soul) and Descartes, Passions of the
Soul. Any translations with line numbers are acceptable.
First Assignment: Aristotle, De Anima (On the Soul), Book I, chapters 1 and 2.
Tutor: Karin Ekholm
Plato’s Apology and Crito
Socrates was charged with “doing injustice by corrupting the young and by not believing in the
gods the city believes in.” In the Apology, where he tells “the whole truth” about his life,
Socrates defends himself to Athens as best he can. In doing so, he gives the most complete
account in Plato of his purpose in refuting others, as we’ve seen him do in the Meno. (In fact,
there’s a close connection between the two dialogues: the accuser most responsible for the
execution of Socrates was Meno’s Athenian host, Anytus—the political man Socrates goes out of
his way to anger in the second half of the Meno.) Did Socrates break the law? If so, why? And
would that make him guilty of injustice? What was the purpose of those provocative refutations?
These questions are best addressed through a study of the Apology itself together with its sequel,
the Crito. There, for the benefit of his oldest friend, Socrates personifies the Laws of Athens and
has them make as strong a case as they can that he should die in obedience to them.
Required Edition: 4 Texts on Socrates, translated by West; Cornell University Press.
First Assignment: Study carefully Apology, title to 20e (“… in order to slander me.”).
Tutor: Robert Goldberg
Preceptorial in Music
In this preceptorial, we will study music as a liberal art: through close scrutiny of its elements,
we will investigate what music is, what powers of the human being are involved in music, what
basis music has in mathematics, as well as what great musical works have to say to us. No
previous technical training in music is required for the class. Zuckerkandl’s The Sense of Music
will be our guide, along with supplementary readings collected in a manual. We will study chant,
works by Josquin, Palestrina, Byrd, Bach, Mozart, Schubert, and others. Besides discussion, our
classroom sessions will include extensive listening, analysis at the board, and occasional
composition. In order to produce the object of our study- and to get ‘inside’ the phenomena, so
to speak- we will sing.
Texts: Zuckerkandl, The Sense of Music and music manual, available in the bookstore.
First Assignment: Reading from Zuckerkandl’s Man the Musician, in manual, pp 1-8. Sense of
Music, pp 11-21.
Tutor: Matthew Caswell
Preceptorial on Shakespeare’s Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale, and
The Tempest
In Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale, and The Tempest, sometimes called problem plays, tragicomedies, or romances, Shakespeare is working at genre that defies genre. While tragic events
frame each of the plays in various ways, Shakespeare brings each around to some sort of
comedic resolution. We will begin with the first two acts of Cymbeline. Almost all editions of
Shakespeare’s plays have act, scene and line numbers. Please, in addition, choose an edition that
provides good notes to Shakespeare’s usage, which often differs from our own.
Texts: Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale, and The Tempest
First Assignment: Cymbeline, Acts I and II
Tutor: Joan Silver
Machiavelli’s Discourses on Livy
Machiavelli is often regarded as the founder of modern political science, because of his apparent
focus on a morally neutral analysis of the means to achieve and pursue political power. Does he
also deserve to be considered the founder of a distinctively modern political philosophy? Would
this require reflection on the proper ends of political power? The Discourses seems a promising
place to pursue these questions, insofar as Machiavelli presents himself as preferring republics to
principalities, and as praising the republic of Rome in particular. What grounds does he offer for
this preference and this praise? We will read the whole of the Discourses along with selections
from the first five books of Livy’s History of Rome (Ab Urbe Condita).
Texts: Machiavelli, Discourses on Livy. Translated by Mansfield and Tarcov. University of
Chicago Press. Livy, History of Rome. Books 1-5. Any edition acceptable which includes first
five books. Penguin and Oxford are two inexpensive paperback editions.
First assignment: Discourses I, Preface and 1-5 (pp. 5-19 in Mansfield translation); History of
Rome Book I, chapters 1-6 (pp. 33-40 in Penguin edition).
Tutor: Michael Dink
Socrates from Two Perspectives
We will look at Socrates from two perspectives: that of Plato's Gorgias and the one Nietzsche
claims to discover in Birth of Tragedy. We will also read Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound. Texts: No preferred translation, please choose texts with line numbers. First assignment is Gorgias 447A --450C, where Gorgias claims that the whole activity and power of rhetoric is in speech.
Tutor: John White
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