This course fulfills the following requirements: AH2: Humanities

The humanities involve the study of past and present human thought about the way the world works and how people should behave, exploring big questions with which human cultures have grappled for centuries.  The study of the humanities helps students to understand what it means to be human and how the past has shaped the present, building skills in using primary source evidence to construct rational arguments, and expanding capacity to empathize with other people.

• Before class: you read the Plato reading for the week. Reading it twice is highly recommended: Plato has not survived for so long because he is easy. He rewards and requires re-reading. Also, please mark up your texts with high-lighting, written comments, questions, etc. Making a text your own is a good practice. Do not make the mistake of selling your textbook back immediately: you signed up for Plato for some reason and you are about to invest months in it, but we will, in the grand scheme of things, read only a portion of the book. I hope you will read more of it later and or re-read what we cover. You should keep the book.
  

1. Argument analyses: we discuss the passages and how to analyze them.
   
2. Lecture and discussion: in the remaining time, your fellow students will present articles or I will. What I say is usually based on secondary readings (which are indicated on the schedule and you may read as well: this is a good idea, but not required). I am most happy if the class turns into a good discussion. I am also happy to talk myself, far too much. I am extremely happy if the discussion includes many people and not always the same people.
3. The material from the class presentations will be on the final: you need to take notes so that you understand the notes that will be provided online. You may also go read the articles yourselves.
   

IMPORTANT NOTES ABOUT WRITTEN WORK: Experience has taught me to be explicit about these things and to put them in the syllabus.

• Use non-sexist language. Plato talks about "men," because he lived in an almost uniformly sexist world and was himself sexist, but you should talk about "people" and "humans."
  
• Related to this, it used to be just wrong to write something like "When one reads Plato, they should be aware that they are reading a translation." It is now, in this class, correct.
  
• Be careful about grammar: you can use grammatically correct non-sexist language.
  
• If an assignment is to be printed, printing problems are not an excuse: try telling your boss that you missed a deadline because you didn't plan well enough to get the document printed in time. Just once would be too much. Don't go to the library to print it right before class. Plan.
• Deadlines are firm.
  
• If you are having a time-crunch problem, let me know by email AHEAD OF TIME. The day of is too late for an extension. Telling me the day after is just plain disrespectful and a horrible habit to be in. I understand full well that sometimes there is too much to do, and I will be flexible IF you foresee it and responsibly address it. That is one of those "soft skills" people talk about and will serve anyone well.
• Late work is simply not accepted. You can simply have that argument analysis be the one that is dropped or do another presentation.
  
• ALWAYS keep copies of your work, both a hard copy and an electronic copy.
  

• Every week of this semester after week 2, you will be asked to analyze a small part of the Plato text assigned to the class. This is called an "Argument Analysis."
  
• The aim of this exercise is:
• To extract the argument from a passage
• To put that argument into your own words
• To construct an argument that works logically
• To identify key assumptions that are necessary for the argument to work
• To assess any faults or problems with the argument
• The format:
• Argument Analyses must be typed up, submitted, AND saved as a file somewhere: I may ask you for another copy and you should be able to provide it.
  
• Arguments should be presented in steps, much like the following trivial argument:
1. Every Seuqcaj wears a vest. (Bailly Lecture 4/20/1893)
   
2. Every Ylliab is a Seuqcaj. (Bailly Lecture 4/20/1893)
3. Therefore, by 1 and 2, every Ylliab wears a vest. (Bailly Lecture 4/20/1893)
• A. The argument assumes that there are Seuqcaj's as well as Ylliab's (or does it? if there are no Seuqcaj's, isn't it still true that every one wears a vest, but also that every one does not wear a vest?)
• B. The Structure of the argument is a simple syllogism.
  
• Note that each step is numbered/bulleted, and the first two are the evidence/reasons for the third. That is why the third refers to the first two by number. Evidence/reasons/premises must precede the conclusion. Also note that where you got each claim is put in parentheses, using Stephanus page, letter, and line number) The lettered points are meta-observations about the structure of the argument and about the content, added to help explain what the argument is. Rather than form a part of the argument, they comment upon the argument.
• While there is no indentation in this simple example, indentation is a very powerful tool to indicate subordination. Use it if it helps you.
  
• Sometimes, it will be difficult or impossible to make the argument strictly logical: do your best. There is always some sort of structure to Plato's text, even if you don't think it is logically valid or sound. Make the structure clear.
  
• You are free to be innovative and to play with various ways to make your analysis clearer or better.
  
• NOTE WELL:  please give the stephanus page and letter and line numbers for every step of the argument.
  
• This sort of thing is always a good idea: leave your reader a breadcrumb trail to find the evidence and source of what you say. I need this in order to understand and evaluate your work better, and you need it to think better and more carefully and accurately.
  
• We will see many such arguments: observe various ways to do them and think about them and you will do better and better on subsequent assignments. Those of you who have taken logic classes should try to use it here and will be able to help us all out, I hope.
• These assignments are never to be longer than 300 words.Yes, I will mark it down/ignore whatever is longer than 300 words: being concise is a valuable and essential skill, among the most important writing skills.
• Timeline for Argument Analysis assignments:
• This is a somewhat complex assignment, but the pattern will occur repeatedly, so it should not be a problem.
  
• On the day the argument analysis is due: bring 3 copies of your argument analysis to class. Exchange argument analyses with 2 fellow students.
  
• Read your fellow student's argument analysis.
• Give me one copy and give the others to two fellow students.
  
• Consider what we said in class and what your fellow student did, and use that to FULLY revise your argument analysis.
  
• The class session AFTER the argument analysis was due: hand in a copy of your revised argument analysis on blackboard.
• Bringing copies of your draft analysis to class is worth 10% of the grade for these argument analyses: I will simply count the pile of draft analyses I have for you.
  
• There will be several of these Argument Analyses: If you miss one, it will not hurt your grade. If you miss two, it will hurt, because it will be a zero. Do not miss one lightly: you may really need it later.
• Grading rubric: not all of your argument analyses will be graded, but you won't know which ones will be graded until later in the semester: this is my way of dealing with the workload problem of assigning writing in a large-ish class. Basically only  2 or three will be graded with the rubric, and the rest will count as exercises: if you complete them, you get credit.
  
• Writing is thinking, and thinking benefits from repetition. So does writing. If you are not rethinking and rewriting, you are doing it wrong.
  
• I encourage you to use the writing center and your peers to hone these analyses. They are short assignmnets, but quite difficult in spite of and because of that.
  

Article Summaries and Presentations:

• Scholarly articles/book chapters are the basis of my lectures and your presentations.
  
• For each article we cover, two (or more) students will write a summary and present that article's contents to the class.
  
• These articles are assigned because they cover important aspects of Plato's thought. They are not easy. They are cutting-edge contributions about current concerns by top scholars.
  
• It is HIGHLY recommended that you come talk to me about the article.
• You must get a hold of and read the article well ahead of time and set up a meeting with me if needed to make sure you understand the basics of the article you choose.
• The articles will be assigned in the third week of the semester.
• You may choose an article and partners if you do so before the 3rd week of the semester: after that, it may be possible for you to 'horse-trade' with each other should you find you need to switch somehow, but there are no guarantees.
  
• Part of this assignment is an individual written assignment, called an "article summary."
• An article summary should be no more than 3 pages long. That means you have to pack material in tightly and use your words carefully.
• You can use bullet points instead of paragraphs.
  
• NOTE WELL: I grade wordiness harshly: you need to pack in material by using as few words to express your ideas as possible, but still express them well.
  
• A good summary does the following:
• State the most important conclusions/message/claim/result of the article, which can be rephrased as stating what the article is trying to do, what gap in previous knowledge it is filling, what material it is surveying, or what it is correcting. In other words, it answers the question, what task does the article accomplish?
  
• This should be done with a sentence or a paragraph right at the start of your summary.
  
• Give a clear idea of how the article is structured by indicating:
• What each section of the article covers
• In what order the article proceeds and why in that order
• Use very brief remarks about what order the article follows and why it does that, to show your reader how the article is structured. Do it as you go along, but clearly, by using wording like "The first (of 3) section, about recollection, says that..." and then "Recollection leads to the argument for immortality (section 2), which starts from the claim that ...." etc. 
• Give the most important details about the article's content (note that this requires judgement: choose the most important parts and do them well and in detail). Rehash the basic arguments and evidence for the conclusions if the article is arguing for a particular position. Summarize the most important content if the article is a survey. This is the biggest part of the summary: it is the justification of the conclusions.
  
• The idea is to reproduce the article's most important claims, arguments, and content, and to give the evidence for those claims.
  
• Put the ideas into your own words and phrases.
  
• Please DO NOT QUOTE verbatim from the article, except for short phrases or at most a sentence. 95% of this summary should be your own words.
  
• This is not an assignment that can be successfully completed the night before it is due: a good summary will have gone through much editing and careful thought and include discussion with me and with your partner(s).
  
• IDEAL Timeline: times are somewhat flexible: mandatory steps and mandatory times are boldfaced.
  
• 2 weeks ahead: read article. Underlining, note-taking, and outlining as you read should help: make it your own.
  
• 10 days ahead: write initial draft of your 'summary.' This draft should be significantly longer than 3 pages.
  
• 9 days ahead: whittle it down. Condense and analyze what is most important in the article. Have a friend read it and comment.
• 8 days ahead: re-edit, bringing it close to a final draft.
• 7 days ahead: proofread, read it aloud to yourself to make sure it flows well, have a friend read it and comment.
• 7 days ahead: e-mail your summary with the subject "Article Summary DRAFT" to me. This step must be completed before you schedule and meet with me and probably also before you meet with your partner. The e-mail subject line must be "Article Summary" so that I know what to do with it: otherwise it may get lost and you will not get credit. This summary must be at least 3 pages long.
  
• 7 days ahead: email the other students who summarized the same article and set up a time to meet and divide the task of presenting the article.
• 6-5 days ahead: meet with your fellow students and discuss the article as well as divide up the task of presenting the article.
• There are at least two tasks involved: the oral presentation and the creation of a visual aid or handout (i.e. notes for the class and yourselves).
  
• I do not have any particular format or division of labor in mind, as long as you are all satisfied that you are each treated fairly and treat the others fairly.
  
• By this time, I may have re-read the article and have it present in my mind, so you are welcome to meet with me if you desire to clear up any questions. Before this time, we can meet, of course, but I may not have the article's contents ready in my mind.
  
• 2-4 days ahead: a full rehearsal of the presentation straight through without interruption, including on-line notes for the presentation.
• Do not commit the common error of assuming that your audience has read the text and can read what you put in front of them: you should present the whole argument from start to finish as if they have not read it at all (remember that there is a good chance some of them have not yet completed the reading assignment). You are there to be a guide, and guides need to go over everything confidently and completely as (if) their audience wants to hear what they say. You should plan for your entire presentation to take no more than 20 minutes if it is uninterrupted (which it will not be: the best presenters will provoke and manage discussion well).
• At least one day before presentation: make sure that the on-line notes will be available in the classroom. We can access the web as well as your e-mail from the classroom, but do not assume that the computer there has anything but an internet browser and old and basic software. Do not risk arriving at class and not having your visual aid working. Come try it out well beforehand.
  
• Day of presentation: each person brings a hard copy of his or her own individual  summary to class to hand in to me. This hard copy should be at most 3 pages and should be a revision of the one you e-mailed me earlier. I must have the e-mailed version a week earlier for this summary to count.
• You will present these articles in pairs, and you will have a handout or online notes/visual aid that you create. Your summary, however, is done as an individual. Your grade is based on the summary and the handout you prepare for the presentation. Your grade is not based on the presentation itself. I'd like to think it will work best to divide up the presentation roughly evenly, but I don't mind how you do it.
• You may pre-record your presentation if you don't want to perform live: this has great advantages in that you can re-do it easily, etc.

ALTERNATIVE PATH ASSIGNMENT:

• 3 page (750 words) philosophical dialogue branching off from a specific point specified with Stephanus page, letter, and line number: this point is of your choosing in one of the dialogues we have read so far, but your dialogue must continue from that point with the same characters and same topics.
• It must contain philosophical argument and must be continuous and consistent with the dialogue before the point where it starts.
• You are encouraged, however, to go out on a limb, to challenge Socrates, etc.

• What I will be looking for in this assignment:
• 1. 10% Your starting point: The specific point in a Platonic dialogue from which you start. Give the name of the dialogue, the Stephanus page, the letter, and the line number. This should be an easy 10%
  
• 2. 10% Continuity: you should pick up from your starting point and take the dialogue in a different direction than where the text goes, but do it seamlessly, as if Plato had written your words. The ideas, the characters, all should be plausibly continuous. A relatively easy 10%
  
• 3. 40% Ideas: you should insert interesting, important, and plausible ideas into the stream of the dialogue.
• 10% The presence of your ideas is one important factor.
  
• 15% That your ideas fit well at that point is another.
• 15% That your ideas are clear/well formulated is another.
• 4. 40% Argument: you should have the character(s) argue for those ideas, say why they must be right.
• 20% claims and conclusions are clearly present.
• 20% they work really well.
• HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: use very brief footnotes for meta-comments to explain what you are doing, how it meets the criteria above, etc. You can use your own voice. These footnotes do not count toward the 750 word limit.
• NOTE: sometimes less is more:laying out a modest agenda with good argument that really works will impress me a lot more than trying to do too much and not doing it well. 
  

• Factual matters: These are things like the birth and death dates of Plato and Socrates, the titles of the works of Plato, who the characters are in the works of Plato, why he is named Plato, etc. In other words, these are things that have right and wrong answers that you either know or you do not know and cannot be argued about. You will be supplied with a list of them, which you should learn as forever knowledge.
  
• Short answer ID's: you supply a few sentences about a concept from Plato's text or our lectures/discussions, enough to explain it and show off your understanding.
  
• Text ID's: a passage from Plato for you to identify and analyze (what dialogue? what's it about? why is it important? etc.).
  
• Essay question(s), perhaps.

It will never cease to amaze me, but once in a while, a student just plain misses an exam or skips an assignment altogether, then emails me or shows up and asks when they can make it up, or doesn't even acknowledge it. "That's just not allowed," is all I can say. Basically, you get a zero, and that pretty much drops you into the submergent grading zone for the semester. Don't go there. I'm saying this now, because every once in a while, that student who missed the exam gets stroppity about what it says on the syllabus (this shouldn't have to be on a syllabus). Basically, "Don't make your problem my problem."