In this course I’m going to try to give you as strong a grounding in Plato and Aristotle as can possibly be done in one quarter. The popular antithesis between Plato and Aristotle is false; in this course you will learn how Aristotle inherited and refined Plato’s thought, revising it where necessary, but always working forward on the Platonic basis. We will spend roughly the first half of the course on Plato, focusing on four works: Ion, Phaedo, Phaedrus, and Republic, then the second half on Aristotle, focusing on Poetics but bringing in bits from various other works (mainly Physics, Metaphysics, and Nichomachaean Ethics) to provide background for the concepts with which Aristotle works in Poetics.
A distinctive feature of this course is that, in order to avoid the confusions that are introduced by translation, I will teach you the basic Greek vocabulary of Plato and Aristotle’s thought. The concept of techne in particular is badly obscured in English translation. Techne means roughly “art” or “craft,” or, in general, the practical knowledge by which any organized activity, particularly those that produce a made object, is carried on; but, as you will see, techne cannot be adequately translated into English, and a great deal of new insight into the Greek texts is gained when we restore this Greek word to the translations.
Since we are working in the framework of literature departments, we will pay particular attention to the way Plato and Aristotle think about art in general and literature in particular; but, as you will see, this emphasis follows naturally from the fundamental structure of their concepts, within which the notion of techne plays a central role. An amazingly sophisticated structure of concepts is developed by Plato and Aristotle from it: the notions of “essence,” “representation,” “art,” and “knowledge” are all rooted in the concept of techne.

I will ask you to write three papers: one around 3 pages on Plato, due around the end of the third week; a mid-term on Plato of 5-6 pages; and a final on Aristotle due on finals week, also around 5-6 pages.