Philosophy 330:  Ancient & Medieval Philosophy Fall, 2005

Dr. Frederick

TERM ESSAY

7 - 10  typewritten pages (1,750 - 2,500 words), due by beginning of class, Tuesday,

December 1.  You should have a minimum of six sources, at least three of which were not required for class.  No more than one of the required six sources should be from an encyclopedia (and of course this should be an encyclopedia of philosophy).  You must use Hadot’s What is Ancient Philosophy? as one source, and you must use at least one reading from Baird and Kaufmann’s Ancient Philosophy.

Where documentation is appropriate, use MLA style (parenthetical documentation).  For appropriate web documentation, go to mla.org, and click on “Citing Sources from the WWW.” You must include a "works cited" page, and you must include appropriate documentation in the text.

    Important due dates:

September 29:   Brief statement of general topic you intend to pursue.

November 3:  Briefly annotated bibliography.

December 1:  Final paper due at beginning of class.

Your essay will be based on clarity of thought and language, organization, engagement with the topic, depth of knowledge, critical thinking ("reasonable reflective thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe or do"), creativity, and mechanics.  In writing your paper, you would do well to use specific quotations and evidence to support your claims. 

You are welcome to talk with others in preparing to write, but your writing must be your own.

You may want to structure your paper in this way (but you certainly may choose some other organizational structure):

First paragraph:  Give an introductory paragraph and state your thesis.

Body paragraphs:  (a)  Introduce and develop your main points, providing support for each point.  Be sure to provide plenty of supporting details and examples.   (b) Explain likely objections to the points you are discussing and respond to them.

Concluding paragraphs:  Bring your argument to a logical conclusion.

TOPICS (choose one; subject to modification)

Who was Socrates, and what does he bring to us that is worthwhile today as a way of life.

In the course of your essay, be sure to explain the “Socratic problem” and a possible “solution” to that problem.  Why did he attract followers?  Why was he seen by some as a danger? 

Choose one ancient school of philosophy (Platonist, Aristotelian, Stoic, or Epicurean) as a way of life.  Explain the history and the main ideas of the school you choose.  Why did it attract followers?  What does that school bring to us that is worthwhile today?