Universität Wien

180024 LPS Plato: Theaetetus (2022S)

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 18 - Philosophie
Continuous assessment of course work
MIXED
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 45 participants
Language: German

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

This course takes place in a hybrid way - that means, depending on your personal/pandemic situation or preferences, you can decide at any time whether you want to participate online or on site (and make this decision again for each week). In any case, the course takes place synchronously, there are no recordings.

  • Wednesday 09.03. 16:45 - 18:15 Hybride Lehre
    Hörsaal 3B NIG 3.Stock
  • Wednesday 16.03. 16:45 - 18:15 Hybride Lehre
    Hörsaal 3B NIG 3.Stock
  • Wednesday 23.03. 16:45 - 18:15 Hybride Lehre
    Hörsaal 3B NIG 3.Stock
  • Wednesday 30.03. 16:45 - 18:15 Hybride Lehre
    Hörsaal 3B NIG 3.Stock
  • Wednesday 06.04. 16:45 - 18:15 Hybride Lehre
    Hörsaal 3B NIG 3.Stock
  • Wednesday 27.04. 16:45 - 18:15 Hybride Lehre
    Hörsaal 3B NIG 3.Stock
  • Wednesday 04.05. 16:45 - 18:15 Hybride Lehre
    Hörsaal 3B NIG 3.Stock
  • Wednesday 11.05. 16:45 - 18:15 Hybride Lehre
    Hörsaal 3B NIG 3.Stock
  • Wednesday 18.05. 16:45 - 18:15 Hybride Lehre
    Hörsaal 3B NIG 3.Stock
  • Wednesday 25.05. 16:45 - 18:15 Hybride Lehre
    Hörsaal 3B NIG 3.Stock
  • Wednesday 01.06. 16:45 - 18:15 Hybride Lehre
    Hörsaal 3B NIG 3.Stock
  • Wednesday 08.06. 16:45 - 18:15 Hybride Lehre
    Hörsaal 3B NIG 3.Stock
  • Wednesday 15.06. 16:45 - 18:15 Hybride Lehre
    Hörsaal 3B NIG 3.Stock
  • Wednesday 22.06. 16:45 - 18:15 Hybride Lehre
    Hörsaal 3B NIG 3.Stock
  • Wednesday 29.06. 16:45 - 18:15 Hybride Lehre
    Hörsaal 3B NIG 3.Stock

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Plato's “Theaetetus” is one of his most interesting and rich dialogues. While the dialogue in its entirety addresses the question “What is knowledge?” and can therefore be considered the founding document of epistemology, a number of other philosophical topics and methods are touched on: for example, the Homo-mensura sentence of Protagoras - that man is the measure of all things - is discussed, as is Heraclitus’ "doctrine of flux ", the method of Socratic questioning - the maieutics - peculiarities of philosophers (Thales' fountain fall) etc., which make the dialogue a fascinating read.
In this reading seminar we read the text together, address the question of a definition of “knowledge”, the attempted answers, as well as the modern reception of this important dialogue and its questions. Embedded in background information about Plato's philosophy, each dialogue should stand for itself. For example, Plato's so-called “theory of ideas” does not play a role here. The focus is on the text with its question and the attempted answers to which we want to dedicate ourselves in this introductory reading seminar.
We read the entire text together over the course of the semester. Reading takes place ideally at home, in the sessions students present the respective sections and help to stimulate the discussion in the proseminar. At the end of this course, students should be familiar with the content of the dialogue and have gained an insight into Plato's philosophy and central epistemological questions.

Assessment and permitted materials

The performance assessment consists of: presentation, active participation in the discussions and a proseminar paper. Texts are made available on Moodle. Students are welcome to use additional sources.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Participants of this reading proseminar should become familiar with Plato's dialogue “Theaetetus”, know the essential questions and content and be able to understand, discuss and critically reflect on them in their historical and current context.
Two unjustified absences are excused. When registering, you tacitly agree that your submissions can be checked using the Turnitin plagiarism software.

Assessment standard:
- Presentation: 30 points
- Proseminar paper: 50 points
- active participation in the discussion: 20 points
60 points are required for a positive assessment of the course.
1 (very good): 100-90 points
2 (good): 89-81 points
3 (satisfactory): 80-71 points
4 (sufficient): 70-60 points
5 (insufficient): 59-0 points

Examination topics

Plato's Theaetetus, secondary literature and background on Plato's philosophy.

Reading list

- The German translation by Friedrich Schleiermacher can be found in the Gutenberg project here: https://www.projekt-gutenberg.org/platon/platowr2/theaite1.html
- Chappell, Sophie-Grace, "Plato on Knowledge in the Theaetetus", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2021 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives / spr2021 / entries / plato-theaetetus />.
- Further sources and texts will be announced in the course of the seminar and on Moodle.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Th 11.05.2023 11:27