Seminar on philosophical texts by ancient authors [ LFILO1315 ]

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The prerequisite(s) for this Teaching Unit (Unité d’enseignement – UE) for the programmes/courses that offer this Teaching Unit are specified at the end of this sheet.

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.

Oral examination on the whole matter. Particular question chosen and prepared by the student

Lectures by the professor, sketches out of  the students. Discussions

The seminar will turn on the work of Thucydides, the famous author of The History of the Peloponnesian War. He is a historian of course, but also a disciple of some important sophists  (probably Protagoras and  Antiphon). His work shows a important philosophical background. Parallels will be done with texts of Plato and Aristotles (Nichomachean Ethics, Poltic, Poetic, Republic, Menexenus). The course intends to show how difficult it is to grasp Plato's and Aristotle's political doctrines without the background of the Peloponnesian War.

Jacqueline de Romilly, Thucydide et l'impéralisme athénien, Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 1961.

Jacqueline de Romilly, La construction de la vérité chez Thucydide, Paris, Juliard, 1990

Jacqueline de Romilly, L'invention de l'histoire politique chez Thucydide, Paris, ENS, 2005

Barbara Cassin, L'effet sophistique, Paris, Gallimard, 1995.

David Greene, Greek political Theory : the image of man in Thucydides and Plato, UPChicago, 1965

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