Contact Information

Professor:

 Abe Stone (abestone@ucsc.edu)

• Email Abe

Office:

 Cowell Annex A-106

Phone (office):

 459-5723

Website:

 https://people.ucsc.edu/~abestone/courses

• Website

Zoom class meeting:

 here

• Zoom meeting

Zoom office hours:

 Mon. 1:30–2:30pm; Wed. 11:00am-12:00pm (or by appointment)

Teaching Assistants:

 

Michael Armen

 (marmen@ucsc.edu)

• Email Michael

Karl Fisse

 (kfisse@ucsc.edu)

• Email Karl

Tate Krogstad

 (takrogst@ucsc.edu)

• Email Tate

Rini Kusyuniati

 (rgtan@ucsc.edu)

• Email Rini

Terri Peszle

 (tpeszle@ucsc.edu)

• Email Terri

Discussion Sections

Section 01A:

 Mon. 8:00–9:05am, J Baskin Engr 165 (TA: )

Section 01B:

 Mon. 7:10–8:15pm, J Baskin Engr 372 (TA: )

Section 01C:

 Tue. 7:10–8:15pm, Kresge Acad 3301 (TA: )

Section 01D:

 Wed. 8:00–9:05am, Cowell Com 134 (TA: )

Section 01E:

 Wed. 7:10–8:15pm, Steven Acad 152 (TA: )

Section 01F:

 Thu. 7:10–8:15pm, Kresge Acad 3301 (TA: )

Section 01G:

 Fri. 8:00–9:05am, PhysSciences 136 (TA: )

Section 01H:

 Fri. 12:00–1:50pm, PhysSciences 136 (TA: )

Section 01I:

 Fri. 2:40–3:45pm, Earth&Marine B214 (TA: )

Section 01J:

 Fri. 4:00–5:05pm, Earth&Marine B214 (TA: )

Course Description

Philosophy is unlike many other disciplines in that it is not at all obvious how it should be introduced. This course will essentially be a course about Socrates (c. 469—399 BC), the ancient Athenian philosopher who is in a certain way the intellectual ancestor of all later philosophers. One of the things we will need to think about as we go on is how, and to what extent, that could be considered an introduction to the subject.

Modality: I will lecture in person in our assigned classroom at the scheduled times. But I will also live-stream every lecture over Zoom, and make a recording of every lecture available on YouTube.

• YouTube playlist

Course Requirements

Participation in discussion sections (good participation will be possible grounds for raising course grade, especially if it is on a borderline).

Beginning with the day of the fourth class session, there will be eleven short assignments (two in some weeks, one in other weeks, and none in still other weeks), to be done on-line via the “Quizzes” section of the course on Canvas. Each assignment consists of a single multiple choice question designed to help you focus on details of the reading, and a single short answer question, which can be answered via two routes (AI and independent), as explained in the instructions for each assignment. In the later part of the course, some of the assignments will be designed to prepare you to write the final assignment. All of these short assignments together will be worth 60% of the course grade, based on a point score which will be translated into a letter grade on a curve to be determined. Note that, although Canvas will be set up to accept late submission of these short assignments, no credit can be given for a multiple choice question after the correct answer has been made public.

A final assignment is due, as an attachment via the “Assignments” tool on Canvas, on Wednesday, December 9, and will count for 40% of the grade. Please submit it in MSWord or a format easily convertible to MSWord. This assignment, too, can be fulfilled in two different ways: as an AI dialogue or as a traditional paper. See the instructions for details.

• Final assignment

You can find answers to some commonly asked questions about my assignments and grading in my FAQ.

• FAQ

AI policy: I encourage the use of AI assistance with proper caution (i.e., keeping in mind that current AI is often wrong). Moreover, all the assignments in this class can optionally be done in a way that requires use of AI. Beyond that required use: you may use AI assistance in any way that would not constitute cheating if you used a human for the same thing. Similarly, you should cite the AI in cases where you would cite a human. If in doubt, feel free to ask me for clarification.

All assignments are due by 11:55pm on the due date.

Texts

Texts and editions

Text	Edition	Note
Plato, Euthydemus	, tr. Mary P. Nichols and Gregory A. McBrayer (Focus/R. Pullins, 2010) (ISBN: 978-1585103058)).
Plato, Meno	, tr. George Anastaplo and Laurence Berns (Focus/R. Pullins, 1998) (ISBN: 978-0941051712).
Thomas G. West and Grace Starry West, eds., Four Texts on Socrates: Plato’s Euthyphro, Apology, and Crito and Aristophanes’ Clouds	(Cornell, 1998) (ISBN: 978-0801485749).

The above texts can be ordered and/or purchased as e-books at the UCSC Bookstore (Akademos), and are also on reserve at McHenry.

• Bookstore
• Reserve list