ANCIENT GREEK PHILOSOPERS: REVISITED

UNIT 1

THALES OF MILETUS (c.624-546 BCE) 2 HOURS

1.Lead-In:
In groups of 3-4, discuss the following questions:
1) Who would you name as the first known ancient Greek philosopher?
2) What was the fundamental idea that marked the difference between the generation of new
thinkers and previous ancient civilizations?
3) What are the origins of the theory of monism?

2.Reading for gist:

Read the text and choose the best title for it:
1) Natural phenomena rationally explained
2) Water as the origin of the universe
3) Properties of water

During the Archaic period (mid-8th–6th century BCE), the peoples of the Greek peninsula
gradually settled into a group of city-states. They developed an alphabetical system of writing, as
well as the beginnings of what is now recognized as Western philosophy. Previous civilizations
had relied on religion to explain phenomena in the world around them; now a new breed of
thinkers emerged, who attempted to find natural, rational explanations.
The first of these new scientific thinkers that we are aware of was Thales of Miletus /THAY:leez
of mi:LAY:tus/. Nothing survives of his writings, but we know that he had a good grasp of
geometry and astronomy, and is reputed to have predicted the total eclipse of the sun in 585
BCE. This practical turn of mind led him to believe that events in the world were not due to
supernatural intervention, but had natural causes that reason and observation would reveal.
Fundamental substance
Thales needed to establish a first principle from which to work, so he posed the question, “What
is the basic material of the cosmos?” The idea that everything in the universe can be ultimately
reduced to a single substance is the theory of monism, and Thales and his followers were the first
to propose it within Western philosophy. Thales reasons that the fundamental material of the
universe had to be something out of which everything else could be formed, as well as being
essential to life, and capable of motion and therefore of change. He observes that water is clearly
necessary to sustain all forms of life, and that it moves and changes, assuming different forms –
from liquid to solid ice and vaporous mist. So Thales concludes that all matter, regardless of its
apparent properties, must be water in some stage of transformation. Thales also notes that every
landmass appears to come to an end at the water’s edge. From this he deduces that the whole of
the earth must be floating on a bed of water, from which it has emerged. When anything occurs
to cause ripples or tremors in this water, Thales states, we experience them as earthquakes.
However, as interesting as the details of Thales’ theories are, they are not the main reason why
he is considered a major figure in the history of philosophy. His true importance lies in the fact
that he was the first known thinker to seek naturalistic, rational answers to fundamental
questions, rather than to ascribe objects and events to the whims of capricious gods. By doing so,
he and the later philosophers of the Milesian School laid the foundations for future scientific and
philosophical thought across the Western world.
(text reprinted from The Philosophy Book)

3. Reading for detail:

Read the text again and think if the statements are true or false. Compare and discuss in
pairs:
1) The peoples of the Greek peninsula laid the foundations of Western philosophy.
2) We have access to a few texts by Thales of Miletus.
3) His religious beliefs led him to realize that natural events were not caused by
supernatural powers.
4) According to Thales, water is a universal substance from which everything else is formed
on earth.
5) Thales claimed that most of the earth is covered with water.
6) Thales stated that ripples on water cause earthquakes.

4. Find in the text the verbs related to mental processes/ reasoning (Thales concludes /
states / deduces, etc.). In pairs check your memory by asking each other questions about Thales
using the above verbs.

5. ListeningThales: Biography of a Great Thinker https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=YHboJiVmYWE (2:21)
Listening for gist:
Watch the video and answer the question:
Why was Thales considered the first philosopher?
In pairs, discuss your answers.

Listening for detail:

Watch the video again and complete the information:
1) In every ancient culture there are ____________ that people used _______.
2) Knowledge existed long before writing - ____________ was passed on by speech.
3) …find the first person who is _______________ with a specific mathematical discovery.
4) …around the time when Nebuchadnezzar was king of______________.
5) Miletus today is located on the coast of ___________________.
6) By all accounts, Thales was brilliant, one of the ________ ___________ of Greece…
7) Thales was ____________ not just as a mathematician, but as a scholar who studied many
_______________.
8) Several maths theorems are _______________ to Thales.
9) Never _______________ the importance of right angles.
10) In a time of _______ and ___________ Thales used reasoning to understand the world.
Compare your answers in pairs and do whole-class feedback.

6. Whole class discussion:

Is the name of Thales of Miletus known to Ukrainian scholars? Would you say the theory of
monism still holds today?

7. Possible hometask: Internet search – Google the information on Thales to find out:
- why he was renowned as a successful businessman;
- what is the Milesian School’s contribution to philosophy.
UNIT 2

PYTHAGORAS (ca.570-495) 2 HOURS

ALL IS NUMBER

Lead-In: Put the following dictums on the board. Get the students to guess who they are going
to discuss in this class.
All is number.
Number is the ruler of forms and ideas.
Reality is mathematical.

In groups of 3-4, discuss the following questions:

1) What are your associations with the name of Pythagoras?

2) What would you name as Pythagoras’s greatest contribution to philosophy?

Pre-reading:
1.Look up the meaning of the following words in a dictionary: divine revelation,
contemplation, numerical ratio, anvil.

2.Work in pairs. Do you think the following statements are true or false?
1) Pythagoras’s view of philosophy was strictly scientific with no underlying religious beliefs.
2) For Pythagoras, the goal of life is finding divine truth.
3) Pythagoras believed that mathematical discoveries were more valuable than mere
observations.
4) Pythagorean discoveries were regarded as god-given.
5) The theorem of Pythagoras says that the square of a right-angle triangle equals a square of
one side multiplied by that of the other side.
6) Pythagoras dismisses the idea of the whole universe being made by one substance.
7) Investigations into music helped Pythagoras work out ratios and proportions between
numbers.
8) Pythagoras’s idea of harmonic relationships paved the way to the discovery of the Periodic
Law of chemical elements.

3. Reading for Detail – now read the text and check if your ideas were right.

Pythagoras (US: /pɪ’θæɡərəs/; UK: /paɪ’θæɡərəs/) is said to have learnt geometry during a trip to
Egypt, therefore it is not surprising that he approached philosophical thinking in a scientific and
mathematical way. Pythagoras was also, however, a deeply religious and superstitious man. He
believed in reincarnation and the transmigration of souls, and he
a)_________________________, with himself cast as a virtual messiah, in Croton, southern
Italy. His disciples lived in a collective commune, following strict behavioral and dietary rules,
while studying his religious and philosophical theories. The two sides of Pythagoras’s beliefs—
the mystical and the scientific—seem to be irreconcilable, but Pythagoras himself does not see
them as contradictory. For him, the goal of life is freedom from the cycle of reincarnation, which
can be gained by b)________________________behavioral rules, and by contemplation, or what
we would call objective scientific thinking.
In geometry and mathematics he found truths that he regarded as self-evident, as if god-given,
and worked out mathematical proofs that had the impact of divine revelation.
Because these mathematical discoveries were c)__________________, Pythagoras believes they
are more valuable than mere observations. For example, the Egyptians had discovered that a
triangle whose sides have ratios of 3:4:5 always has a right angle, and this was useful in practice,
such as in architecture. But Pythagoras uncovered the underlying principle behind all right-
angled triangles (that the square of the hypotenuse equals the sum of the squares of the other two
sides) and found it to be universally true. This discovery was so extraordinary, and held such
potential, that the Pythagoreans took it to be divine revelation.
Pythagoras d)____________that the whole cosmos must be governed by mathematical rules. He
says that number can be used to explain the very structure of the cosmos. He does not totally
dismiss the Milesian idea that the universe is made up of one fundamental substance, but he
shifts the enquiry from substance to form.
This was such a profound change in the way of looking at the world, that we should probably
forgive Pythagoras and his disciples for getting somewhat carried away, and giving numbers a
mystical significance. Through exploring the relationship between numbers and geometry, they
discovered the square numbers and cube numbers that we speak of today, but they also
e)____________________to them, such as “good” to the even numbers and “evil” to the odd
ones, and even specifics such as “justice” to the number four, and so on.
The Pythagorean explanation of the creation of the universe followed a mathematical pattern: on
the Unlimited (the infinite that existed before the universe), God imposed a Limit, so that all that
exists came to have an actual size. In this way God created a measurable unity from which
everything else was formed.
Numerical harmonies
Pythagoras’s most important discovery was the relationships between numbers: the ratios and
proportions. This f)____________by his investigations into music, and in particular into the
relationships between notes that sounded pleasant together. The story goes that he first
g)__________________when listening to blacksmiths at work. One had an anvil half the size of
the other, and the sounds they made when hit with a hammer were exactly an octave (eight
notes) apart. While this may be true, it was probably by experimenting with a plucked string that
Pythagoras determined the ratios of the consonant intervals (the number of notes between two
notes that determines whether they will sound harmonious if struck together). What he
discovered was that these intervals were harmonious because the relationship between them was
a precise and simple mathematical ratio. This series, which we now know as the harmonic series,
confirmed for him that the elegance of the mathematics he had found in abstract geometry also
existed in the natural world.
The stars and elements
Pythagoras had now proved not only that the structure of the universe can be explained in
mathemathical terms—“number is the ruler of forms”—but also that acoustics is an exact
science, and number governs harmonious proportions. He then started to h)______________to
the whole cosmos, demonstrating the harmonic relationship of the stars, planets, and elements.
His idea of harmonic relationships between the stars was eagerly taken up by medieval and
Renaissance astronomers and then revisited over 2000 years after his death. In 1865 English
chemist John Newlands discovered that when the chemical elements are arranged according to
atomic weight, those with similar properties occur at every eighth element, like notes of music.
This discovery became known as the Law of Octaves, and it helped lead to the development of
the Periodic Law of chemical elements still used today.
Pythagoras also i)______________of deductive reasoning, which is the step-by-step process of
starting with self-evident axioms (such as “2 + 2 = 4”) to build toward a new conclusion or fact.
Deductive reasoning was later refined by Euclid, and it formed the basis of mathematical
thinking into medieval times and beyond.
One of Pythagoras’s most important j)______________of philosophy was the idea that abstract
thinking is superior to the evidence of the senses. This was taken up by Plato in his theory of
Forms, and resurfaced in the philosophical method of the rationalists in the 17th century. The
Pythagorean attempt to combine the rational with the religious was the first attempt to grapple
with a problem that has dogged philosophy and religion in some ways ever since.
Almost everything we know about Pythagoras comes to us from others; even the bare facts of his
life are largely conjecture. Yet he has achieved a near-legendary status (which he apparently
encouraged) for the ideas attributed to him. Whether or not he was in fact the originator of these
ideas does not really matter; what is important is their profound effect on philosophical thought.

VOCABULARY BANK
Match the highlighted words to the definitions. If you do not know the meaning of a word, try
to guess it from the context.
a) An opinion or conclusion based on incomplete information, without sufficient evidence;
b) Endless
c) Characterized by belief not based on reason or knowledge;
d) Having deep knowledge or understanding;
e) Unable to be brought to harmony or adjustment;
f) Saviour of people.

Fill in the gaps with the following expressions:

1) adhering to a strict set of
2) came up with this idea
3) contributions to the development
4) was reinforced
5) apply his theories
6) attributed characteristics
7) a product of pure reasoning
8) established the principle
9) concludes
10) established a religious cult

Work in pairs. Try to remember the collocations, then check each other’s memory: ask your
partner to recall a collocation by giving explanation in English (or giving its Ukrainian
equivalent).

GRAMMAR
Look at the sentences in italics in the text. What are they called? What is the purpose of using
them? Are there any more sentences in the text that follow the same pattern?

Make a few sentences of your own which would follow the same structure. Try to make them
sound funny, surprising, etc. Start by:
It is/ was……. who/that……. (It is my husband who does the ironing at home)
It was when/ after/ while… that (It was when I first saw him that I realized how he irritated
me)
What……. is/was (What is my greatest achievement is the knowledge of philosophy…)
What I……. is/was (What I love about my hometown is its pace of life…), etc.

Read your sentences one by one to the partner, let him/ her express their reaction to the
sentences, turn each sentence into a mini-dialogue.
Homework
Find answers to the following quiz:
1) Was Pythagoras the first person to call himself a philosopher?
2) What ratio did Pythagoras discover that reminds you of a precious metal?
3) Was he born on the island of Kos, off the coast of Turkey?
4) Were women allowed to attend Pythagoras’ school?
5) What was the difference between Mathematikoi and Akousmatikoi?
6) What was the rule of silence that existed in Pythagoras’ school?
7) How did Pythagoras connect health to mathematics?
8) In his concept of planets, what is “central fire”?

UNIT 3

HERACLITES AND PARMENIDES 2 HOURS

Lead-In:

On board:
- “You can ____________ step into the same ____________ twice”. – Discuss in pairs what
words can go into the gaps and what philosopher you associate this quotation with. Do you
remember what he sees as central to the nature of cosmos.
- “All is ____” – with your partner try to remember the quotation that characterizes the
philosophical view of Parmenides. Does he reason along the same lines as the previous
philosopher?

Jigsaw Reading
The group is divided into pairs of students As and Bs. Pairs of students “A” read text A, students
“B” text B. As they read they can help each other with any difficult vocabulary or turn to teacher
for advice. After the students have finished reading, they take a couple of minutes to prepare to
retell the text.
Now the students are regrouped into pairs A+B. Students retell the texts to each other. They are
welcome to ask each other questions if they fail to understand something.
After this stage is over, the students are regrouped back into As and Bs initial pairs.
Students A do a quiz on text B, meanwhile Students B do the quiz on text A. The champions are
the students who finish the quiz first and with the least mistakes.

Text A
Where other early Greek philosophers seek to uncover scientific explanations for the physical nature of
the cosmos, Heraclitus sees it as being governed by a divine logos. Sometimes interpreted to mean
“reason” or “argument”, Heraclitus considers the logos to be a universal, cosmic law, according to which
all things come into being, and by which all the material elements of the universe are held in balance.
It is the balancing of opposites, such as day and night and hot and cold, which Heraclitus believes leads to
the unity of the universe, or the idea everything is part of a single fundamental process or substance—the
central tenet of monism. But he also states that tension is constantly generated between these pairs of
opposites, and he therefore concludes that everything must be in a permanent state of flux, or change.
Day, for instance, changes into night, which in turn changes back again today.
Heraclitus offers the example of a river to illustrate his theory:
“You can never step into the same river twice.” By this, he means that at the very moment you step into a
river, fresh waters will immediately replace those into which you initially placed your foot, and yet the
river itself is always described as one fixed and unchanging thing.
Heraclitus’s belief that every object in the universe is in a state of constant flux runs counter to the
thinking of the philosophers of the Milesian school, such as Thales and Anaximenes, who define all
things by their quintessentially unchanging essence.

Text B
The ideas put forward by Parmenides mark a key turning point in Greek philosophy. Influenced by the
logical, scientific thinking of Pythagoras, Parmenides employs deductive reasoning in an attempt to
uncover the true physical nature of the world. His investigations lead him to take the opposite view to that
of Heraclitus.
From the premise that something exists (“It is”), Parmenides deduces that it cannot also not exist (“It is
not”), as this would involve a logical contradiction. It follows therefore that a state of nothing existing is
impossible—there can be no void.
Something cannot then come from nothing, and so must always have existed in some form. This
permanent form cannot change, because something that is permanent cannot change into something else
without it ceasing to be permanent. Fundamental change is therefore impossible.
Parmenides concludes from this pattern of thought that everything that is real must be eternal and
unchanging, and must have an indivisible unity—“all is one.” More importantly for subsequent
philosophers, Parmenides shows by his process of reasoning that our perception of the world is faulty and
full of contradictions. We seem to experience change, and yet our reason tells us that change is
impossible. The only conclusion we can come to is that we can never rely on the experience that
is delivered to us by our senses.

QUIZ
On text A – for students who read text B initially
1) Heraclitus believes in the centre of the nature of cosmos there is
a) human mental faculty
b) a divine law
c) infallible properties of human senses
2) the logos is something according to which:
a) all material elements are in balance
b) all elements stay unchanged
c) other laws can be interpreted
3) The unity of the universe comes from the:
a) Balance of opposites
b) Different materials sharing the same properties
c) Divine will
4) Everything is constantly changing because:
a) All material elements are highly unstable
b) There is a tension that exists between opposites
c) This is how humans perceive the world
5) Heraclitus’s example with the river demonstrates:
a) That water is the only substance constantly in a state of flux
b) Everything in the universe has water in it
c) The state of flux and balance of opposites characteristic of all elements in the universe

On text B – for students who read text A initially

1) In his thinking, Parmenides was influenced by:
a) Pythagoras
b) Heraclitus
c) Thales of Miletus
2) To uncover the nature of the world, Parmenides employs:
a) Grounded theory approach
 b) Inductive thinking
c) Deductive thinking
3) According to Parmenides, a state of nothing cannot exist because:
a) If something exists it cannot not exist
b) All elements are made by some substance
c) All elements change and transform into other elements
4) Fundamental change is not possible because:
a) All elements share the same properties
b) Permanent form cannot change
c) All natural elements are highly unstable
5) According to Parmenides, our perception of the world is full of contradictions, therefore:
a) We can only rely on our ratio not on senses
b) We can never rely on our senses to have the objective interpretation of the world
c) We cannot be sure that the world is an indivisible unity

Students compare their answers with other groups, then they can read both texts and put down
the collocations to remember for further work with philosophy texts: (put forward an idea;
employ deductive reasoning; from the premise; investigations lead, etc).

Now find the English equivalents of the following collocations: знайти наукове пояснення,
керуватися божественним законом, центральний постулат монізму, стан постійної
зміни, виявитися протилежним чомусь, висунути ідею, вдаватися до методу дедукції,
віднайти справжню фізичну природу світу, розвідки привели його до, з твердження, що
щось існує…, наше сприйняття світу повне вад, дійти висновку.
In pairs, check each other’s memory by asking to translate the collocations from Ukrainian
into English.

Whole class discussion:

Was there anything new you discovered about the two Greek philosophers in today’s class?
Can you remember any other important ideas of them two that we have not mentioned in
the lesson?
What word collocations that you learnt today might be particularly useful for you? Which
have you already used in this discussion?

Hometask: revise the collocations, use them in sentences of your own.

UNIT 4

DEMOCRITUS and LEUCIPPUS 2 HOURS

Lead-in
Work in groups of three. Discuss the following questions:
1) Can you remember what views of the universe the ancient Greek philosophers
Democritus and Leucippus are famous for?
2) What was innovative about their theory?

Reading for gist

Read the text and check your answers.

From the 6th century BCE onward, philosophers began to consider whether the universe was
made from a single fundamental substance. During the 5th century BCE, two philosophers from
Abderra in Greece, named Democritus and Leucippus, suggested that everything was made up of
tiny, indivisible, and
unchangeable particles, which they called atoms (atomos is Greek for uncuttable).
First atomic theory
Democritus and Leucippus also claim that a void or empty space separates atoms, allowing them
to move around freely. As the atoms move, they may collide with each other to form new
arrangements of atoms, so that objects in the world will appear to change. The two thinkers
consider that there are an infinite number of these eternal atoms, but that the number of different
combinations they can arrange themselves into is finite.
This explains the apparent fixed number of different substances that exist. The atoms that make
up our bodies, for example, do not decay and disappear when we die, but are dispersed and can
be reconstituted.
Known as atomism, the theory that Democritus and Leucippus devised offered the first complete
mechanistic view of the universe, without any recourse to the notion of a god or gods. It also
identified fundamental properties of matter that have proved critical to the development of the
physical sciences, particularly from the 17th century onward, right up to the atomic theories that
revolutionized science in the 20th century.

Reading for detail:

In the text, find the words and word combinations that match the definitions:
1) To crash with a violent impact; to disagree, to conflict in opinion, desire
2) To be diffused, scattered, distributed over a wide area
3) Without turning for help (to smb)
4) To work out, think up (a plan, theory, etc)
5) Basic, primary
6) Endless
7) Lasting forever
Work in pairs, check how well you have remembered the words.

Listening: listen to a short introduction to the theory of atoms

Look up the definitions of the following words and phrases:

Major revelation
Sculpt the way we think about atoms
Higgs boson
Intrinsic property of an object
Impenetrable
To be tossed aside
To be reconsidered
Dormant idea

Do you think the following statements are true or false:

1) Atoms are smallest pieces of matter.
2) The idea of atoms belongs to Democritus.
3) Leucippus was Democritus’s colleague.
4) According to the ancient Greeks, there has to be ‘nothingness’ around atoms.
5) Democritus argued all atoms were the same shape.
6) The theory of atoms developed into the Aristotelian theory of the four elements.
7) The ideas of Democritus were not reconsidered until well into the 19th century.
Listen and check your ideas https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=lHT4wWwBqQY(4:32).
Discuss your findings with the whole class.

Homework: Complete the sentences with the words and phrases from the exercise after
the text

UNIT 5

EPICUREANS Class 1 2 HOURS

Lead-In:
In groups of 3-4, discuss the following questions:

1) Would you agree with the statement that ‘pleasure and pain are the roots of good and
evil’? Is it true that only unhappy people are mean?
2) In your opinion, can peace of mind be considered the goal of life?
3) What is the difference between Epicureanism and Hedonism?

Reading
Pre-reading

Check if you know the following vocabulary:

- Epicurus / Epicurean/ Epicureanism

- Pursuit of happiness:
- Pinnacle
- Tranquility
- Sensual pleasures
- Incur
- Wrath of the gods
- Democritus
- Leucippus
- Self-indulgence
- Contentment

In pairs discuss the following statements. Are they true or false? Give your reasons.

a) According to Epicurus, the pursuit of pleasure is the goal of life.

b) Epicurus tries to oppose the fear of death by emphasizing an alternative state of immortality.
c) Epicurus adheres to the ideas of atomist philosophers.
d) Epicurus argued that soul must be made of atoms.
e) Epicurus did not believe in gods.
f) Epicureanism was popular in the lifetime of Epicurus.

Reading for gist

Look through the text quickly and choose the best title for it:

a) Cornerstones of Epicurean philosophy

b) Epicurus’ notion of soul
c) Epicurus’ views on the nature of pleasure

Reading for detail

Read the text attentively and check whether you were right about the T/F statements (Whole
class discussion).

Epicurus grew up in a time when the philosophy of ancient Greece had already reached a
pinnacle in the ideas of Plato and Aristotle. The main focus of philosophical thinking was
shifting from metaphysics toward ethics—and also from political to personal ethics.
Central to the philosophy that Epicurus developed is the view that peace of mind, or tranquility,
is the goal of life. He argued that pleasure and pain are the roots of good and evil, and qualities
such as virtue and justice derive from these roots, as “it is impossible to live a pleasant life
without living wisely, honorably, and justly, and, it is impossible to live wisely, honorably, and
justly without living pleasantly.” Epicurianism is often mistakenly interpreted as simply being
about the pursuit of sensual pleasures. For Epicurus, the greatest pleasure is only attainable
through knowledge and friendship, and a temperate life, with freedom from fear and pain.
Although the Epicurean purpose of life is peace of mind, happiness and pleasure, the Epicurean
pursuit of pleasure was neither hedonism nor self-indulgence. Epicurus primarily promoted the
pleasures of the mind, friendship and contentment. Epicurus noted that it is human nature to seek
pleasure and avoid pain, and made this the basis of his guidelines for living.
We must exercise ourselves in the things which bring happiness, since, if that be present, we
have everything, and, if that be absent, all our actions are directed towards attaining it. Epicurus
evaluated pleasure and pain by three main criteria:
- intensity - strength of the feeling
- duration - length of the feeling
- purity - i.e., pleasure unaccompanied by pain
Therefore for Epicurus, "there was no reason to eat, drink and be merry today if you are going to
have a headache from it tomorrow." Overindulging in food or drink would not score highly on
either duration or purity of pleasure. Pleasures that begin with pain are also inferior: eating is a
pleasure but it starts with the pain of hunger; sex is a pleasure but it starts with the pain of desire.
These pleasures are not as "pure" as those characterized entirely by the absence of pain, such as
rest, good health, and the companionship of friends.
Just as pleasure was not to be blindly sought after, so not all pain should be avoided. Sometimes
endurance of pain brings greater pleasure so that it is worth it. Moreover, since pleasure and pain
are measured quantitatively, pain can be endured in the knowledge that more pleasure has been
experienced.
To achieve the best pleasure and prevent pain, Epicurus counseled his disciples to live a quiet,
secretive life apart from society, avoiding responsibilities in public life (like holding office) or
social life (like getting married). This avoids the pain of ambition and fear caused by others.

One of the obstacles to enjoying the peace of a tranquil mind, Epicurus reasoned, is the fear of
death, and this fear is increased by the religious belief that if you incur the wrath of the gods, you
will be severely punished in the afterlife.
Epicurus tried to explain the nature of death itself. He proposed that when we die, we are
unaware of our death, since our consciousness (our soul) ceases to exist at the point of death. To
explain this, Epicurus takes the view that the entire universe consists of either atoms or empty
space, as argued by the atomist philosophers Democritus and Leucippus.
Epicurus also rejected belief in an afterlife. If you are unable to feel anything, mentally or
physically, when you die, it is foolish to let the fear of death cause you pain while you are still
alive.
Epicurus did believe in the gods, but he regarded them as made of atoms like everything else and
living in a happy, detached society out of contact with humans. Despite his rejection of the gods
as having any bearing on human life, Epicurus encouraged his followers to worship the gods.
People could receive aesthetic pleasure from contemplating their perfect existence.
Epicurus attracted a small but devoted following in his lifetime, but he was perceived as being
dismissive of religion, which made him unpopular. His thinking was largely ignored by
mainstream philosophy for centuries, but it resurfaced in the 18th century, in the ideas of Jeremy
Bentham and John Stuart Mill. In revolutionary politics, the tenets of Epicureanism are echoed in
the words of the United States’ Declaration of Independence: “life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness.”

Whole class discussion: Was there anything new you discovered about Epicureanism?

UNIT 6

EPICUREANS Class 2 2 HOURS

Lead-In:

Discuss in pairs or in groups of three:

How would you define happiness? Can you think of three things necessary for human
beings to feel happy?

Listening for gist

Epicurus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg_47J6sy3A (5:24)

1) Look up the definitions of the following words and expressions:

 Runaway consumer society
A ten-course feast
Sober
Cloak
Demurely
Marred
Backbiting
Downshifting
2) In groups of three discuss the following question:

According to Epicurus, what are the three mistakes people usually make trying to define
happiness?

Now watch the video on Epicurus and compare the information to your answers.

In pairs Ss compare their ideas to the information in the video (whole class feedback).

Functional Language
Revise the functional language for asking for opinion, agreeing and disagreeing. You might
find some new expressions in the table below.

AGREE DISAGREE ASK FOR OPINION INTERRUPT

- I agree with you - I don’t think so. - What are your - Sorry to barge
100%. - No way! thoughts on that? in…
- I couldn’t agree - I totally disagree. - How do you feel - Can I add
more. - Not necessarily. about that? something here…
- That’s so true. - Not really. - Would you say? - Sorry to interrupt
- Absolutely! - I’m not so sure - What’s your idea? but…
- I was going to say about that. - (after
that. interrupting)
- You can say it Sorry go ahead;
again. Sorry, you were
- (sl) Tell me about saying…
it! -
- You have a point
there.

In threes discuss the following statements. Use the functional language revised. Invite other
members of your group to express their opinions, express your agreement / disagreement
using the revised expressions:

- We rather need friendship than romantic relationship to be happy.

- Sense of belonging and teamwork are more essential than money.
- To be happy you need to feel calm.
- Communism is a not very successful version of Epicureanism.
- One cannot be happy in the hustle and bustle of a big city.
HOMEWORK

Essay: at home the Ss can write a 350-400 word essay based on the class discussion.

UNIT 7

DIOGENES OF SINOPE (2 hrs)

Lead-In:

Work in pairs. Guess what words can fill the gaps in the phrase below. Who does the tenet
belong to?

HE HAS THE _________________ WHO IS CONTENT WITH THE _____________

Do you personally share this view?

Reading for detail

1) How much do you know about Diogenes of Sinope? Discuss in groups of three, can you guess
how the following names and words relate to Diogenes: reject material comfort, Heracles,
cosmopolitan, large ceramic jar, carrying a lamp, Plato, Alexander the Great, kunikos.
2) Read the text and check your guesses

Plato once described Diogenes as “a Socrates gone mad.” Although this was meant as an insult,
it is not far from the truth. Diogenes shared Socrates’ passion for virtue and rejection of material
comfort, but takes these ideas to the extreme.
Diogenes modelled himself on the example of Heracles. He believed that virtue was better
revealed in action than in theory. He used his simple lifestyle and behaviour to criticize the social
values and institutions of what he saw as a corrupt or at least confused society. In a highly non-
traditional fashion, he had a reputation of sleeping and eating wherever he chose and took to
toughening himself against nature. He declared himself a cosmopolitan and a citizen of the world
rather than claiming allegiance to just one place. There are many tales about him
dogging Antisthenes' footsteps and becoming his "faithful hound".
Diogenes made a virtue of poverty. He begged for a living and often slept in a large ceramic
jar in the marketplace. He became notorious for his philosophical stunts such as carrying a lamp
in the daytime, claiming to be looking for an honest man. He criticized and embarrassed Plato,
disputed his interpretation of Socrates and sabotaged his lectures, sometimes distracting
attendees by bringing food and eating during the discussions.
Diogenes was also noted for having publicly mocked Alexander the Great. He argued that in
order to lead a good life, or one that is worth living, it is necessary to free oneself from the
external restrictions imposed by society, and from the internal discontentment that is caused by
desire, emotion, and fear. This can be achieved, he states, by being content to live a simple life,
governed by reason and natural impulses, rejecting conventions without shame, and renouncing
the desire for property and comfort.
Diogenes was the first of a group of thinkers who became known as the Cynics, a term taken
from the Greek kunikos, meaning “dog-like.” It reflects the determination of the Cynics to spurn
all forms of social custom and etiquette, and instead live in as natural a state as possible.
They asserted that the more one can do this, as Diogenes himself did by living a life of poverty
with only an abandoned tub for shelter, the nearer one will be to leading the ideal life.
The happiest person, who in Diogenes’ phrase, “has the most”, is therefore someone who lives in
accordance with the rhythms of the natural world, free from the conventions and values of
civilized society, and “content with the least.”

After being captured by pirates and sold into slavery, Diogenes eventually settled in Corinth.
There he passed his philosophy of Cynicism to Crates, who taught it to Zeno of Citium, who
fashioned it into the school of Stoicism, one of the most enduring schools of Greek philosophy.
None of Diogenes' many writings have survived, but details of his life come in the form of
anecdotes (chreia), especially from Diogenes Laërtius, in his book Lives and Opinions of
Eminent Philosophers

(adapted from Wikipedia)

Read the text again and find answers to the following questions:

1) What was Plato’s attitude to Diogenes?

2) What was the reason for Diogenes’ adopting his humble lifestyle?
3) Can you describe any of Dioegenes’ stunts?
4) Why are Cynics called this way?
5) What ancient Greek school of philosophy benefited from the ideas of cynics?
6) How is Diogenes of Sinope connected to another famous ancient Greek namesake of his?

In pairs compare your answers.

DEBATES

Revise the vocabulary of opinion giving, agreeing and disagreeing.

Split the students into several groups of 3-4 people. Students discuss quotations by
Diogenes, saying how they feel about them, if they believe these quotes are of any relevance
today. Once the time set by the teacher is up, they exchange the quotations and discuss the
next one.

a) It is not that I am mad it is only that my head is different from yours.

b) Of what use is a philosopher who doesn’t hurt anybody’s feelings.
c) Dogs and philosophers do the greatest good and get the fewest rewards.
d) We have two ears and one tongue so that we would listen more and talk less.
e) Man is the most intelligent of animals and the most silly.

Homework
Essay writing: do you think Diogenes’ ideas are of any value for the consumer society of
today? Prove your point. Write about 400 words.
UNIT 8

STOICS Class 1 2 HOURS

Lead-In:

Is there any difference between the understanding of stoicism today vs its concept in Ancient
Greece?

Pre-teach: Zeno of Citium (pronunciation)

READING

analysis of a blog style based on an article on Stoics & reading comprehension test

Pre-reading:

Look at the picture. Work in groups of 3. Can you comment on the difference between the
concept of virtue by Aristotle, Zeno, and Antisthenes?

What is the notion of “preferred indifferents” as seen by Stoics?

Go through the text adapted from the internet site on the Stoics howtobeastoic.wordpress.com
quickly and compare its suggestions to your ideas. Pay attention to the style of an internet blog
text:

The Stoic spectrum and the thorny issue of preferred indifferent

by Massimo

One of the things I truly enjoy about Stoicism is its alleged “paradoxes.” Cicero wrote a whole
book to explain them, and they still puzzle people when they encounter them.
One such puzzling Stoic concept is certainly that of the so-called preferred indifferents. The very
phrase sounds oxymoronic (how can the same thing be both preferred and indifferent?), and even
such an acute thinker as Cicero accuses the Stoics (in book IV of De Finibus) of just playing
with words. But I don’t think they did, so let me give you the best explanation I’ve come up with
of what it means to talk of preferred (and dispreferred) indifferents, and why the Stoics did so to
begin with.

Stoicism is derived from the thinking of Socrates, just so as two of the several rival schools:
Aristotelianism and Cynicism. Socrates taught that the eudaimonic life, the life that is worth
living, is a life of self-examination (know thyself, as the inscription at Delphi famously said) and
of practicing virtue. The fundamental virtue is wisdom, which is the highest good — as Socrates
explains in Plato’s Euthydemus — because it is the only thing that is useful under all
circumstances, indeed, the very thing that allows us to make proper use of everything else.

Aristotle figured out that virtue by itself isn’t sufficient for a eudaimonic life. Certain other
conditions need to be present as well, in some measure. Among these conditions, Aristotle listed
health, wealth, education, and even good looks. You can see why his philosophy is often accused
of being somewhat elitist.

Nonsense, responded Antisthenes, a founder of the sect of the Cynics. According to the Cynics,
the only thing that was needed to be eudaimon is virtue. Moreover, the pursuit of externalities,
such as health, wealth, education and so forth, actually gets in the way of the practice of virtue.
Hence their famously, shall we say, minimalist life style (which their contemporaries termed
“dog-like,” from which the word Cynic comes).

The Stoics saw a conceptual niche in between these two extreme positions: how
can everyone pursue a eudaimonic existence (contra Aristotle), while at the same time not having
to renounce all earthly possessions (contra the Cynics)? By way of distinguishing between the
thing that is truly important — virtue — and the things that may be pursued (preferred) or
avoided (dispreferred), so long as they don’t get in the way of a virtuous life. And you guessed
it: the preferred indifferents include health, wealth, education, and so forth; while the
dispreferred ones include sickness, poverty, ignorance, and so on.

Fine, you say, but isn’t that either a copout (as Cicero accuses the Stoics of doing, in De
Finibus), or an inherently contradictory notion? What does it really mean that, say, health is a
“preferred indifferent”?

Economists have begun to realize that — contra to standard economic theory — people don’t
consider all goods to be fungible, that is interchangeable for a given good or desideratum of
equal value. Rather, people group the things they want or care for into separate sets, and order
the sets according to their importance. While members of the same set can be traded against each
other, members of different sets usually aren’t.

Let me give you a concrete example. In the realm of ordinary life, my “A-set” includes, for
instance, my daughter. I care for her welfare, her future, and so forth. My “B-set” includes an
orange Lamborghini, my ideal car. Now, I would be perfectly willing — if I could afford it — to
trade a lot of cash (which also belongs to the B-set) for a Lamborghini. But trading my
daughter’s welfare or future for the car is simply completely out of the question.

I think you see where this is going: for the Stoics, virtue is in the A-set, and it is non-negotiable:
it is the chief good and the only thing that really matters. But other things, the above mentioned
health, wealth, education, etc., fall under the B-set (or other sets down the alphabetical scale) and
are “preferred” in a similar sense to my predilection for Lamborghinis. But they are “indifferent”
in the sense that no way in hell they can be traded with the A-set, i.e., with virtue.

One more note about this: some Stoics thought that something is a preferred indifferent in a
stricter sense than the one implied above: health, wealth, education and so forth are preferred
insofar they facilitate the pursuit of virtue, but not otherwise. Other Stoics (certainly Seneca, for
example) were a bit more relaxed and allowed into the B-set things that are entirely neutral from
the standpoint of virtue, so long, of course, as they don’t get in the way of virtue. You can think
of this further subdivision along the same continuum as above: the stricter version leans a bit
toward Cynicism, because it yields a more minimalist version of Stoicism, while the relaxed
version is more mainstream and easier to practice.

Whichever version of Stoicism (or even of Cynicism or Aristotelianism!) you prefer, remember
the immortal words of comedian Michael Connell (aka, “Marcus Aurelius”): you know what’s
good? Virtue!

Now read the text attentively and answer the test questions below.

Reading comprehension test

1) In paragraph 2, in the sentence “But they did”, the word did could be replaced by:
A) Played with words
B) Accused the Stoics
C) Accused Cicero
2) In the sentence “the stricter version leans a bit toward Cynicism”, the word leans is
closest in meaning to:
A) rests B) inclines C) attributes

3) According to paragraph 6, the Stoics:

a) Followed the views of Aristotle in terms of virtue
b) Came up with their own concept of eudaimonic life
c) Rejected the concept of eudaimonic life

4) In paragraph 8, why does the author mention a research by economists?

A) To reveal the influence of the Stoics on the economy
B) To state that it is inherent in human psyche to ascribe different value to different things
we care for
C) To distinguish the views of economists and philosophers on the sets of basic human
values
5) In paragraph 6, the expression “so long as” is closest in meaning to:
A) It has been a while
B) It is as long as
C) On condition that
6) In paragraph 10, the word “predilection” is closest in meaning to:
A) Doubt
B) Prejudice
C) Preference
7) According to paragraph 11, the Stoics:
A) Believed that only notions connected with virtue could fall under preferred indifferent
B) That Virtue itself was a preferred indifferent
C) Split into two groups based on what notions they believed appropriate to include
under the category of preferred indifferent
8) The author cites an example of his daughter’s health and his dream of Lamborghini to:
A) Demonstrate the difference between the A and B sets of values
B) To divert from the main subject of the article and make it more fun for the readers
C) To show that values in A and B sets are interchangeable
9) In paragraph 11, the word “pursuit” is closest in meaning to:
a) Trying to attain
b) Challenge
c) Indifference
10) Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted
sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or
leave out essential information: some Stoics thought that something is a preferred
indifferent in a stricter sense than the one implied above: health, wealth, education and
so forth are preferred insofar they facilitate the pursuit of virtue, but not otherwise
A) There were Stoics who believed that preferred indifferents could be chosen by people
based on his/ her degree of virtue
B) There were Stoics who maintained that the group of preferred indifferent had to be
reduced only to those notions that made it easier to achieve virtue
 C) There were Stoics who thought that their colleagues were not strict enough when they
evaluated their own virtue
11) The word non-negotiable in the text is closest in meaning to:
A) Impossible to agree upon
B) Hard to discuss
C) Is not subject to discussion
12) In the following paragraph:

“ (A) One more note about this: some Stoics thought that something is a preferred indifferent in a
stricter sense than the one implied above: health, wealth, education and so forth are preferred
insofar they facilitate the pursuit of virtue, but not otherwise. (B) Other Stoics (certainly Seneca,
for example) were a bit more relaxed and allowed into the B-set things that are entirely neutral
from the standpoint of virtue, so long, of course, as they don’t get in the way of virtue. (C) You
can think of this further subdivision along the same continuum as above: the stricter version
leans a bit toward Cynicism, because it yields a more minimalist version of Stoicism, while the
relaxed version is more mainstream and easier to practice.”

Where would the sentence This means that a certain number of things (like Lamborghinis) don’t
even make that cut best fit: choose one letter:

A) B) C)

Whole Class Discussion:

What is your view on the concept of preferred indifferents? Would you agree with the Stoics’
ideas?

Language Development

Can you identify any stylistic features characteristic of a blog (i.e. in terms of addressing the
reader, expressing the author’s opinion, using informal words, contractions, etc).

Pay attention to the linking words used in the text (i.e. but, moreover, hence, according to, while,
etc). What groups could you divide them into according to their meaning?

Hometask : write a blog text about a philosophical issue that interests you. Pay attention to the
style of your text. Do not forget to use linkers to make it more coherent.
UNIT 9

STOICS 2 2 HOURS

WHAT MAKES A GREAT PRESENTATION

Lead-In:
1) Work in pairs. Think of three things that make a good presentation. Discuss with the
whole group.
2) Work in pairs. Split the following statements into DOs and DON’Ts:
- Establish eye-contact with the audience
- Answer all questions immediately
- Apologise for the mistakes you make
- Stand in one place
- Restrain your gestures
- Include all details of your speech into visual aids
- Select one person in the audience and address him/her
- Ask your audience questions
- Use different intonation patterns and pace of speech
- Make jokes 

Compare your answers with another pair. Discuss in group.

Listening

Pre-listening: check the meaning of RESILIENCE (ability to recover quickly from shock,
stress, etc; a happy cheerful disposition)

Now listen to Algirdas Davidavicius’ TEDtalk presentation on Stoicism in the 21st century’s
World https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLoWRmwrSPk

and reflect on the following points:

1) STRUCTURE – what do you like about the structure of the presentation? Any tips you would
like to remember regarding the introduction, main body, conclusion? How does the lecturer put
the audience into the right mindset? What techniques are used to accumulate ideas?

Tip 1:

Tip 2:
Tip 3:

2) STYLE: any stylistic devices you found useful for future use (repetitions, rhetorical questions,
parallel constructions, metaphors, etc)? How is suspense built?

Tip 4:

Tip 5:

3) DELIVERY: any interesting observations as for delivery, i.e. the behavior of the lecturer, his
body language, the pitch of his voice, emotionality, etc?

Tip 6:

Tip 7:

Compare your remarks in groups of three. Discuss your findings with the whole group. Was the
presentation engaging? What techniques would you retain for future presentations of your own?

What do you think about the speaker’s suggestions? Would you agree with his vision of stoic
education valuable in the 21st century and modern stoicism as a culture of humanist resilience?

Hometask: prepare a 10 minute presentation on a philosophy subject that

interests you making use of the techniques discussed in the lesson.
UNIT 10

SKEPTICISM 2 HOURS

Lead-In:
1) Is there any difference in meaning between skepticism understood by ancient Greeks and
today’s notion of skepticism?
2) What is the difference between Academic and Pyrrhonian skepticism?
3) Raise your hands those who believe that knowledge is possible. Raise your hands who
believe knowledge is impossible.

Check the meaning of the following vocabulary:

-feel inclined to (smth)

-suspend judgement
-grasp (of a fact)
-deceive
-visual and tactile input (of information)
-pinch yourself

Listen to the lecture of Prof. Jennifer Nagel of the University of Toronto, who discusses if
human knowledge is possible (9:45) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqjdRAERWLc

While listening please take notes.

QUIZ

Based on your notes and what you remember, answer the following questions:

1) Why does the professor ask the questions at the beginning of the lecture? (up to 0:55)
a) To reveal some interesting properties of human psyche to students
b) To give the definition of the term ‘skepticism’
c) To get students doubting the knowledge that seems obvious
2) According to academic skeptics, sensory impressions:
a) Are a solid foundation of our knowledge of the world
b) Are of no value in terms of gaining knowledge of the world
c) Are the only source of objective information on the world
3) What was the mission of Pyrrhonian skeptics?
a) To spread the knowledge which they believed could be empirically proven
b) To enquire about everything without reaching any conclusions
c) To support their theory with reasonable judgements
4) Why does the professor refer to the Dreaming Argument?
a) To demonstrate that one can never be sure about their knowledge of their
environment or even themselves
b) To show that the effect of the butterfly was discussed by ancient Chinese
philosophers
c) To remind students of the ancient Chinese philosopher Xiang Xiu
 5) Rene Descartes’ evil genius argument is about:
a) Proving that while dreaming people can remember unshakeable truths
b) Doubting that a person can be possessed by an evil genius
c) Challenging to prove that a person is not controlled by an evil genius at a particular
moment
6) The purpose of the brain-in –a-vat argument is to:
a) Prove how unreliable our senses are in perceiving actual and virtual reality
b) Check how motor signals are transmitted in human body
c) Demonstrate how difficult it is to stimulate the experience of a coherent reality
7) Skepticism always relates to something global?
a) Yes, it is true.
b) Yes, it is true on condition that some spatial aspect is included.
c) It is not true. It can also relate to something specific.
8) How can we doubt our knowledge of single facts?
a) By thinking of how these facts could be different from what they appear
b) By trying to remember some extra information
c) By relating them to more general situations

Compare your answers in pairs, then check with the whole class. What questions turned
out to be problematic? Why? What could you have done differently while taking notes?

If necessary, listen to the lecture again to check your answers.

Whole-Class Discussion
How do you think will the challenges of skepticism be addressed in the next video of the series?
Will it be proven that human knowledge is actually possible?

Raise your hands those who believe that knowledge is possible. Raise your hands who believe
knowledge is impossible. Have the numbers changed since the start of the class?

Hometask
Watch the next video on skepticism at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xehTcQeqDWs and
check your assumptions.