Lehrveranstaltungen WS 2014/2015

Seminar und Lektürekurs (zus. mit Prof.Dr. Mandrella, Isabelle)

Die Philosophie des frühen Mittelalters

Veranstaltungsnummer 10000

Mi. 12:00 bis 14:00 c.t. woch 08.10.2014 bis 28.01.2015 Geschw.-Scholl-Pl. 1 (D) - D Z003

Bei der mittelalterlichen Philosophie denkt man zuerst an die großen Denker des 13./14. Jahrhunderts, z.B. Thomas von Aquin, Johannes Duns Scotus oder Wilhelm von Ockham. Dieses Seminar ist stattdessen der philosophisch oft unterschätzten Epoche des frühen Mittelalters gewidmet. Nach einem Blick auf den spätantiken Hintergrund (Augustinus und Boethius) werden wir drei wichtige Philosophen dieser Zeit betrachten: Johannes Scotus Eriugena, Anselm von Canterbury und Petrus Abaelard. Hauptthemen sind u.a. die Philosophie der Sprache, die negative Theologie, der Streit über die Universalien und die menschliche Willensfreiheit.
Literatur: J. Marenbon, Early Medieval Philosophy, 480-1150 (London: Routledge, 1983); R. Pasnau (ed.), The Cambridge History of Medieval Philosophy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010).

 

Lektürekurs

Ibn Tufayl, Hayy ibn Yaqzan

Veranstaltungsnummer 10012

Mi. 10:00 bis 12:00 c.t. woch 08.10.2014 bis 28.01.2015 Geschw.-Scholl-Pl. 1 (M) - M 209

Ibn Tufayl, ein muslimischer Autor, der im 12. Jhr. in Spanien gelebt hat, war Arzt, Mystiker und Philosoph. Sein Werk Hayy ibn Yaqzan gehört zu den berühmtesten Schriften der islamischen Philosophie, vor allem wegen seines pittoresken Rahmens: Ibn Tufayl stellt sich vor, wie ein Mensch, der allein auf einer Insel aufwächst, im Alleingang perfekter Philosoph werden könnte. Um diese Geschichte zu erzählen, deckt Ibn Tufayl alle die Hauptthemen der damaligen Philosophie ab: Naturphilosophie, Medizin, Theorie der Seele, Metaphysik, Sufi-geprägten Mystizismus, und am Ende sogar politische Philosophie, da die Hauptfigur ihre Insel verlässt und versucht, dem Volk einer anderen Insel seine Weisheit zu vermitteln.

Damit bietet Hayy ibn Yaqzan eine gute Einführung in die Philosophie der islamischen Welt.
Literatur: P.O. Schaerer (übers.), Ibn Tufayl: Der Philosoph als Autodidakt (Hamburg: 2004).

 

Fortgeschrittenenseminar

Ibn Bajja's "Governance of the Solitary" (read in original Arabic)

Veranstaltungsnummer 10111

Di. 10:00 bis 12:00 c.t. woch 07.10.2014 bis 27.01.2015, Ort: MUSAΦ, Leopoldstr. 11b - Raum 433

Ibn Bajja (d. 1139) was, along with Ibn Tufayl and Averroes, one of the three great Muslim thinkers responsible for a blossoming of Aristotelian philosophy in Muslim-controlled Spain in the 12th century. This seminar will be devoted to his best-known, though still rarely studied, work "Governance of the Solitary," which relates closely to the philosophy of al-Farabi. We will read the original Arabic text and discuss its linguistic and philosophical features.
Literatur: Ibn Bajja (Avempace), La conduite de l'isolé et deux autres épîtres, ed. and trans. C. Genequand (Paris: Vrin, 2010).

Voraussetzungen: The seminar will mostly be taught in English but participants who would rather discuss and translate in German are also welcome. However participation requires some facility with Arabic, as participants will take it in turns to present the text.

 

Fortgeschrittenenseminar

Plotinus Enneads VI.8

Veranstaltungsnummer 10112

Mo. 12:00 bis 14:00 c.t. woch 06.10.2014 bis 26.01.2015,  Ort: MusaPH, Leopoldstr. 11b - Raum 433

One of the greatest treatises in Plotinus' Enneads is 6.8, "On Free Will and the Will of the One." Here Plotinus sets out to discover the sense in which the First Principle, or One, is "free" or "wills" the production of all other things.
Literatur: For a Greek-English facing page edition and translation see vol.7 of the Loeb series of Plotinus volumes, by A.H. Armstrong (published by Harvard University Press).

And for background see E. Eliasson, The Notion of “That Which Depends on Us” in Plotinus and its Background (Leiden: 2008).
Bemerkung: This is a continuation of a seminar already begun in SoSe 2014, hence we will begin in the midst of the treatise.
Voraussetzungen: The seminar will mostly be taught in English but participants who would rather discuss and translate in German are also welcome. However participation requires some facility with Ancient Greek, as participants will take it in turns to present the text.

 

Oberseminar (zus. mit Prof. Dr. Christof Rapp, Prof. Dr. Oliver Primavesi)

Theophrastus, Metaphysics

Veranstaltungsnummer 10137

Di. 12:00 bis 14:00 c.t. woch 07.10.2014 bis 27.01.2015  Ort: MusaPH, Leopoldstr. 11b - Raum 433

We will read and discuss the treatise "Metaphysics" by Theophrastus. In this brief treatise Theophrastus, a student of Aristotle's, inquires into what he calls the first priniciples. The style and purpose of this work often resembles parts of Aristotle's "Physics" and "Metaphysics" (in particular, it takes up questions that were discussed in Aristotle's famous book Lambda of the "Metaphysics"). The treatise also refers to many positions that were held by members of Plato's Academy; it thus became an important source for the reconstruction of early Academic and Peripatetic theories.
Voraussetzungen: The seminar will be held in English; knowledge of Ancient Greek is required

 

Oberseminar (zus. mit Dr. Matteo Di Giovanni, Prof. Dr. Oliver Primavesi)

Averroes, Long Commentary on Metaphysics Lambda and Alpha Elatton

Veranstaltungsnummer 10143

Di. 14:00 bis 16:00 c.t. woch 07.10.2014 bis 27.01.201, Ort: MusaPH, Leopoldstr. 11b - Raum 433

The so-called "Long Commentary" of the great Muslim commentator Averroes (d.1198) is a major text in the history of philosophy, for several reasons. Most obviously, it contains brilliant and incisive discussion of the meaning of Aristotle's text. Also it preserves further commentary from earlier thinkers, particularly otherwise lost material from the greatest ancient commentator on Aristotle, Alexander of Aphrodisias. Finally, the Arabic text can be used as a witness for the textual tradition of the Metaphysics itself. In this seminar we will examine the Long Commentary on Book Lambda, in which Aristotle presents his philosophical treatment of immaterial substances, including God; and then move on to his commentary on Alpha Elatton, which for Averroes was the first book of Aristotle's Metaphysics.
Literatur

An English translation of Averroes' Commentary on Book Lambda can be found in: C. Genequand, Ibn Rushd's Metaphysics (Leiden: 1984).

See also Averroes' Epitome of the Metaphysics: R. Arnzen, Averroes: On Aristotle's Metaphysics (Berlin 2010).

Bemerkung: This is a continuation of a seminar already begun in SoSe 2014, hence we will begin in the midst of the commentary on Lambda.