History of Philosophy A

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History of Philosophy A

• Lecture One Lust and Adultery

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Course Information

• Module convenor Nikk Effingham
• Office number 114
• Email N.Effingham_at_bham.ac.uk
• Office hours Monday 2-3, Thursday 2-3
• Web Resource
• WebCT plus
• www.nikkeffingham.com/teaching.html
• Your TA is Norman Stinchcombe and Kirk Surgener.
• Assessment is 50 by essay and 50 by exam.

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Course Document

• You must read the course document.

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Learning Methods

• You are committed to 100 hours on this module.
• 15 hours of lectures/seminars.
• 15 hours writing up notes for lectures/seminars.
• 6 hours per seminar preparing for them.
• Essay/Exam prep is 20 hours each.

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This Module

• Obviously this module is on the history of
  philosophy.
• It will, broadly speaking, split history into two
  areas.
• Medieval Philosophy (circa 350-1350 AD)
• Covered in History of Philosophy A
• Modern Philosophy (circa 1600 1900 AD)
• Covered in History of Philosophy B

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This Module

• We wont be approaching the subject
  chronologically.
• Instead, well be going through various
  philosophical topics.
• These are topics that arent just historical
  topics, but philosophical issues that are still
  discussed nowadays.
• But, whilst the questions havent been settled,
  hopefully youll see that progress has been made
  on them that philosophy has moved forward.

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This Module

• As were concentrating on topics, there will be
  times when we leave the confines of the medieval
  ages and skip ahead, or sometimes back, in time
  to see what other philosophers say.

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This module
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This Module

• As were concentrating on topics, there will be
  times when we leave the confines of the medieval
  ages and skip ahead, or sometimes back, in time
  to see what other philosophers say.
• So the course is topic driven not going through
  the lives of specific philosophers and schools of
  thinking one by one.

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This Module

• So is this module more about the history or the
  philosophy?
• Are you meant to be getting to grips with the
  thoughts of a particular historical thinker?
• Or are you meant to be getting to grips with a
  particular philosophical topic through the medium
  of historical thinkers?
• Either! The main aim of this module is for you to
  acquire the skills that an undergraduate arts
  student must acquire which are important.
• So its less relevant whether youre looking at
  these issues from a contemporary standpoint or a
  historical one just as long as you acquire the
  relevant skills then jobs a good un.

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Learning Skills

• What skills are important?
• During this year you must
• Learn how to research undergraduate essays and
  exam answers.
• Learn how to discuss material critically, and
  debate the issues raised.
• Learn how to present your arguments (not your
  opinions!) clearly in the form of an essay/exam
  answer.
• If you learn these things, you have succeeded on
  this module.
• Indeed, you must if you want to progress through
  your degree successfully.

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Learning Skills

• Notice the emphasis on arguments not opinions.
• You do not earn marks for reciting what people
  have said.
• You do not earn marks for agreeing with them.
• You do not earn marks for stating your opinion on
  issues.
• We do not care about your opinion.
• A philosopher doesnt care about anyones opinion

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Learning Skills

• What a philosopher cares about are the reasons to
  accept that opinion, and whether they are good
  reasons or not.
• They care about the arguments that you one can
  give for a particular point.
• No position we study is obvious (if it were, why
  would we study it?) so every position is open to
  criticism.
• So philosophers also care about the
  counterarguments against such criticism.
• If you are to succeed, you must get used to
  offering arguments, acknowledging criticisms and
  giving counterarguments against such criticism.

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Study Guide

• You must read the study guide.

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This Module

• So its very much up to you whether you
• Use the historical elements as a portal into
  discussing the topic or
• Concentrate on getting to grips specifically with
  what the historical figures have to say on the
  topic.
• Just as long as youre practicing the relevant
  skills, it really doesnt matter.

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Seminars

• Today, were going to concentrate on the nature
  of seminars.
• What is a seminar for?
• How are you meant to prepare for seminars?
• How are you meant to ensure the seminar is
  successful?

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Seminars

• Today, were going to concentrate on the nature
  of seminars.
• What is a seminar for?
• How are you meant to prepare for seminars?
• How are you meant to ensure the seminar is
  successful?

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Seminars

• Seminars are not example classes.
• Seminars are not places to ensure that youve
  done your homework
• Seminars are not lectures your tutor will not
  be lecturing you, or imparting large quantities
  of new information.
• Seminars are not intended to solely be for you to
  clarify a small number of issues you have with
  the readings.

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Seminars

• Seminars are instead a place for you to come and
  discuss philosophy.
• That is, a chance for you to practise one of the
  necessary Learning Skills.

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Learning Skills

• What skills are important?
• During this year you must
• Learn how to research undergraduate essays and
  exam answers.
• Learn how to discuss material critically, and
  debate the issues raised.
• Learn how to present your arguments (not your
  opinions!) clearly in the form of an essay/exam
  answer.
• If you learn these things, you have succeeded on
  this module.
• Indeed, you must if you want to progress through
  your degree successfully.

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Seminars

• Seminars are instead a place for you to come and
  discuss philosophy.
• That is, a chance for you to practise one of the
  necessary Learning Skills.
• They are not tutor led, whereby your tutor
  starts lecturing you and giving you more
  information.
• Instead, you the students are meant to debate
  the issues raised in the readings/course.
• You the students are meant to be evaluating
  whether a given argument is good or not.
• You wont learn anything if your tutor just
  explained where the weak points in an argument
  were you have to find them yourselves.
• You wont produce good work if your tutor just
  explained to you one way the debate can progress
  that wont give you the chance to explore the
  topic yourself and do your own research.

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Seminars

• Today, were going to concentrate on the nature
  of seminars.
• What is a seminar for?
• How are you meant to prepare for seminars?
• How are you meant to ensure the seminar is
  successful?

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Seminars

• ALL students MUST prepare for their seminars.
• ALL students must come to the seminar with
  answers to the seminar questions.
• WRITTEN answers.
• One side of typed A4, or equivalent.
• You WILL be kicked out if you fail to do this, or
  bring some miserable excuse of yes and nos
  written next to the questions.

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Seminars

• Preparation requires more than just managing to
  not get kicked out.
• The questions are not homework.
• You can probably quite easily do the minimum to
  not get ejected.
• But the minimum wont allow you to discuss the
  issues with other students.
• The minimum effort wont allow you to explore the
  topic.
• And that means that of the five hours you get to
  practise these skills, youve just pissed one
  away.

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Seminars

• So do prepare thoroughly.
• Really think about the issues, and how to answer
  the questions.
• Dont think about them for ten minutes whilst
  watching Eastenders.
• Do sit somewhere quiet and do dedicate some
  serious amount of time thinking about the issues
  and your answers to them.
• After all thats what philosophy is all about!

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Seminars

• Today, were going to concentrate on the nature
  of seminars.
• What is a seminar for?
• How are you meant to prepare for seminars?
• How are you meant to ensure the seminar is
  successful?

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Seminars

• Obviously you have to talk.
• Alas, even for the shy this is a necessity.
• Not only do you have to think about arguments in
  the reading, youll have to think about arguments
  your fellow students put forth in the seminar.
• It isnt the place of the tutor to sit there and
  explain the flaws in the argument.
• If that happened, there would just be lots of
  one-and-one conversations with the tutor and
  everyone waiting for their turn.
• We could do that, but that wouldnt give you a
  chance to hone
• your skills of evaluation and
• your skills of clearly presenting arguments

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Seminars

• Obviously you have to talk.
• Alas, even for the shy this is a necessity.
• Not only do you have to think about arguments in
  the reading, youll have to think about arguments
  your fellow students put forth in the seminar.
• It isnt the place of the tutor to sit there and
  explain the flaws in the argument.
• If that happened, there would just be lots of
  one-and-one conversations with the tutor and
  everyone waiting for their turn.
• We could do that, but that wouldnt give you a
  chance to hone
• your skills of evaluation and
• your skills of clearly presenting arguments

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Seminars

• Assume every argument is flawed.
• This definitely includes your own arguments.
• Assume that there are a good handful of possible
  objections that could be put to you and that you
  will have to answer.
• Assume that the phrase Well I just think youre
  wrong is always inappropriate.
• Get used to being wrong, and being told youre
  wrong, as well as coming to believe that what you
  said earlier is, in fact, wrong.
• Because for professional philosophers all of
  these things definitely apply.

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Seminars

• With all of that in mind, lets turn to your
  first seminar.
• Usually youll have a lecture to supplement your
  understanding of the material.
• Thats the point of a lecture!
• Not to teach you material to regurgitate, but to
  give you the necessary information so you
  yourself can head off and tackle the material,
  research it etc.

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Seminars

• But not for the first one.
• To really accentuate the skills of reading the
  material, and generating your own independent
  responses to it, Im not going to give you any
  help at all.
• (of course, the extract is somewhat easier than
  later readings will be!)

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Seminars

• So the first seminar will consist of you talking
  about (one of) the set readings.
• I want you to spend as much time as possible
  getting to grips with it, and trying to think of
  ways around the arguments presented therein.
• This is different from giving your own opinions
  on the topic.
• The extract is by St. Augustine on adultery.
• You might have many things to say about adultery.
• But I want you to have many things to say about
  what St. Augustine has to say about adultery.

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St. Augustine (354 - 430 AD)

• Born in Algeria (well, Thagaste)
• His mother was a Catholic.
• He actually went off and joined a Gnostic
  religion.
• And got drunk.
• And had sex.
• And had a concubine.
• And had an illegitimate child.

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St. Augustine (354 - 430 AD)

• When he was in Rome, he gave up on his religion
  and became a Skeptic.
• Well have more to say about Skeptics in the
  final lecture.
• His mother arranged a marriage with an eleven
  year old girl, and he was forced to dump his
  concubine.
• But as the girl was only 11, he ended up taking a
  second concubine.

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St. Augustine (354 - 430 AD)

• Here endeth Augustine the party animal.
• In 386 he underwent a change of faith and became
  a committed Catholic.
• He gave away his money, turned his house into a
  monastery

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St. Augustine (354 - 430 AD)

• He became a renowned philosopher and theologian.
• And, obviously, was much beloved by the Catholic
  Church.
• He died of illness during the siege of Hippo by
  the Vandals.
• As well see, such uneventful deaths are kind of
  rare for historical philosophers.

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Sex, Lust and Adultery

• Well have a chance to see what Augustine thinks
  about things many times on this course.
• This weeks topic concentrates on sex, lust and
  adultery.
• As a committed Catholic it is unsurprising that
  Augustine wasnt a big fan.

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Sex, Lust and Adultery

• Marriage
• For instance, Augustine didnt just think sex
  outside marriage was a sin.
• Sex within marriage was a sin as well.
• If you were married, and having sex for any
  reason other than procreation, Augustine thought
  it was a venial sin.
• That is, a sin that doesnt commit you to Hell.
• Which is lucky.

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Sex, Lust and Adultery

• Homosexuality
• Obviously, Augustine just thought this was right
  out.
• Masturbation
• Also right out.

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Sex, Lust and Adultery

• His views were wide ranging.
• Even
• Dogging
• Which he believed to be impossible
• I prefer to think that Diogenes and others
  who reputedly did such a thing rather acted out
  the motions of lying together before the eyes of
  people who really did not know what was really
  done under the cloak. I do not believe that there
  could have been any achievement of such pleasure
  under the glare of human gaze' ('On the City of
  God' Book XIV chapter 20)

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Sex, Lust and Adultery

• Erections
• Augustine had strong views on even human biology.
• As lust was a punishment for original sin, Adam
  and Eve were not subject to it before the Fall.
• So before the Fall, they could control such
  functions on demand as it were.

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Sex, Lust and Adultery

• So Augustine was deeply interested in questions
  of sex and lust.
• And, of course, details on their prohibition.
• The specific piece you have to read for the
  seminar concerns adultery.
• And, of course, details on why Augustine thought
  it was prohibited.
• As I say, Ill leave you to tackle it rather than
  me explaining it for you.

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God

• Just before we wrap up, a word about God.
• Historical philosophy has a pre-occupation with
  God.
• Specifically in the medieval times, but even in
  modern philosophy theres a lot of God.
• Its just the way it is with historical
  philosophy when the Catholic Church runs the
  show He tends to be of overwhelming interest to
  philosophers.

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God

• So obviously a lot of the philosophy were going
  to be looking at this semester is heavily
  influenced by religious, specifically Catholic,
  concerns.
• Even next semester, well see God gets more than
  a look-in.
• However, I hope that youll be able to compare
  the two eras and see differences between how
  philosophers like Augustine wove theological
  matters into their texts and how the modern
  philosophers did otherwise.

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God

• Moreover, as Im sure many of you are secular,
  Im sure youll be able to put up with all this
  pre-occupation with God.
• If not, youve chosen the wrong course.

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Next Lecture

• So, go off and do the reading.
• Get stuck into doing your first seminar.
• Next lecture, we turn to ethics, and what God has
  to do with it.