Overview
The best essays will have a clear thesis statement with full development of that thesis statement through sustained discussion and explanation, and in the course of its development it will address each question/issue posed under the topics below in a cohesive essay.
(Part III of the course)
Weight: 40%
Length: 1600-2000 words
For your essay, please select either topic #1 or topic #2 below. Take note that each topic contains several related questions under it, each indicated by a letter. Make sure you fully explain all specialized philosophical terminology used so that your intended meaning will be crystal clear.
Plato's Late Dialogues
Explain Plato's revamp of the Hesiodic paradigm and how it addresses problems that arose in the theory of the forms.
Select a contemporary issue, topic, or area of study in the world today, and interpret it in terms of Plato's later work.
Does Plato’s late ontology give us a useful way of understanding the world? Why or why not?
Aristotle's Metaphysics
Taking into consideration the categories and the potentiality/actuality distinction, explain Aristotle’s ontology (i.e. his understanding of how reality is structured).
How does Aristotle’s thought stand with respect to the archaic thumos/psuche polarity?
Select a contemporary issue, topic, or phenomenon and interpret it in terms of Aristotelian ontology.
Finally, which provides us with a better understanding of the world: Plato’s late ontology (as outlined in the Sophist, Philebus, and Timaeus) or Aristotle’s Metaphysics? Explain thoroughly, and make sure that you fairly represent both Plato and Aristotle in your answer.