Description.-

This course is a survey of some the most influential philosophers from the early Middle Ages to the beginning of the Modern Era who wrote their works in post-classical Latin and Arabic.

Grade.-
10% Attendance and Oral Participation; 50% Short Papers (x5), 2-3 pages (each); 40% Final Paper, 5-6 pages.

Written Assignments.-
There will be five short papers between 2 to 3 pages consisting on answering a specific question about one or more authors. Students will receive feedback and will have the opportunity to rewrite any of the papers. The students will prepare an outline for the final paper and will have the opportunity of submitting a draft for feedback.

Bibliography.-
Required

Optional

Course Calendar.-
Week 1
Introduction, Greek Philosophy before and after Socrates
Week 2
Augustine, City of God
Week 3
Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy
Anselm of Canterbury, Proslogion   
Week 4
Al-Farabi, Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle      
Week 5
Ibn Rushd, The Decisive Treatise
Hildegard, On Natural Philosophy         
Week 6 
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica           
Week 7
Nicholas of Cusa, De Visione Dei         
Week 8
Marsilio Ficino, The Golden Age in Florence
Erasmus of Rotterdam, An Age of Gold
Giorgio Vasari, The Arts Reborn       
Week 9               
Francesco Petrarca, The Man of Letters
Giovanni Bocaccio, The Return of the Muses
Lorenzo Valla, The Glory of the Latin Language
Week 10
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, The Dignity of Man
Leon Battista Alberti, Self-Portrait of a Universal Man              
Week 11
Niccolo Machiavelli, The Circle of Governments
Leonardo da Vinci, Nature, Art and Science       
Week 12
Nicholas Copernicus, The Revolution of the Celestial Spheres
Tycho Brahe, The New Star
Galileo Galilei, Letters to Kepler and The Starry Messenger
Lecture by Robert D. Joseph, Institute for Astronomy UH, "Galileo on Religion and Science"
Week 13
Descartes, Meditations                   
Week 14
Descartes, Meditations                       
Week 15
Descartes, Meditation