Prof.

Martin Pickav
PHL 205 F Early Medieval Philosophy

Fall 2016
TR 11-12
LM159/MP203

There are four required textbooks for this course (available at the UofT bookstore, Koffler Centre):
(1) Augustine: Confessions. Translated by H. Chadwick. Oxford University Press 1998.
(2) Boethius: Consolation of Philosophy. Translated by P.G. Walsh. Oxford University Press 1999.
(3) Anselm: Basic Writings. Translated by Thomas Williams. Hackett 2007.
(4) Peter Abelard: Ethical Writings. Translated by Paul Vincent Spade. Hackett 1995.
A bibliography listing recommended readings will be distributed in the first class. I will post some of the
Powerpoint slides and the handouts that I use in class on the course website on Blackboard. In order to access
the website you have to log into http://portal.utoronto.ca.
Students are expected to attend classes regularly and to prepare for classes by reading the assignments listed
below. Tutorials are an integral part of the course and students are expected to attend a tutorial of one hour per
week. Tutorials start in the third week (Sept. 27). Registration for tutorials has to be done through ROSI. If you
havent registered already, you should do so immediately!
Evaluation: You will have to write two short analytical essays (ca. 800 words each). Each paper counts 20%
toward the final grade. There is also a midterm exam and a final exam (counting 20% and 30%, respectively).
The remaining 10% will be assigned on attendance and participation in the tutorials and improvement. Note
that all the requirements must be met to pass this course.
Essay topics will be given out roughly ten days in advance. Instruction for how to submit essays will be given
out together with the essay topics. Normally, students will be required to submit their course essays to
Turnitin.com for a review of textual similarity and detection of possible plagiarism. In doing so, students will
allow their essays to be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database, where they will
be used solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism. The terms that apply to the Universitys use of the
Turnitin.com service are described on the Turnitin.com website. You have the right to refuse having to submit
your essay to turnitin.com. If you intend to use this right please let the instructor know.
Papers submitted after the due date will be penalized 5%. An additional 5% will be taken off for each
additional day late. Papers more than one week late will not be accepted.
Plagiarism is a serious academic offense! If you are not sure what plagiarism is and how to avoid it you should
check http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/using-sources/how-not-to-plagiarize. Information about the
official U of T position regarding academic integrity can be found here: www.artsci.utoronto.ca/osai/students.
Email policy: According to the Universitys e-mail policy, all correspondence must be between addresses
ending in utoronto.ca. The TAs and I will reply to legitimate email inquiries from students within 3 days.
Please make sure you consult the course syllabus, other handouts, and the course website BEFORE submitting
inquiries by e-mail. Where a question cannot easily or briefly be answered with a reply e-mail, I will simply
indicate to the student that s/he should see me (or one of the TAs) during the announced office hours. E-mail
should NOT be seen as an alternative to meeting with the instructor (or the TAs) during office hours. Nor
should e-mail be used as a mechanism to receive private tutorials or to explain material that was covered in
lectures you missed.
Accessibility Needs: The University of Toronto is committed to accessibility. If you require accommodations
or have any accessibility concerns, please visit http://studentlife.utoronto.ca/accessibility as soon as possible.
Device policy: I will not ban laptops, tablets, or other electronic devices from the lecture hall or tutorial rooms.
However, I ask all students to consider these points. First, please refrain from using the internet during class for

non-course purposes. Surfing the web in class distracts you as well as those around you. Second, the science is
in: using laptops to take notes is a bad idea. For a helpful survey of the relevant scientific literature,
visit: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-learning-secret-don-t-take-notes-with-a-laptop/

Class Schedule
Sept. 13

Introduction
Augustine

Sept. 15

Augustines Intellectual Development

Confessions, book 3 (complete); 5.3.3-5.7.13; 5.10.19-5.11.21; 7.2.3; 7.3.5; 7.9.13-7.12.18

Sept. 20

Language
Confessions, book 1

Sept. 22

The Theft of the Pears

Confessions, book 2

Sept. 27

Evil
Confessions, book 7

Sept. 29

Weakness of the Will

Confessions, book 8
(Essay topics given out)

Oct. 4

Memory and Mind

Confessions, book 10.6.8-10.30.42

Oct. 6

Creation, Time, and Eternity

Confessions, book 11
Boethius

Oct. 11

Introduction
The Consolation of Philosophy, books I-II
First Essay due Wednesday, Oct. 12, 3pm

Oct. 13

What is True Happiness?

The Consolation of Philosophy, book III

Oct. 18

Justice, Providence, and Fate

The Consolation of Philosophy, book IV

Oct. 20

Divine Foreknowledge and Future Contingents

The Consolation of Philosophy, book V
Anselm of Canterbury

Oct. 25

Anselms Ontological Argument for the Existence of God

Proslogion

Oct. 27

Midterm Exam

Nov. 1

Is the Ontological Argument Valid?

Gaunilos On Behalf of the Fool

Nov. 3

Anselm Strikes Back

Anselms Reply to Gaunilo

[Nov. 8

no class: Fall break]

Nov. 10

Truth
On Truth

Nov. 15

Freedom and Free Will

On Freedom of Choice
(Essay topics given out)

Nov. 17

How are Evil Acts Possible?

On the Fall of the Devil, chapters 12-14 and 19-28
Second Essay due Monday, Nov. 21, 3pm
Peter Abelard

Nov. 22

Introduction
Ethics, nn. 1-76

Nov. 24

What Makes a Sin a Sin?

Ethics, nn. 77-149

Nov. 29

Morality and Happiness (I)

Dialogue between the Philosopher and the Christian 137-271

Dec. 1

Morality and Happiness (II)

Dialogue between the Philosopher and the Christian 272-425

Dec. 6

Concluding Session

TBA

Final Exam (2 hours)

Instructor:
Prof. Martin Pickav
martin.pickave@utoronto.ca

Office hours:
Wednesday 11:00-12:00 or by appointment
Jackman Humanities Building, 170 St. George Street, room 408

Teaching Assistants:
Matthew Wurst
email: matthew.wurst@mail.utoronto.ca

Office hours:
TBA, see course website

Matthieu Remacle
email: matthieu.remacle@mail.utoronto.ca

Office hours:
TBA, see course website

Prof. Martin Pickav

PHL 205 F Early Medieval Philosophy

Fall 2016
TR 11-12

Selected Bibliography
General
Gracia, Jorge J.E. & Noone, Timothy B., eds. (2003). A Companion to Philosophy in the Middle Ages
(Blackwell Companions to Philosophy) (Oxford: Blackwell).
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Online at http://plato.stanford.edu/
Augustine
Brown, Peter (1969). Augustine of Hippo: A Biography (Berkeley: University of California Press).
Gilson, Etienne (1967). The Christian Philosophy of Saint Augustine (New York: Vintage Books).
Kirwan, Christopher (1989). Augustine (The Arguments of the Philosophers) (London: Routledge).
MacDonald, Scott (2003). Petit Larceny, the Beginning of All Sin: Augustines Theft of the Pears, Faith and
Philosophy 20: 393-414.
(2004). Augustine and Platonism: The Rejection of Divided-Soul Accounts of Akrasia, in Jorge J.E.
Gracia & Jiyuan Yu, eds. Uses and Abuses of the Classics: Western Interpretations of Greek Philosophy
(Aldershot: Ashgate), 75-88.
Mann, William E. (1978). The Theft of the Pears, Apeiron 12: 51-58.
, ed. (2006). Augustines Confessions: Critical Essays (Lanham, MD: Rowmann & Littlefield).
Markus, R.A., ed. (1972). Augustine: A Collection of Critical Essays (Garden City, NY: Anchor Books).
Matthews, Gareth B. (2005). Augustine (Blackwell Great Minds) (Oxford: Blackwell).
Rist, John M. (1994). Augustine: Ancient Thought Baptized (Cambridge: CUP).
Stump, Eleonore & Kretzmann, Norman, eds. (2001). The Cambridge Companion to Augustine (Cambridge:
CUP).
Boethius
Chadwick, H. (1981). Boethius: The Consolations of Music, Logic, Theology, and Philosophy (Oxford: OUP).
Evans, J. (2004). Boethius on Modality and Future Contingents, American Philosophical Quarterly 78: 24771.
Gibson, Margaret T., ed. (1981). Boethius, his Life, Thought, and Influence (Oxford: OUP).
Marenbon, John (2003). Boethius (Great Medieval Thinkers) (Oxford: OUP).
Anselm
Davies, Brian & Leftow, Brian, eds. (2004). The Cambridge Companion to Anselm (Cambridge: CUP).
Hopkins, Jasper (1972). A Companion to the Study of St. Anselm (Minneapolis: University of Minneapolis
Press).
Plantinga, Alvin, ed. (1965). The Ontological Argument (Garden City, NY: Anchor Books).
Southern, R.W. (1990). Saint Anselm: A Portrait in a Landscape (Cambridge: CUP).
Wolterstorff, Nicholas (1993). In Defense of Gaunilos Defense of the Fool, in C. Stephen Evans & Merold
Westphal, eds. Christian Perspectives on Religious Knowledge (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans), 87-111.
Abelard
Brower, Jeffrey E. & Guilfoy, Kevin, eds. (2004). The Cambridge Companion to Abelard (Cambridge: CUP).
King, Peter (1995). Abelards Intentionalist Ethics, The Modern Schoolman 72: 213-31. [online version
available at http://individual.utoronto.ca/pking/articles/Abelard_on_Ethics.pdf]
Marenbon, John (1997). The Philosophy of Peter Abelard (Cambridge: CUP).