Course Outline

Part One: Setting the Stage

Week I (January 15): Introduction: topics and themes in presocratic scientific speculation

Weeks II-IV: The Timaeus

Weeks V-VI: Aristotle's Scientific Method (Posterior Analytics)

Weeks VII-VIII Causes, Explanations, and Teleology (Physics)

Part Two: The Practice of Science in Aristotle

Weeks IX-X: Method, Definition, and Teleology in Aristotle's Parts of Animals

Weeks XI-XII: Essence and Gender in Aristotle's Generation of Animals

Weeks XIII-XIV: Explanation, Teleology, and the Cosmos in Aristotle (De Motu Animalium and other works)

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