Ancient Philosophy: A Contemporary Introduction/ Shields, Christopher

1 Philosophy before Socrates
1.1 Thales and the earliest natural philosophers
1.2 Xenophanes
1.3 Heracleitus
1.4 Parmenides and Zeno
1.5 Democritus and fifth-century atomism
1.6 Protagoras and the Sophistic Movement
1.7 Challenges from the Presocratics and Sophists

Suggestions for additional readings
2 Socrates
2.1 The Socratic elenchus
2.2 The failures of Meno and Euthyphro
2.3 Socratic ignorance and Socratic irony
2.4 Socratic conviction and the Socratic paradoxes
2.5 Socrates on trial and in prison
2.6 Conclusions

Suggestions for additional readings
3 Plato
3.1 From Socrates to Plato
3.2 Meno's paradox of inquiry; Plato's response
3.3 Tv^o functions of Plato's theory of Forms
3.4 Plato's rejection of relativism
3.5 Three arguments for Forms
3.6 Plato's general characterizations of Forms
3.7 Platonic analysis: a case study
3.8 The special role of the Form of the Good
3.9 Plato's line and cave: our epistemic prospects
3.10 Problems about Forms
3.1 I Conclusions

Suggestions for additional readings
4 Aristotle
4.1 From Plato to Aristotle
4.2 Aristotle's introduction of category theory
4.3 The four causes introduced
4.4 The four causes defended
4.5 The four causes applied: soul and body
4.6 The four causes applied: happiness and the human
function
4.7 The virtues of a happy person
4.8 Aristotle's treatment of a Socratic paradox; akrasia
4.9 Aristotle on philosophical analysis: homonymy
4.10 Conclusions

Suggestions for additional readings
5 Hellenistic philosophy
5.1 The Hellenistic period
5.2 The Epicureans
5.3 The Stoics
5.4 Skepticism
5.5 Conclusions