Early Greek Philosophy

Available to all Mods candidates.

Early Greek Philosophy involves studying the surviving fragments of the earliest, so-called Pre-Socratic, Greek thinkers, who wrote (among other things) on the nature of the universe, what it is made of and how it came to have its present orderly arrangement, the structure of matter, the nature of the gods and the possibility of knowledge.

The examination involves translation (except for Mods IIA candidates), comment, and essays. The Examination Regulations prescribe the specific texts that must be studied for each course.

Please note that there were changes to the format of the Early Greek Philosophy paper with effect from Mods 2007, so earlier examination papers have a different format. The presentation of the syllabus in the Examination Regulations has been changed with effect from 1 October 2010 (i.e. from the Mods exam in 2011) in an attempt to make it clearer, but the substance remains the same for Courses IA and IC, the courses for which it was previously available.