Introduction to Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy

PHIL 7 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

This course presents an introduction to ancient Greek philosophy. It is focused on Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, and the Stoics. We will start by looking at the view of philosophy and the philosopher embodied by Socrates, who relentlessly pursued truth and knowledge, at the cost of his own life. From there, we will consider how we ought to live according to Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, and the Stoics. In doing so, we will investigate whether we can have knowledge and how we might get it; what reality is like such that we can know it; why one should be moral; what practical and theoretical pursuits we should engage in. We will see why Epicurus thinks pleasure is the highest good, and why the Stoics think it is possible to be happy even under physical torture. The course emphasizes direct engagement with the text and arguments of the ancient Greek philosophers. We will read Plato's Phaedo, a large portion of the Republic, and selections from several other dialogues. We will spend time with Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, and make a foray into his Physics and Metaphysics. Reading Cicero's On Moral Ends, we will get acquainted with the ethics of Epicurus and the Stoics. All texts will be read in translation.