History of Philosophy - Ancient (210-1-20)

Instructors

Susan Michele Bencomo

Meeting Info

Kresge Centennial Hall 2-331: Tues, Thurs 3:00PM - 6:00PM

Overview of class

Early and classical Greek philosophical thought distinguishes itself from the mythopoetic tradition by a willingness to speculate about the natural world and the human condition based upon evidence and argument, demonstrating a commitment to rationality. This thinking also exhibits a commitment to the view that the entire universe, or cosmos, can be systematically explained without reference to anything beyond itself. In such thinking we see an emphasis on the primacy of theoretical knowledge about the nature of reality. Finally, for these thinkers, philosophy was seen as a way a life, telling us how we ought to live in order to produce a happy life. In this compressed course on ancient Greek philosophy, we'll briefly sketch the early Greek philosophical tradition of the Presocratics, and then go on to examine the thought and arguments of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle with an emphasis on the following questions: what is the nature of knowledge? What are the fundamental constituents of reality? Is moral knowledge possible? What is virtue and its relation to our choices and our happiness?

Class Attributes

Ethical and Evaluative Thinking Foundational Disci
Ethics & Values Distro Area
Face to face: In person, in campus space