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Presocratics
What
were the first philosophical questions? What makes
philosophy a distinct human activity? We will
explore the cultural conditions out of which Western
philosophy arose; poetry, literature, mythology,
language, sociological, political and economic
formations of the epoch will be considered. Our
first visit will be to ancient Ionia, western
Turkey, to study the birth of philosophy in Miletus.
After the Miletian school, we will study Heraclitus
in his native city, Ephesus. Our journey will
move to Athens to study the philosophers of mainland
Greece, including Socrates and the Sophists. The
last part of the course is dedicated to the philosophers
of southern Italy, Pythagoras of Croton, Parmenides
of Elea and Empedocles of Acragas.
Ancient
Greek Philosophy
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We
will start with the rise of Western philosophy
in Miletus, its cultural, artistic, and epochal
conditions. After surveying the ideas and
lives of some of the presocratic thinkers,
we will study the life and teachings of Socrates,
read from Plato and Aristotle. As we survey
other schools of thought such as Hedonism,
Stoicism, Cynicism, Skepticism, Epicureanism
and Neo-platonism, we will explore such issues
as ethics, the good life and the way of life,
theory of ideas, theory of knowledge, form
and matter, virtue, happiness, pain and pleasure,
and tranquility of the mind. Our trip starts
in ancient Ionia, Western Turkey, and ends
in Rome via Athens and Sicily and southern
Italy. |
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Medieval
Philosophy
  This
course is designed to examine the philosophical
ideas of the middle ages within the context
of its cultural background. We will start
with the Bible and the Early Church Fathers,
study the debates within Neo-platonism,
trace the development of ideas and follow
the major debates such as the Realism-Nominalism
debate, read St. Thomas Aquinas and end
our course with the Jewish and Moslem philosophers
of Spain. We will also explore cathedrals,
monasteries and the monastic life style
of the middles ages. The philomobile for
this course starts in Italy and ends in
southern Spain.
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Early
Modern Philosophy
This
course course will explore philosophical
debates and major ideas at the dawn of the
modern era. We will start with Renaissance
philosophy and read Ficino and Macchiavelli
in Italy, Montaigne in France, then move
north to Germany and Holland to study humanism
and reformation, Erasmus-Luther debate,
on such subjects as the freedom of the will.
As we trace Erasmus' steps from Basel, via
Gouda, to London, we start examining his
relationship with the English reformers.
Our course will end in London with Moore
and Hobbes.
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