PHIL 210.001 – Wonder, Myth, and Reason: Introduction to Ancient Greek Science and Philosophy

Instructor: Aurora Yu. This course meets MWF 8:00 – 8:50 a.m. in AR 218.

In this course, we shall explore Ancient Greek Philosophy in various genres, from Aristotle’s treatises to Euripides’ tragedies, from Parmenides’ poem on the concept of being to Sappho’s lyrics inspired by love, from Plato’s dialogues involving debates over virtue and good life to Aristophanes‘ play about a government where women take control to rein private wealth and increase sexual equality; etc.

Some questions that we shall have fun with are as follows:
How does an Aristotelian virtuous person go about their day? What does Hecuba’s speech teach us about the firmness of good character in adversity? Is there a gap between being good and living well? Is friendship more important than justice? Does madness always come with love? Are we fragile moral beings?