PHIL 210.001 – Wonder, Myth, and Reason: Introduction to Ancient Greek Science and Philosophy (Love, Friendship, and Family)

IDEAs in Action: Which curricular requirements does this course satisfy?

Instructor: Mariska Leunissen. This course meets MW 8:00 – 8:50 a.m. in CP 211, with a recitation on Fridays.

This course provides an introduction to Ancient Greek Philosophy with a special focus on the topics of love, friendship, and family. We will read some of the most famous and influential ancient Greek philosophical texts written by the Pre-Socratics, Plato, and Aristotle, but also discuss philosophical reflections on these topics found in contemporary literary sources, such as Sappho, Aristophanes, Sophocles, and Euripides. Some of the questions we will consider are: What is love? What is the relationship between friendship (philia), love (philêsis), and erotic desire (erôs)? What kinds of friendship are there? Does the virtuous person need friends? How can erôs for beauty turn us to philosophia (literally: ‘love for wisdom’)? Should all citizens of a political community be friends (and share their women and children in common)? Is maternal love virtuous? In answering these questions, we will also pay special attention to how these philosophical views were developed in their socio-historical context and to the methodological problems involved in the study of ancient texts.