PHIL 209 - Introduction to Plato

Institution:

University of Pennsylvania

Subject:

Description:

Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Kahn, S.Meyer. This course will involve an intensive reading of a number of Plato's dialogues. We will also pay attention to the background from which Plato's views emerged and ask what it is that makes Plato at least the first, if not also the greatest, philosopher of the western world. We will discuss the character of Socrates, through whom Plato usually expresses his own view, and examine the relations between Socrates and the Sophists with whom Plato constantly contrasts him. We will concentrate on Socrates' views on virtue and the good life, the possibility of teaching people to be good, Plato's theory of Forms asan answer to Socrates' questions and its relations to Parmenides and Plato's later modifications of that theory.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.upenn.edu

Phone Number:

(215) 898-5000

Regional Accreditation:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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