No class Thursday due to memorial service

Hi All,  In light of President Starr's request, that we suspend business as usual activities  tomorrow afternoon,  I'm  cancelling class so that those of you who wish to participate in the memorial service tomorrow may do so. We'll talk about friendship and the contemplative life  on Tuesday and have our small group #4 a week from Thursday.  and then the final is a week after that.  It is actually pretty early during exam time. however, if you need to make other arrangements, please discuss that with David.  The exam will cover Aristotle's Ethics. By the Our final exam is  TR 2:00 p.m. Thursday, May 9, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.

Aristotle book I mentioned

Hi All,

Here's that link to a new book on Aristotle that I mentioned in class.

http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2013/2013-04-29.html

Looking forward to dicussing justice and the law

Hi All,  looking forward to  our discussion of  justice and the law  and  the intellectual virtues today in class. 

Here's a lovely quote I got from philosophy works   today,


"The ideals which have lighted me on my way and
time after time given me new courage to face life cheerfully,
have been Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. . . . "


Albert Einstein
(1879 - 1955)
Theoretical physicist

An Interview with me

Here's an interview I did with Chris Long, on his  Digital Dialogue series. 

http://www.personal.psu.edu/cpl2/blogs/digitaldialogue/2013/04/digital-dialogue-60-socratic-narrative.html

Aristotle

Hi All,

I'm away this week  at a workshop for philosophy and yoga.  Believe it or not, it actually relates to  Aristotle.

Anyway, you are in David's  capable hands.  I'll keep up with you through your blogs and post some thoughts about Aristotle and yoga for you.

I will miss you.

AMS

Small Group Assignment #3

Small  Group  #3  Assignment

1. Describe Socrates’ relationship with his friend at the opening of the Protagoras.

 What do you think Socrates is  trying to teach the friend by telling him  this story about himself and Hippocrates  going to visit  the sophists at Callias’ house?

2.  Describe the relationship between Hippocrates and  Socrates in the  Protagoras.   What does Hippocrates think he will learn from  Protagoras?  What is  Socrates trying to teach Hippocrates about the learning process? 

3.  Describe the relationship between Apollodorus and the friends that he tells the story of Agathon’s party to.  Do you see any similarities between the opening of the Symposium and the opening of the Protagoras?   Is Apollodorus trying to teach them anything?

4.  In your view  what is  Socrates trying to teach  the symposiasts by telling them about his  encounters with Diotima?  What  is he trying to get them to see about love that they do not currently  see?

5.  Within that story,  how would you describe the  relationship between Socrates and Diotima?  What is she trying to teach him about the nature of  love?  (I think there are three main parts to this  lesson)

6.   Do you think Alcibiades understood what  Socrates was trying to teach him about love and the nature of  philosophy?  If  so,  why do you think Alcibiades turns away from philosophy toward politics?  If not,  what  limitations in  Socrates as a teacher or  Alcibiades as a student (or them both as people more generally) might have hindered  Alcibiades’ ability to learn? 

Info about Class Tuesday

Hi All,

Hope you are having a happy end of  break.

You can access Plato's Protagoras for free on line   at  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1591

it is the primary text we'll be working with on  Tuesday.

Tuesday we  will review   Anaxagoras and the Atomists with an eye toward how they establish / clear the  metaphysical ground for the Sophists.

We'll talk a bit about the sophists  generally

then we'll look at Plato's Protagoras  for a vivid description of the sophists in action.

This will also involve  a discussion of  Plato's  overall dialogic aims  and the problems with using him for a source for understanding other figures.

What  fun.