Philosophy 250PT - Topics in Philosophy: 'Plato'

In this course, we will undertake a close reading of several of Plato's dialogues, exploring the themes of beauty, love, justice, society, and human happiness. More formally, we will cover metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, moral psychology, and social and political philosophy. Dialogues include Lysis, Symposium, Gorgias, Republic, Me no, and Phaedo. Plato's ideas were as surprising and controversial to his Athenian contemporaries as they are to so many in this American democracy. For that very reason, Plato's ideas remain alive and deeply relevant today.