Virtual reading groups are a way to learn better together. Participants meet for 90 minutes a week to discuss freely supplied readings with a scholar's help. Mutual respect, curiosity, and consistent participation are expected. Meetings are recorded so others can learn from our conversations. Applicants will be emailed further instructions on how to participate.
SCHOLAR: Dr. Roderick T. Long
MEETINGS: Saturdays, June 29 - August 17, 1:00pm - 2:30pm EDT
DESCRIPTION: The ancient Greeks were the founders of Western philosophy, and many of their ideas are still part of philosophical debates today. In this reading group we will examine and discuss texts from the Greek philosophers (in English translation!) covering a range of issues – metaphysical, epistemological, ethical, and political – including arguments on such timeless topics as causation, agency, and free choice; the possibility of knowledge; the problem of universals; reductionism, dualism, and the nature of the self; the nature of space, time, matter, and infinity; the existence and nature of God; the roles of wisdom, pleasure, and social success in the good life; the relation between self-interest and moral virtue; the relation between morality and religion; the nature of political power; and the case for or against political obedience. The focus will be on Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, although we will look briefly at a few other thinkers as well. The reading group is intended to be suitable both for beginners in Greek philosophy and for those more familiar with it.