Their concerns include the natural order and some of its fundamental features, human “virtue” or “excellence”, the human soul, the proper ordering of society, language and logic, and God.
Western philosophy begins with the ancient Greeks in the 6th century BCE. The first and second lectures consider some of the earliest of ancient Greek philosophers, viz. the Pre-Socratics. Their work marks the beginning of philosophy. They are concerned in particular with providing a single and rational account of the natural order.
The third lecture considers Socrates. It considers Socrates on ethics. Socrates is concerned above all with human “virtue” or “excellence”.
The fourth to eighth lectures considers two of the most influential figures in western philosophy, viz. Plato and Aristotle.
They consider Plato on the soul and its immortality in the Phaedo and on the perfectly just city-state in the Republic. (The latter includes above all a consideration of Plato on the Philosopher King and the Forms and the Form of the Good.)
They also consider Aristotle on, among other things, language and logic in the Organon and on change and cause in the Physics and on “happiness” in the Nichomachean Ethics.
The ninth lecture considers the medieval philosopher Anselm. It considers in particular Anselm’s ontological argument for the existence of God in the second chapter of his Proslogion.
The tenth and final lecture considers another medieval philosopher, Aquinas. It considers
Aquinas on, among other things, form, matter and change, on essence and existence, and on God.
Learning outcomes
- An understanding of some of key elements in the thought of some of the greatest of ancient (Greek) and medieval philosophers;
- To begin to understand their thought in a wider philosophical context.
