Plato Seminar

This is a seminar course on the Greek philosopher Plato. We will read the basic dialogues of Plato—including Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo, Symposium, Phaedrus, and The Republic. As a seminar, each student will submit weekly responses to the reading and present in class. Students will come to class each week prepared to discuss the reading. This 16-week course has a heavy reading load and is for serious and advanced high school students or adults.

Course Objectives

1. To know and respect the works of Plato.
2. To strengthen one's appreciation for our Western intellectual inheritance.
3. To study the perennial questions of political life.
4. To prepare for citizenship, political life, and cultural engagement.
5. To become proficient in the conversational approach to learning.
6. To cultivate an appetite for learning as a way of life.

Texts

• A Plato Reader: Eight Essential Dialogues (ed. C.D.C. Reeve, Hackett Classics)