PHIL 481BPhilosophy as Way of Life

Catalog

This class will study ancient philosophies not only for their doctrines and arguments, but also for the kinds of lives they make available to us. Ancient philosophies offer practices directed at improving our lives and ourselves (through, for example, self-reflection, and self-transformation). We will engage with ancient thinkers and theories not only intellectually and theoretically but also practically. In addition to traditional academic readings, lectures, discussions, and assignments, there will also be immersive exercises inspired by the teachings of diverse classical philosophical traditions. Some of the questions we will confront in this course are the following. How can we control our desires, fears, anger, and psychological distress? What do I want out of life? Are my friendships contributing to my flourishing; is my friendship with others contributing to their excellence? How can we best care for ourselves (both physically and psychologically)? How can we distinguish daily anxieties from lifelong worries and work to overcome the latter? What qualities of character ("virtues" or "excellences") do I want to cultivate and why? Which things are within my power to control and which things are out of my control? Can I try to work on those things over which I am truly responsible? What is my role in the vastness of the cosmos? Can I train my mind to be attentive to what I am presently living and experiencing and not be controlled by thoughts of the past or the future? Some of the ancient Greek and Roman philosophers we will study are: Heraclitus; Parmenides; Empedocles; Pythagoras; Socrates; Diogenes the Cynic; Plato and the Academy; Epicurus and his Friends in the Garden; Aristotle in the Lyceum and his Peripatetics; Roman Stoics, like Epictetus, Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius. We will also study some ancient non-Western philosophers such as: Laozi, Confucius, Siddhartha Gautama, and Zhuangzi.