- Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy

Catalog description

This class offers a general survey of the ideas and texts from the major philosophical schools of Ancient Greece and Rome. Over the course of the semester, you will have the opportunity to read a selection of key works of philosophers from each of the four subperiods of ancient philosophy: Presocratic (600–400 BCE), Classical (400–320 BCE), Hellenistic (320–50 BCE), and Imperial (50 BCE–529 CE). In addition to learning about the philosophical ideas of each of these schools and the major figures within them, you will learn some interesting and important aspects of Ancient Greece and Rome in order to be able to situate the philosophy within the context in which it was written, and to see how the features and values of these societies may have influenced the philosophical ideas within them.