20 episodes
The Literature of Crisis Martin Evans and Marsh McCall
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- Arts
Our lives are not simply given to us, Socrates used to maintain, but also something we make. As we examine the circumstances of our existence, recognizing certain facts as immutable and others as subject to our control, we all face the challenge of fashioning out of them a way of living that is both meaningful and justifiable. "The Art of Living" explores different ways to think about the nature of that challenge -- how to accommodate conflicting demands and values, how to make our choices "artfully," how to use works of imaginative literature to inspire us. Should we regulate our behavior socratically, according to rigorous standards of reason? Must we seek to conform ourselves to God's wishes? Should we fashion values for ourselves through our own artistic activity? Or could we follow some other strategy altogether? To take a stand on these questions, to decide how to live well and beautifully, is at the same time to answer why we live at all.
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Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy Day II
The collapse of the Western empire and the transfer of the capital from Rome to Ravenna. Lady Philosophy's role and Boethius's arguments concerning predestination versus free will and the nature of the good.
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Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy Day III
The collapse of the Western empire and the transfer of the capital from Rome to Ravenna. Lady Philosophy's role and Boethius's arguments concerning predestination versus free will and the nature of the good.
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Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy
The collapse of the Western empire and the transfer of the capital from Rome to Ravenna. Lady Philosophy's role and Boethius's arguments concerning predestination versus free will and the nature of the good.
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Course Ideas Overview
The nature of Humanities in general and the role of literary studies in particular. The historical origins of the Humanist movement. Theories concerning the unchanging human heart. Seeing the world from a new emotional and intellectual center.
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Plato, The Apology, Crito Day II
Introduction to early Greek philosophy and education. The sophists. The career of Socrates. The Peloponnesian War. Socrates' trial and defense speech. Socrates' imprisonment. What do you owe to the laws of your country? Socrates' view of death.