Plato and Aristotle: The Genesis of Western Thought

This course is an introduction to the philosophical thought of the two most important philosophical figures of ancient Greece. By working through parts of their central texts and thoughts, we will gain an understanding of Plato and Aristotle's relevance in the past and today as well. After each section of this guide, you will find some questions and suggestions for further thought. There is no right or wrong answer to most of these questions; they're designed merely to offer suggestions for how you might think further about the reading and about what was discussed in the lecture. In each case, you will, of course, find the questions more or less accessible depending on whether or not you were able to read the dialogue as well as listen to the lecture. You may find it interesting not to stop with these particular questions, but to use them as models to think further on your own or with others about the issues and questions raised by these lectures.