PHI 1301 Lecture 1

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Begin Exam 1 content

Laptops are not allowed

Course Overview

Philosophy and Ethical Life. We will naturally study:

Professor draws large venn diagram on board with 3 nested sections: "First third of the class"

Diagram represents Graphical outline of Republic by Plato.

outer ring: "Yesterday, Glaucon and I went down to Pireaus ... and on the way up ..."
- Pireaus is a port town near Athens
- "On the way up" is back to Athens
- Narrator ("I") is Socrates; entire work is recollection of a conversation with these people
Middle ring: Dialectics among "the gang"
- Socrates and Glaucon are (ominously) "accosted" by companions Polemarchus, Cephalus, Thrasymachus, Adiemantus
  - Cephalus is Polemarchus' father.
  - Thrasymachus and Adiemantus are blood brothers of Plato.
- Dialectics (Q&A's)
  - Socrates & Cephalus
  - Socrates & Polemarchus
  - Socrates & Thrasymachus
  - (later) Socrates, Glaucon, & Adiemantus
- Gives rise to story/parable of Shepherd's Ring
  - Shepherd finds magical/powerful ring.
  - Leads to a challenge to what Socrates is saying
  - Socrates always has a response.
inner ring: Socrates' Response, a thought experiment
- Founding of a fictitious city (two phases)
- second phase of city is establishment of guardians
- guardians require an education
  - music and gymnastics (virtues of City and Soul)
  - (yada yada ...) additional courses in arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, harmonics, dialectics/philosophy
- 3 absurdities, third of which is Philosopher Rulers
- ...

Professor reads aloud from Republic (tr. Grube)

Book I: 327a–329e

In 329, Cephalus argues that old age is liberation from the "slavery" of youthful appetites.