Plato and Aristotle

To begin with, it considers (briefly) Ancient Greek thought prior to them. This period includes the pre-Socratics and Socrates. (The principal concern of the pre-Socratics is the natural order. The principal concern of Socrates is ethics.)

Then it considers Plato on the soul and its immortality in the Phaedo and on the perfectly just city-state in the Republic. (The latter includes above all a consideration of Plato on the Philosopher King and the Forms and the Form of the Good.)

Finally, it considers Aristotle on among other things language and logic in the Organon and on change and cause in the Physics and on “happiness” in the Nichomachean Ethics.

Learning outcomes

1. An understanding of some of the key elements in the thought of Plato and Aristotle;
2. To begin to understand their thought in a wider philosophical context.