Ancient and medieval philosophers

This course of lectures is an introduction to some of the key elements in the thought of some of the greatest of ancient (Greek) and medieval philosophers.  

The first and second lectures consider some of the earliest of ancient Greek philosophers, viz. the Pre-Socratics. Their work marks the beginning of philosophy. They are concerned in particular with providing a single and rational account of the natural order.  

The third lecture considers Socrates. It considers Socrates on ethics. 

The fourth to eighth lectures consider Plato and Aristotle. 

They consider 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.)  

They also consider 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. 

The ninth lecture considers the medieval philosopher Anselm. It considers in particular Anselm’s ontological argument in the second chapter of his Proslogion. 

The tenth and final lecture considers another medieval philosopher, Aquinas. It considers Aquinas on, among other things, form, matter and change and on God.