You can get in touch with me:

at my office:
Dept of Philosophy
1406 University Hall
Office hours:
M 11-11:50, F 12-12:50, and by appointment

by phone:
312-413-1041

by e-mail: mmlee@uic.edu

Announcements

Mondays we will meet in LC A6 as scheduled.

Wednesdays and Fridays we will meet in UH 1430 (seminar room).

Reading for Wednesday 11/3/2004:
Gorgias 467c-468e, 481b-486d
Meno 77-8
Euthydemus 277d-282d
Republic II. 357a-368c
Bernard Williams, Chapter 1 of Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy (photocopy)
Optional: Chapters 2-3 of Ethics and the Limits (photocopy)

Course description

Phil 420. Advanced Topics in Plato: Plato's Ethics, Metaphysics, and Epistemology
MWF 1:00-1:50
This course will introduce students to some advanced topics in Plato's ethics, metaphysics, and epistemology.
(A) Plato's ethics. We will begin with a look at the sources for the historical Socrates, and then will sketch the development of ideas concerning Plato's conception of the good and of the good life starting from the early dialogues, through the Republic, and on to the Laws. One of the themes we will pursue is Plato's idea that only philosophers can attain virtue, and therefore happiness. What were his reasons for this, and what kind of a good life did he think is attainable by non-philosophers?
(B) Plato's metaphysics. We will begin with the central passages in the Phaedo, the Republic, and the Symposium laying out the 'classic' theory of Forms, and then will investigate Plato's later thoughts about what the Forms are like in the Parmenides, the Philebus, and the Timaeus. The two main questions we will pursue are (i) what are the Forms?, and (ii) did Plato's ideas about matter and material body change and develop?
(C) Plato's epistemology. We will investigate the 'subject-related' conception of knowledge in the Meno, the 'object-related' conception of knowledge in the Republic, and three definitions of knowledge in the Theaetetus.
• Prerequisite: Phil 220 'Plato and his predecessors' (strongly recommended by the instructor) or 221 or 3 courses in philosophy or consent of the instructor. (Please note: if you are new to philosophy, or if you have only had one course, this course is not for you.)
• Required texts:

(1) Plato: Complete Works, ed. J. M. Cooper. Hackett Publishing Co. 1997. (hardback ISBN 0-87220-349-2)
(2) Gail Fine (ed.). Plato 1: Metaphysics and Epistemology. (Oxford Readings in Philosophy.) Oxford University Press 1999. (ISBN 0-19-875206-7 paperback)
(3) Gail Fine (ed.). Plato 2: Ethics, Politics, Religion, and the Soul. (Oxford Readings in Philosophy.) Oxford University Press 1999. (ISBN 0-19-875204-0 paperback)

Last modified 11/3/2004