Plato, Socrates, and the Birth of Western Philosophy (edX)

By examining the work of these historic figures, students will attain a strong grasp of Western philosophy’s basic spirit. In doing so, they’ll cultivate deeper thinking abilities, explore noble values, and learn to contemplate the world around them in new ways.

What you'll learn:

• A basic understanding of ancient Greek and Roman philosophers’ rich thoughts and ideas
• Concepts, ethical foundations and allegories that were developed in support of these ideas
• Cultural and geographic influences that shaped ancient philosophies

Syllabus

Week 1: Introduction (Part I): Philosophy, Religion and Culture

1. Philosophy

Etymology
Definition
The history of philosophy

1. Religion

Definition
Factors
The relationship with philosophy

1. Culture

Definition
Axial Period
The spirit of philosophy

Week 2: Introduction (Part II): A Sketch of Ancient Greek Philosophy

1. The setting of the birth of Greek Philosophy

Geography and history
Races and language
Religions and society

1. Periods and schools

The early period
The classical period
The late period

1. The termination of Ancient Greek Philosophy

Fading
Sublating
Realistic significance

Week 3: Seeking “shi”（是）- The Sprout of Rationality

1. A transition to rational thinking

A primitive thinking
A child-state thinking
A poetic metaphysics

1. Heraclitus’ thinking

A dipolar thinking
The features of Heraclitus’ thinking
An analysis to the fragments of Heraclitus’ texts

1. Parmenides’ thinking

A long poem written by Parmenides（on being or “be”）
Rational argument
Evaluation criteria for the birth of philosophy

Week 4: Seeking “ben”（本）- Ontology & Metaphysics, Synopsis of Lecture IV

1. Seeking the origin: the early philosophers

A lexical meaning
An essential question
What is the essence

1. Seeking the essence: Plato’s theory of Form

The allegory of sun
The divided line
The allegory of the cave

1. Seeking to on: Aristotle’s ontology and metaphysics

A lexical meaning
Metaphysics
The First Philosophy

Week 5: Seeking “zhi”（知）- The Ancient Epistemology

1. The lexical meaning

The connotation of Chinese character
A corresponding Greek word
Equivalent to wisdom

1. Epistemology

Plato
Cicero
Augustine

1. The features

The objectification of knowledge
Priori
Knowability

Week 6: Seeking “zhen”（真）- Methodology & Logic

1. A lexical meaning

True and truth
Two types of reality
Truth and Logos

1. Plato’s Dialectics（authentic true）

The implication of epistemology
The implication of methodology
The implication of ontology

1. Aristotle’s Logics（judging true）

Establishment
The name of logics
The Chinese translation

Week 7: Seeking “shi”（实）- Natural Sciences

1. A lexical meaning

Science
Nature and knowledge
Natural sciences

1. The occurrence and development of the ancient Greek Science

The reason for occurrence
Nature-ology
Practice and theory
3．The technicalization and application of ancient Greek Science
The Hellenization Period
The Roman Empire Period
Some reflections

Week 8: Seeking “mei”（美）- Odes to the Love

1. A Lexical meaning

Beauty
Love
Aesthetics

1. Plato’s theory of Love

The essence and principle of love
A psychological view on love
Platonic Love

1. The high praise to the love god: A reading on Symposium

A brief introduction
Six viewpoints
Conclusion, philosophy of love

Week 9: Seeking “shan”（善）- An Ethical Thought

1. A lexical analysis

Goodness
The ultimate goodness
Ethics

1. The development of the Classic Greek Ethics

The early period
The middle period
The late period

1. From the ultimate goodness to the common goodness

To reach the ultimate goodness
To converge to the common goodness
Some reflection on the goodness

Week 10: Seeking “ren”（仁）- A Humanism

1. A lexical meaning

A man with benevolence is a true man
Humanistic
Humanistic spirit

1. Ancient humanistic trend of thoughts

Traditional viewpoints
Social setting
The sophistic movement

1. A theoretical summary

Week 11: Seeking “yi”（义）- On Justice

1. A lexical analysis

Justice and righteousness
Chinese words
Justice in Greek

1. The story of Gyges

A synopsis of the story
An explanation
A conclusion

1. The Ancient theory of justice

Plato’s essential justice
Cicero’s natural justice
Augustine’s justice in theodicy

Week 12: Seeking “li”（礼）- States and Legislation

1. An explanation to the related words.

Physis
Normos
Politeia

1. A Platonic Republic

The influence from Socrates
Rule the state by virtues
Rule the state by law

1. Cicero’s people’s Republic

Being relevant to Plato’s thoughts
Definition of state
Natural law

Week 13: Seeking “fu”（福）——A Spirit of Religions

1. A lexical analysis

Blessings
Fortunate
The true fortunate

1. The religious trends in the late period of ancient Greek philosophy

The fading of the traditional religions
The birth and development of Christianity
The rationalization of Christianity

1. The collision between faith and reason (Tertullian)

Week 14: Seeking “sheng”（圣） - Communion with gods

1. An explanation to the related words.

Sacredness
Mystery
Mysticism

1. Communion with gods.

Communion with gods by rituals
Communion with gods by ration
Communion with gods by ecstasy

1. Plotinus’ mystical system of thoughts

Week 15: A General Summary - A Basic Spirit of the Ancient Greek Philosophy, Synopsis of Lecture XV.

1. The local characteristics of the ancient Greek Philosophy.
2. The progressive universalization of the ancient Greek Philosophy.
3. The basic spirits of the ancient Greek Philosophy.