Sp59E The Last Days of Socrates (Zoom; OLLI @ U of A)
Zoom | Available (Membership Required)
Socrates spent his life “examining” men in public places: the agora (marketplace) and Lyceum (a gymnasium). He became a celebrity and was, at the age of 47, rudely caricatured by the comic poet, Aristophanes, in Clouds. In his 60s, Socrates met a handsome young nobleman, Plato, then in his late teens, and convinced him to give up poetry in favor of philosophy. In 399 BC, Socrates was convicted of impiety and corrupting the youth and sentenced to death. After the death of Socrates, Plato wrote some 26 dialogues, four of which touch on the last days of Socrates. - Week 1. Introduction. The life of Socrates. Plato’s dialogues.
- Week 2. Euthyphro. In this short dialogue Socratic method is on display: the “elenchus” (examination, refutation).
- Week 3. Apology. The oracle at Delphi said that no one was wiser than Socrates. Socrates tells how he tried to prove the oracle wrong.
- Week 4. Crito. Socrates speaks of his philosophy: that one is obligated to obey the laws, even unjust laws; and that one should not return wrong for wrong. We will read the final poignant pages of Phaedo in which Socrates drinks the hemlock.
- Week 5. Socrates and the later Stoics. Socrates as one of Kierkegaard’s “knights of faith”. Socrates as martyr to free speech. Socrates as gay icon. Socrates and Jesus.
Robert Yanal, B.A., M.A., Ph.D., taught Philosophy, mainly Philosophy of Art, at Wayne State University, in Detroit, Michigan, for 37 years. He published 18 articles and 4 books, including “Hitchcock as Philosopher”. He is retired, living in Tucson.
*This registration item is ZOOM-only; there is not an in-person component to this course. It is offered and run by The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Arizona.*