Socratic Irony and Plato's Narrators: The Soul, Love and Ideas in Seven Dialogues

Semester and Year	FA 2010
Course Number	IDSEM-UG1620
Section	001
Instructor	Susanne Wofford, Harry Berger, Jr.
Days	Mon
Time	11:00 AM - 1:45 PM
Units	2.0
Level	U
Foundation Requirement	HUM

Notes/Restrictions

Course meets for the first seven weeks only, September 13–October 25. Same as V29.0866. Open to Gallatin students. Permission of the instructor (susanne.wofford@nyu.edu) required for all others.

Description

A close reading of seven central Socratic dialogues that discuss (among other things) the nature of love and of the soul, the formation of the universe, the cosmology that can be deduced from it, the relation of love and ideas, the tragic story of Socrates’ trial, his defense, and his decision to accept the judgment of the court, namely to drink the hemlock. The class will look particularly at the use of irony to complicate key ideas, at the different, perhaps unreliable narrators included in each one, and at the ways in which literary form and philosophy intersect in these cases to complicate ideas about the ideal structure of the universe or of society. Readings: (1) Timaeus, Critias , (2) Symposium, Phaedrus , (3) Apology, Crito, Phaedo .

Course Type

Interdisciplinary Seminars (IDSEM-UG)