PHIL7303 · Philosophy
Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences
From the beginnings of their literature, Greek writers showed a steady concern and even preoccupation with what human beings may know and what may lie concealed from our knowing. The concern is readily apparent in the so-called pre-Socratic philosophers, but it figures prominently in the works of epic and tragic poets and surfaces even in medical and historical writers. The course will be devoted to a careful examination of texts relevant to the Greek problem of human knowledge. Seminar members will concentrate on the problem as it appears in the pre-Socratic philosophers, with supporting readings from Homer, Hesiod, and the tragic playwrights. We shall conclude by considering how the problem of human knowledge informs Plato's Apology of Socrates, discovering neglected dimensions of that familiar work. Satisfies the following distribution requirement(s) for Philosophy: Ancient.
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