Grad Seminar in Philosophy - Fall 2007

Hellenistic Philosophy and the Problem of the Self

Course Description

The Hellenistic period offers us centuries of practice and development of distinctive approaches to philosophy, particularly in the relationship of philosophy to everyday life. In the post-Socratic period and again after Alexander, we continue to encounter cosmologies and metaphysics – the diversity of thought in the Mediterranean at this time is astounding, but the emphasis clearly falls, for Hellenistic thinkers, on practical philosophies of the best way to live. This way of doing philosophy makes the period particularly attractive for study because many of the central topics discussed by philosophers in this period are matters of real personal concern for most people today. At the same time, recent research in economics and psychology is proving once again the contemporary relevance of these Mediterranean and Middle Eastern thinkers.

The main goals of the seminar are: 1) to acquire an in-depth understanding of the Hellenistic period of philosophy, including an understanding of the relationship of other global cultures to this period; 2) to critically explore the practical philosophies of living in major Stoic, Epicurean, and other thinkers of this time; 3) to focus attention on theories of the self and sexuality in Greek, Roman, and Early Christian Philosophy.