Plato: Gorgias and Phaedrus

The Gorgias and the Phaedrus are two of Plato’s greatest dialogues. They are most commonly grouped together because at the core of each of them is a philosophical discussion of rhetoric, and the two discussions overlap and diverge in interesting ways. They are also both interested in desire (and love in particular), motivation, moral development, ethics and mythmaking. At once philosophically challenging and hauntingly beautiful, these dialogues offer rich portraits of Socrates and his acquaintances, and of the people, culture and politics of classical Athens. I will provide written questions to serve as starting points for our class discussions, but there is no fixed agenda or methodology for the course apart from the aim to discover whatever we can about these dialogues through close reading and probing conversation.

Course Outline

Course Syllabus

Notes

Online registration closes June 4 at 5 pm CT.

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