Syllabus
Week 1: General Introduction Week 2: Apology I Week 3: Apology II Week 4: Crito Week 5: Phaedo I Week 6: Phaedo II Week 7: Phaedo III Week 8: Ion Week 9: Greater Hippias Week 10: Meno I Week 11: Meno II Week 12: Meno III Week 13: Final term examination
The course will be taught by dr. Loh, visiting professor from Thaiwan. Schedule will be clarified during the first two weeks of October.
Annotation
Plato is one of the most influential philosophers in the world. He not only founded a path for academic research for humanity and posterity, but also paved the road for the development of the theological philosophy of early
Christianity. The study of philosophy begins with the investigation of Plato. The relevance of his philosophy is even more important to the current world of artificial intelligence. Therefore, this course will assist in the understanding of Plato’s philosophical views by means of reading his dialogues, to lay the foundation of comprehension of
Plato's philosophical judgement.
To understand a philosopher’s thought, we have to first start with his background. We begin, therefore, with his early dialogues, like the Apology, and gradually enter his aesthetic thoughts and finally ethical theory. The further selected dialogues for this course include the Crito, Phaedo, Ion, Greater Hippias and Meno.
By the end of the course, students are expected to have a working knowledge of several Platonic dialogues, including key concepts and arguments therein, and more broadly to be able to be aware of Plato's personal development and influence.