“The story so far: In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.” (Adams, The Restaurant at The End of the Universe) Whether the core was excavated from the bowels of the Earth 15 years ago or 500, the fact
TagThe Republic
Out of the cave – right into the world of philosophy
My first semester at Bard College Berlin just ended and I would like to write about the past few months and draw on my first insight into a liberal arts education. At first, many people advised me not to study at a liberal arts university. In Germany you usually choose a field of study that
Richard Kraut asks: What is Good and Why?
On the 22nd of February ECLA hosted a lecture by Professor Richard Kraut on his book What is Good and Why: The Ethics of Well-Being (Harvard UP 2007). Richard Kraut is a Professor at Northwestern University. His interests include contemporary moral and political philosophy, as well as the ethics and political thought of Socrates, Plato and
Claudia Baracchi on Book X of the Republic
On December 5, ECLA was happy to welcome Claudia Baracchi, professor at the University of Milano–Bicocca and Visiting Professor at the New School for Social Research. Claudia’s main areas of expertise include Ancient philosophy, nineteenth- and twentieth-century Continental philosophy, philosophy of history, feminist thought, philosophy of art, political philosophy, and ethics. Claudia was invited to
An Evening with Euclid
On November 16th, students and faculty, led by Michael Weinman, came together for a seminar on Euclid’s Elements which was a supplementary seminar to the Academy Year core course on Plato’s Republic. The discussion aimed to relate Euclid’s propositions to the concept of the divided line found in Book VI of the Republic and Socrates’ suggested educational
Eros and Tyranny
We all seem to be hardwired to want answers. We started looking for a potential few nine weeks ago in our discourse and contemplation of Plato’s Republic. Each new seminar and guest lecture brought with it the hope of finally reaching a resolution, a culmination of loose ends and meandering dialectic. The expectations from the
Simon Trepanier on Plato and The Allusiveness of The Good
On Thursday November 11, Simon Trepanier honored the ECLA audience with an enlightening lecture on Plato’s Republic. Trepanier is a member of the teaching faculty at the University of Edinburgh and has a BA and PhD in Classical Greek thought from the universities of Ontario and Toronto respectively. The first question that guest lecturer Simon Trepanier
Guest Lecture: Dr. Ryszard Legutko on The Iliad and The Republic
On October 13, 2010, ECLA welcomed Dr. Ryszard Legutko as guest speaker for the core course on Plato’s Republic and its interlocutors. A professor from the Faculty of Philosophy and History of Jagiellonian University and translator of many of Plato’s works, Dr. Legutko delivered a lecture on Book Two of Plato’s Republic in relation to