ANNOUNCEMENT: New Plato's Republic course
A new Eleven week course on Plato's Republic coming to the Wisdom Dojo & Youtube
Happy New Year, wisdom warriors!
I have some very exciting news for you: next Thursday will be the start of a new philosophy course on Plato’s Republic!
This will be the first course on the wisdom dojo, and I plan on doing more lectures on other platonic dialogues and classical philosophical texts like Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics or Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations.
Why The Republic?
Over the eleven lectures, I will take you through each book of the Republic, rightly considered the first and most enduring masterpiece of Western philosophy. It is arguably one of the greatest works of Western literature and holds the title of being the first work of political science and cognitive psychology.
The reason for focusing on the Republic isn’t solo because of this legendary status of the dialogue but because of its subject matter - the nature of justice. Or, as some translators consider the word best translated into English for our understanding, morality.
The Republic is Plato’s quest against moral and epistemological relativism, to ground justice or morality in something other than Homeric mythology, to fight back against the encroaching nihilism of the Ionian scientific revolution and the increasing political and social power of savvy and ruthless teachers of rhetoric and manipulation, the sophists. In other words, it is Plato’s fight against the meaning crisis of his time. One that is not unlike our own.
The Republic is the unity of Plato’s mature thought and brings together his account of reality, morality and human development into a near-perfect synthesis that is still pressingly relevant nearly 2500 years later.
I will draw on a small number of secondary sources for the course particularly DC Schindler’s book “Plato’s Critique of Impure Reason”, John Vervaeke’s work on Awakening From The Meaning Crisis, and some of Michael Sugrues brilliant Youtube lectures on Plato.
The level throughout the course will be (hopefully) accessible for complete beginners to more hardened philosophers. If you have never read The Republic before, this will be an opportunity to engage with this text. If you have read The Republic before, this will be an opportunity to go back and glean some philosophical gold you may have missed! (don’t feel bad; there is pretty much an inexhaustible amount).
You can download a PDF copy of the text here below
First Lecture
The first lecture next Thursday will cover an introduction to Plato and the context in which he wrote the Republic. Some of the topics we will touch on:
Overview of Plato's Life and Work
Background on Plato's life, influence of Socrates, and the Academy.
Introduction to Plato's dialogues and their philosophical style
Introducing the sophists and the natural philosophers - sophists are power without truth, and natural philosophers are truth without meaning or relevance, like natural sciences.
Context and Structure of the Republic
Historical and political context in Athens, post-peloponnesian war
Outline of the Republic's structure and major themes.
Overview of the central question: "What is justice?"
The course will be free, but if you want to support the dojo and further free philosophical education, you can share the posts, subscribe on YouTube, or support with a donor 👇
Looking forward to taking this exciting journey with you all through Plato’s Republic!
Best Regards,
Mahon.