Timeline: Ancient Greek Civilization
________________________________________________________________________
800BC
490-445
460-430
404 403
399
387BC
Homeric
Persians
Pericles 30 Tyrants
Academy
Age
conquered
Golden Age
Democracy
founded
Pre-Socratic philosophy
and: 460-404:
Restored
Athens vs. Sparta
Socrates killed
Socrates:
470________________________________________
Plato:
428_____________________________348
I.
Ancient Greek history (in a nutshell)
A.
Mediterranean culture
B.
Homeric Age
1.
Heroic Age
2.
Illiad
a. Greeks vs. Trojans
b. Paris: Aphrodite (Helen), Artemis, Athena
3.
Odysseus
4.
Greek mythology
C. Pre-Socratic Philosophy
1. Natural foundation for reality
2. Impersonal, intelligible foundation for reality
3. Beginning of science: find the natural causes of individual objects/events and of
reality as a whole
4. Thales: water
5. Anaximander: air
6. Empedocles: earth, air, fire, water
7. Democritus: atoms
8. Heraclitus: fire; the only law that does not change is the Law of Change
9. Parmenides
10. Anaxagoras: mind
D. Democracy
1. Geography
2. Democracy by lot: all males with property
3. Inequality: slaves, women, children
4. Purpose of legislation is to make people good
5. Six types of government: just = rule for sake of ruled; unjust: rule for sake of ruler
a) Rule of one: monarchy (just) vs. tyranny (unjust)
b) Rule of few: aristocracy (just, rule of the best) vs. oligarchy (unjust, rule of
rich)
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c) Rule of many: democracy (just, people self-controlled and generous; rule for
the good of all) vs. corrupt democracy (unjust, people impulsive and greedy;
rule for good of oneself, sycophants)
6. Best for of government: polity, mix of aristocracy and democracy; those with
talent for ruling are given more opportunity; people must vote for rulers
7. Rulers train citizens to conform/be able to function in, their form of government
8. Important of habit and custom, especially the habit of abiding by the laws; do not
change the laws too often, enforce laws even if not perfectly just
9. Liberal virtues: generosity and temperance, creates best political community
10. Political evil: pleonexia, the desire for more than one's share; this is what creates
animosity between rich and poor and destroys political community
E. Persians: 490-445 BC
1. Government: one demi-god Emperor, everyone else a slave
2. Attacked Greece, Greeks outnumbered 8 to 1
3. Greeks took advantage of their geography: Marathon, Salamis
4. Greeks won, a confirmation of their way of life, Golden Age
F. Golden Age: 460-430 BC
1. Pericles
2. Olympics
3. Art, architecture, sculpture, tragedies
G. Peloponnesian Wars: Athens vs. Sparta: the "open" society vs. the "closed" society
1. End of Golden Age
2. Plague: Pericles died
3. 404-403 BC: 30 Tyrants, Critias, "return to the good old days"
4. 401: democracy restored
5. 399: Socrates tried and killed
II.
Analogies with US history
A.
B.
Revolutionary War: democracy vs. absolute monarchy
American principles: democracy, freedom, equality, rule of the people, by the
people and for the people
WWI: joined European forces: democracy vs. non-democratic
WWII: joined European forces: democracy and freedom vs. fascism
Vietnam: controversy about whether the US was fighting for freedom or for
Empire; "open" society vs. "closed" society; ulterior motives: money, power
Globalization: are we promoting global democracy, freedom and equality, or are
we promoting our own economic interests at the expense of others?
The War on Terrorism: "open" societies vs. "closed" societies; democracy vs.
theocracy; moneyed interests on both sides; in what sense(s) are we the "good"
guys and in what ways can we be perceived as being the "bad" guys? In what
sense(s) is bin Laden a "bad" guy and in what sense(s) could he be perceived as a
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
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"good" guy? What motivates bin Laden's followers to commit suicide for the
cause? What motivates the Palestinian suicide bombers?
III.
Socrates
1.
Gadfly: wanted Athenians to examine and reexamine their assumptions
about who they really were, what they were really fighting for and
whether the particular policies they had and choices they made were
consist with their beliefs in democracy, freedom, and equality
2.
Leaders of Athens: received formal training in how to manipulate the
people to vote for whatever they wanted; developed techniques for
creating the appearance of being virtuous and wise without ever thinking
about what is truly wise, just or virtuous
3.
Sophist: teachers who were paid huge sums to teach politicians and
economic leaders how to be persuasive; how to create the appearance of
being virtuous and wise in order to get whatever they wanted
4.
Socrates challenged leaders and sophists, forced them to account for
themselves, explain their motives and decisions, often humiliated them in
front of the youth and undermined their authority. Their motives were
revealed as anti-democratic and selfish: they wanted to become as
powerful as possible with no regard for the common good or the common
person.
5.
The youth, especially those whose fathers were away from home because
they had high-powered jobs, followed Socrates around and began to
recognize the corrupt motives of the elder generation.
6.
Socrates was accused of corrupting the youth.
7.
The corrupt authorities often used religion and "the god's will" as a way to
cover up their real motives and manipulate the uneducated masses.
8.
Socrates questioned this corrupt use of the religious tradition and was
accused of "not believing in the gods the city believes in."
9.
Plato was one of the youth who followed Socrates around; Plato believed
Socrates was the most just, wise and virtuous man and was killed for being
unjust and corrupt.
IV.
Socrates and Jesus
1.
Jesus also questioned the religious authority figures of his day and was
accused of being unholy.
2.
Jewish leaders had formal training in religious texts, used this training to
develop a complicated set of requirements necessary to follow religious
law; the poor were unable to comply, hence considered less holy.
3.
Religious leaders used their education to create the appearance that they
were exceptionally holy when they were really creating only the
appearance of being holy and just.
4.
Jesus was also sentenced to death; the most holy man was accused of
being unholy.
5.
How do these things happen? Why does history keep repeating itself?
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V.
Plato
1.
Student of Socrates
2.
Had relatives in both political parties. His uncle, Critias, was the head of
the 30 tyrants and at one time asked Plato to join him in his political
campaign. Plato's brothers, Glaucon and Adeimantus, were members of
the liberal party.
3.
Plato observed the rise and fall of Athens: the Golden Age, the decline, the
defeat, the 30 tyrants, the restoration of democracy and the death of
Socrates
4.
Plato dedicated his life to founding a school that would teach history,
philosophy and other subjects that aimed at educating young men to love
true virtue, not to have the power to create an appearance of virtue.
VI.
Plato's dialogues as tragedies
1. The tragic character is not exceptionally good or evil, but a decent person who makes
an error in judgment which has disastrous consequences.
2. In many of the dialogues, such a person is listening to/talking with Socrates, who is
portrayed as the ideal, and a sophist, who is portrayed as worse than most people and
cynical about human life, the tragic character could go either way; he goes the wrong
way and come to a bad end personally, and brings Athens down with him.
3. The goal of tragedy: a catharsis (purgation) of pity and fear, the audience is intended
to identify with the tragic figure, to pity him for his error and the suffering it caused
and to fear for their own ignorance; the audience should try and learn from the
character's mistakes.
4. The titles of Greek tragedies and of Plato's dialogues are ironic: these are not heroes,
they are decent people who made mistakes; we should avoid imitating them.
5. Plato wanted to show how people's beliefs, especially their mistaken beliefs, led to
errors in judgment and personal ruin.
6. Plato wanted to show how people's mistaken beliefs and actions led to the fall of
Athens from democracy to tyranny to a conservative democracy that ended up killing
Socrates, the greatest friend to democracy.
7. Plato wanted to show his readers that they, also, have had those opinions or know
other people who have them; the arguments are still alive. Anyone living in a
democratic society can develop a way of life which undermines the freedom and
equality they enjoy.
VII.
Plato's dialogues as presenting a new model for the best life
1. Plato wanted to replace the Homeric, heroic ideal with a new model for the best
human life: the contemplative life, the examined life.
2. Plato wanted to replace with Homeric gods with the "forms" of Justice, Virtue,
Courage, Temperance, etc. because the religious tradition was being used by corrupt
people to justify corrupt actions.
3. Plato wanted to establish a metaphysical foundation for morality because his tradition
was corrupt and not motivating people to love virtue.
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4. Plato wanted to preserve democracy because he believed in political and intellectual
freedom.
5. Plato wanted to show present an allegory of the struggle between good and evil which
goes on within each person, "thought is an inner dialogue of the soul with itself." The
conversations that take place between people in the dialogues also take place within
each person at some point in life.
6. Plato wanted to present a comprehensive view of all aspects of a completely rational
life, the life of the mind. Socrates is presented as a person who embodies that ideal.
VIII.
Socrates: The Ideal of the Life of the Mind
1.
Plato's early dialogues: individual character traits
a)
Laches: courage
b)
Charmides: temperance
c)
Lysis: friendship
d)
Euthyphro: piety
e)
Ion: beauty
2.
Plato's middle dialogues: how to relate to people to create a just society
a)
Gorgias: rhetoric: manipulation vs. education
b)
Meno: teaching; Is virtue teachable?
c)
Protagoras: virtue: Is virtue teachable?
d)
Republic: What is justice?
e)
Phaedrus: What is education? The relation between thought and emotion
in the process of education.
f)
Symposium: What is love?
3.
Plato's later dialogues: the relationship between humanity and reality
a)
Euthydemus: the relations between logic and reality
b)
Cratylus: the relations between language and reality
c)
Theatetus: What is knowledge?
d)
Parmenides: What is a form?
e)
Sophist: What is reality? What is being?
f)
Philebus: What is the good life? Pleasures of the body vs. of thought.
g)
Timeus: A creation story.
h)
Phaedo: Is the soul immortal?
4.
Plato on the nature of reality and what follows for how to live
a)
Reality is as ordered as possible; the drive toward order is a principle of
being; without order nothing could be or be conceived
b)
There must exist a divine mind which is this ordering force at work
c)
It is possible for reality to be understood, because it is ordered.
d)
The human species is the species whose nature is to understand reality.
e)
Socrates represents the ideal person, the one who uses his full potential to
be rational, to know.
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f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
Socrates treats other people above all as potentially rational, even thought
they don't always act that way.
Socrates disagrees with anyone who claims human beings are by nature
irrational. Such a view simply justified a failure to pursue virtue, justice
and truth.
If human beings by nature desire to know, they must develop those
personal virtues which maintain an inner order in their souls.
If human beings by nature desire to know, they must care about the well
ordering of societies, about creating just societies.
The only way to activate other minds is to ask questions, to set an example
and to engage in dialogue. No one can be forced to care about virtue,
justice or truth; but arguments against the pursuit of the life of the mind
always fall apart logically. Anyone who wants to be selfish also wants
other people not to be; selfishness is inconsistent, it is based on
contradictory principles.
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