- From www.coursera.org
Ancient Philosophy: Aristotle and His Successors
- Self-paced
- Free Access
- Fee-based Certificate
- 5 Sequences
- Introductive Level
Course details
Syllabus
- Week 1 - Aristotle’s Categories
Aristotle’s anti-Platonic metaphysics: the ultimate realities are ordinary objects of our experience, like people and animals. Each of these is a substances, the most fundamental type of being. - Week 2 - Aristotle's Natural Philosophy
Natural substances have matter and form, and natural processes are goal-directed. Every living thing, plants and animals included, has a soul that moves it. - Week 3 - Aristotle's Ethics
The motion of the universe is eternal and its cause is an eternal unmoved mover, Aristotle’s god. Our goal in life is to achieve happiness, which comes in two varieties: the human happiness we achieve by exercising the virtues of character, and the godlike h... - Week 4 - Epicureanism
Epicureans return to the atomism of Democritus, and find no purpose in nature. Philosophy is a therapeutic practice that removes fear and anxiety and provides us with the tranquility (ataraxia) of the gods. - Week 5 - Stoicism
A providential god is at work in every detail of the cosmos, where everything happens by fate. Our goal in life is to accommodate ourselves to this divine nature by giving up our concern for (but not our pursuit of) worldly objectives.
Prerequisite
Instructors
Susan Sauvé Meyer
Professor
Department of Philosophy
Editor
The University of Pennsylvania (commonly known as Penn), founded in 1740, is a private university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. A member of the Ivy League, Penn is the fourth oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and considers itself the first university in the United States to offer both undergraduate and graduate degrees.
Platform
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