Philosophy. Study the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence.

Aristotle was the polymath of the Ancient world he wrote on: ethics, politics, mathematics, logic, natural philosophy, anatomy, biology, cosmology, poetry, drama, rhetoric. The enduring nature of his profound thought and fundamental insights into ethics, politic and the arts makes his philosophy as relevant now as it has been throughout Western history.

This course will provide an in-depth study of all of his major works and apply many of his ideas to contemporary life. We will compare and contrast Aristotle’s Ancient wisdom to two other Ancient philosophies: the social humanism of Confucius and the dualistic ontology of Persian Manichaeism. Like Aristotle, Confucius also takes the harmony of social order as the foundation of a good society. Manichaeism, like Aristotle’s metaphysics is based on a rational order of the cosmos; we will compare and contrast these systems.

Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, participants should be able to:

• discuss the main events of Aristotle’s life and times
• discuss the important concepts in his philosophy
• relate his theory to person ethical decisions
• relate his theory to contemporary politics
• discuss Aristotle’s theory of drama and relate it to contemporary plays and film.

Content

Introduction, life and times

We will cover his early life in Macedonia; his move to Athens; the founding of the Lyceum; his relationship with Alexander the