180014 VO-L History of Philosophy I (Antiquity) (2024S)

The aim of these lectures is to review the history of Ancient Philosophy from its beginning with the so-called Presocratics to the end of classical times, that is, down to Aristotle, but we will do so by focusing on two main topics, ancient cosmology and on ancient ethics. Ancient Philosophy indeed begins with theories about the nature of the world (kosmos) and they are the main concern of the first philosophers, the Presocratics. These theories address questions such as how the world has come about, which are the principles accounting for the world and for the change that takes place in it, and what the world consists of. These questions were for the first time systematically treated by Plato in his dialogue Timaios. In this dialogue we are presented with the view that the world has been created by God, a divine craftsman, portrayed as the creator of the universe. Aristotle criticises that view and he argues instead that nature alone is responsible for the structure, change and maintainance of the world and everything in it. Ancient cosmological theories imply ontological views, that is views about different kinds and ways of being such as substance and property. For this reason we will also deal with ancient ontology to the extent that this is necessary for understanding ancient cosmology. In the last three sessions we will discuss the ethical theories of Plato and Aristotle. Central here are the questions of how we attain happiness (eudaimonia), how virtue (arete) contributes to it, and how we can achieve virtue.