Topics

• What is justice? Social justice; God;
• The legitimacy of moral responsibility;
• The role of evil; Sophrosyne in Philosophia

Remembering Plato

Exploring the Big Questions in today’s World:

Cross Currents: What is Justice? Are we free or determined? What would justice look like in a predestined world?

At the beginning of this course, we noted that twentieth-century philosopher Alfred North Whitehead described all Western philosophy as a footnote to Plato. In fact, there is hardly an area of Philosophy about which Plato has not explored. Though a philosopher who died in the fourth century B.C.E., his Academy became a syncretic center of learning bringing together eclectic themes from the ancient past, and remaining a bastion of learning until 529 C.E.

In this module, we will review the major ideas that we’ve studied in Plato thus far, and added a few more, in an attempt to trace themes that comprise the Platonic worldview, as it developed and transformed from its inception in Classical Antiquity to the time of Boethius in the Early Christian Era. ⁽¹⁾

Learning Outcomes

1. Demonstrate proficiency in critical thinking
2. Demonstrate understanding of Global Social Responsibility
3. Recognize the relationships between cultural expressions and their contexts
4. Recognize concepts in metaphysics, axiology, and epistemology and the context of their development
5. Understand the principles of freedom, determinism and moral responsibility in human interaction
6. Identify the various attempts to formulate and define social justice

Module Objectives

Upon completion of this module the student will be able to:

• Explain “the philosophical digression” in Plato’s Seventh Letter.
• Explain positions related to free will and determinism
• Provide an outline of Plato’s Republic and its significance to the history of ideas.
• Discuss the Myth of Er and the themes of free will and determinism. ⁽¹⁾

Readings and Resources

• Plato, Republic (Section 614a–621d from book 10) from Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University

Supplemental Materials

(Note: These materials are considered supplemental and thus are not used for assessment purposes)

• Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy website
• Boethius , The Consolation of Philosophy by H. F. Stewart and E. K. Rand

Assignments & Learning Activities

• Review Introduction
• Review Readings and Resources
• Review Learning Unit
• Participate in Module 6 Discussion
• Work on Assignment: Socratic Essay