EDUCAZIONE E FILOSOFIA NEL MONDO GRECO

After attending the class on Education and Philosophy in the Ancient World, the student will understand how philosophy was born, will know the fundamental aspects of ancient philosophical thought, with particular attention to the theme of education (paideia), will grasp the elements of continuity and rupture between contemporary and ancient thought, and will assimilate the differences between the different types of educational relationships and between the different intellectual and ethical models that can be found in Greek history. This will accustom the student to confronting an “other” that is distant in time, which will in turn be useful for understanding the people who come from a different culture. From a more specifically methodological point of view, the student will be equipped with the hermeneutical tools necessary to recognize the origin and initial development of the main philosophical questions, to understand the ancient philosophical texts and grasp the main theories exposed in them, to understand which are the roots of “Western” civilization, and to apply the methods of philosophy to education. In general, the student will have a clear picture of the theoretical and methodological tools used in the study of philosophy and ancient educational processes.

The student will also be able to personally evaluate the different current theories on ancient thought, and to apply the lessons of ancient philosophers to modern educational problems with a critical spirit. The student will master the ancient philosophical vocabulary, but, above all, he will be aware of the importance of using a precise technical vocabulary. Finally, the student will cultivate their learning skills, including the (particularly important but not always practiced) skill of understanding a written text that does not have the form of a treatise, and will be used to consulting experts in the crucial moments of their learning-by-oneself path.

Class attendance is strongly recommended, because the exposition of ancient philosophical and educational theories and the explanation of classical texts by the professor greatly facilitates the acquisition of the contents by the students.

Should teaching be carried out in mixed mode or remotely, it may be necessary to introduce changes with respect to previous statements, in line with the programme planned and outlined in the syllabus.

The role of love in Plato’s thought. The different vies on love in classical Greece. The pederastic relationship between teacher and pupil. The Platonic theory of Ideas. Eros. Love in Crete. Medea. The family in the Homeric poems and in the tragedies. Oedipus. Lesbian love. Philosophical theories on love. The role of women in ancient Greece. Lacan’s reading of Plato’s Symposium.

1. Platone, Simposio (ET Classici), translation by Matteo Nucci, introduction by Bruno Centrone, Torino (Einaudi) 2014, 191 pages (= 77 pages of preface + 114 pages of translation).

2. Eva Cantarella, L’amore è un dio. Il sesso e la polis, Milano (Feltrinelli) 2007, 175 pages.

3. Bruno Moroncini, Sull’amore. Jacques Lacan e il Simposio di Platone, Napoli (Cronopio) 2005, 168 pages.