Stoics, Skeptics, and Epicureans

A young woman returns to her village after a mysterious absence, and she is unable to speak.   How will she return to "normal" life, and how will she reclaim her voice? All the Truth That's in Me  is a young-adult/cross-over novel by Julie Berry published in 2013.   Although it is set in a fictional time and place reminiscent of Puritan New England, the novel also functions as an adaptation of the Classical myth of Io.   The Hendrix-Murphy Foundation will sponsor a discussion group focused on this novel, and you are invited to participate!   When?   Monday, March 2nd, 4:15-5:15 p.m. Where?   Murphy House Seminar Room How?   Free copies of the book will be provided for participants to read in advance, but spots are limited and must be reserved.   If you'd like to participate, email Dr. Resinski at resinski@hendrix.edu .   Because spots are limited, before responding please double-check that you'll be free to attend the me

Take a look:  HERE .    What does it mean?

For Thursday,  Keep on going in this dialogue.  Up to 84c.  Please take good notes about the arguments!  I will ask you to write about it in class.

For Tuesday, January 28: Still in the same text (link in previous entry here on the blog)...still using the numbers that run _alongside_ the text...read right up to "78." The questions you were all raising today are excellent ones, and although it is my job to play devil's advocate, I think that we mostly had exactly the thoughts that Plato wants us to have at this point.  A general _skepticism_.   Keep that word in mind. This stretch has some complexity to it, but it has an order.  We're arguing about the soul and the afterlife, right?  You'll see an argument about "opposites."  And an argument about "recollection."  And some stuff about charm-singing...  Your job is to read this slowly, re-read where necessary, and take careful notes.  Ideally, you'd be able to give a brief explanation of each part of the text. Please don't wait until Monday night to begin this--it will never work.  We will be doing in-class writing on Tuesday

First go read the syllabus.   Now.   We're going to start with a dialogue by Plato, a philosopher who lived in the mid 400s to mid 300s BCE in Athens. You need to know a few things. The dialogue is called Phaedo, after a character it contains.  It contains a lot of other folks, too, including Socrates. These were all real people, But Plato is using them as characters in his philosophical story. There are some key anchors in real life:  Socrates was a philosopher, a teacher of Plato, and he was put to death by Athens.  This dialogue portrays his final moments.  But it is in no way meant to be a transcript--it is a highly crafted philosophical work. Also, this is important:  Phaedo was a catamite--a slave employed in prostitution.  He was later freed and became a philosopher in his own right. Skip the italicized intro. And we'll refer to the old scholarly page numbers, which run alongside the text in numbers and letters. So for Thursday, read from &qu