Loyola University Chicago

Department of Philosophy

PHIL 395: Seminar in Ancient Philosophy

PHIL 395: Seminar in Ancient Philosophy

The Generic Catalog Description

This course will study selected issues from ancient philosophy.  Course intended for philosophy majors.  Students should have completed five philosophy courses, including Phil. 304. 


PHIL 395: Ancient Theories of Friendship

Spring 2014

Dr. Ward

Course description

This is an undergraduate seminar with a special topic on ancient theories of friendship, with a focus on Plato and Aristotle. We will also spend one portion of the seminar looking at some earlier Greek literature on friendship, including two plays, Sophocles’ Philoctetes, and Euripedes’ Herakles. In the central part of the course, we read Plato’s Philebus, a dialogue about friendship, and Aristotle’s treatment of friendship in his ethical work, Nicomachean Ethics, Book VIII and IX.  Secondary articles on the topic are also included in the readings. The course is primarily discussion-based as a seminar, and aimed at advanced undergraduate students in Philosophy and Classical Studies.