Philosophy Class

Philosophers consider a broad array of fundamental questions about the world in many areas of study. In this short class, we’ll explore an ancient and a modern consideration of a basic question in two such areas: ethics, with the help of Plato and of a famous and controversial article on the moral question of abortion, and natural philosophy, via ancient and modern atomism. Finally, we’ll look at the connection between these two seemingly unrelated areas of philosophy, considering how our ability to defend sound moral principles is rooted in our understanding of created nature.

Texts:

Plato, “Euthyphro”
Plato, “Crito”
Judith Jarvis Thomson, “A Defense of Abortion”
Democritus, “Fragments”
Sir Arthur Eddington, “The Two Tables”