The great ideas of philosophy. Part 5 of 5

Philosophy is best understood as a "great conversation" held across hundreds of years. All philosophers have the same eternal questions: What is the nature of the world and what can we know about it? What is the best kind of life? How should we govern ourselves and each other? There are no final answers, but some answers are far better than others. These lectures link the concerns of geniuses across centuries with the same fundamental questions, making their debates our own. Read more... Abstract: Philosophy is best understood as a "great conversation" held across hundreds of years. All philosophers have the same eternal questions: What is the nature of the world and what can we know about it? What is the best kind of life? How should we govern ourselves and each other? There are no final answers, but some answers are far better than others. These lectures link the concerns of geniuses across centuries with the same fundamental questions, making their debates our own The Great Ideas of 1 Philosophy, 2nd Edition 1 Part I 1 Professor Daniel N. Robinson 1 The Teaching Company ® 1 Daniel N. Robinson, Ph.D. 3 Table of Contents 4 The Great Ideas of Philosophy, 2nd Edition 4 Part I 4 The Great Ideas of Philosophy, 2nd Edition 5 Lecture One 6 From the Upanishads to Homer 6 Outline 6 Lecture Two 9 Philosophy(Did the Greeks Invent It? 9 Outline 9 Lecture Three 11 Pythagoras and the Divinity of Number 11 Outline 11 Lecture Four 13 What Is There? 13 Outline 13 Lecture Five 16 The Greek Tragedians on Man’s Fate 16 Outline 16 Lecture Six 19 Herodotus and the Lamp of History 19 Outline 19 Lecture Seven 21 Socrates on the Examined Life 21 Outline 21 Lecture Eight 24 Plato’s Search for Truth 24 Outline 24 Lecture Nine 27 Can Virtue Be Taught? 27 Outline 27 Lecture Ten 29 Plato’s Republic\(Man Writ Large 29 Outline 29 Lecture Eleven 32 Hippocrates and the Science of Life 32 Outline 32 Lecture Twelve 34 Aristotle on the Knowable 34 Outline 34 Timeline 37 Glossary 42 Biographical Notes 46 The Great Ideas of 51 Philosophy, 2nd Edition 51 Part II 51 Professor Daniel N. Robinson 51 The Teaching Company ® 51 Daniel N. Robinson, Ph.D. 53 Table of Contents 54 The Great Ideas of Philosophy, 2nd Edition 54 Part II 54 The Great Ideas of Philosophy, 2nd Edition 55 Lecture Thirteen 56 Aristotle on Friendship 56 Outline 56 Lecture Fourteen 59 Aristotle on the Perfect Life 59 Outline 59 Lecture Fifteen 61 Rome, the Stoics, and the Rule of Law 61 Outline 61 Lecture Sixteen 64 The Stoic Bridge to Christianity 64 Outline 64 Lecture Seventeen 67 Roman Law(Making a City of the Once-Wide World 67 Outline 67 Lecture Eighteen 70 The Light Within(Augustine on Human Nature 70 Outline 70 Lecture Nineteen 73 Islam 73 Outline 73 Lecture Twenty 76 Secular Knowledge(The Idea of University 76 Outline 76 Lecture Twenty-One 79 The Reappearance of Experimental Science 79 Outline 79 Lecture Twenty-Two 82 Scholasticism and the Theory of Natural Law 82 Outline 82 Lecture Twenty-Three 85 The Renaissance(Was There One? 85 Outline 85 Lecture Twenty-Four 88 Let Us Burn the Witches to Save Them 88 Outline 88 Timeline 91 Glossary 96 Biographical Notes 100 The Great Ideas of 105 Philosophy, 2nd Edition 105 Part III 105 Professor Daniel N. Robinson 105 The Teaching Company ®. 105 Daniel N. Robinson, Ph.D. 107 Table of Contents 108 The Great Ideas of Philosophy, 2nd Edition 108 Part III 108 The Great Ideas of Philosophy, 2nd Edition 109 Lecture Twenty-Five 110 Francis Bacon and the Authority of Experience 110 Outline 110 Lecture Twenty-Six 112 Descartes and the Authority of Reason 112 Outline 112 Lecture Twenty-Seven 115 Newton(The Saint of Science 115 Outline 115 Lecture Twenty-Eight 117 Hobbes and the Social Machine 117 Outline 117 Lecture Twenty-Nine 120 Locke’s Newtonian Science of the Mind 120 Outline 120 Lecture Thirty 123 No Matter? The Challenge of Materialism 123 Outline 123 Lecture Thirty-One 125 Hume and the Pursuit of Happiness 125 Outline 125 Lecture Thirty-Two 127 Thomas Reid and the Scottish School 127 Outline 127 Lecture Thirty-Three 130 France and the Philosophes 130 Outline 130 Lecture Thirty-Four 133 The Federalist Papers and the Great Experiment 133 Outline 133 Lecture Thirty-Five 136 What Is Enlightenment? Kant on Freedom 136 Outline 136 Lecture Thirty-Six 139 Moral Science and the Natural World 139 Outline 139 Timeline 142 Glossary 147 Biographical Notes 151 The Great Ideas of 157 Philosophy, 2nd Edition 157 Part IV 157 Professor Daniel N. Robinson 157 The Teaching Company ® 157 Daniel N. Robinson, Ph.D. 159 Table of Contents 160 The Great Ideas of Philosophy, 2nd Edition 160 Part IV 160 The Great Ideas of Philosophy, 2nd Edition 161 Lecture Thirty-Seven 162 Phrenology(A Science of the Mind 162 Outline 162 Lecture Thirty-Eight 164 The Idea of Freedom 164 Outline 164 Lecture Thirty-Nine 166 The Hegelians and History 166 Outline 166 Lecture Forty 169 The Aesthetic Movement(Genius 169 Outline 169 Lecture Forty-One 172 Nietzsche at the Twilight 172 Outline 172 Lecture Forty-Two 174 The Liberal Tradition(J. S. Mill 174 Outline 174 Lecture Forty-Three 177 Darwin and Nature’s “Purposes” 177 Outline 177 Lecture Forty-Four 180 Marxism(Dead But Not Forgotten 180 Outline 180 Lecture Forty-Five 183 The Freudian World 183 Outline 183 Lecture Forty-Six 186 The Radical William James 186 Outline 186 Lecture Forty-Seven 189 William James’s Pragmatism 189 Outline 189 Lecture Forty-Eight 192 Wittgenstein and the Discursive Turn 192 Outline 192 Timeline 195 Glossary 200 Biographical Notes 204 The Great Ideas of 209 Philosophy, 2nd Edition 209 Part V 209 Professor Daniel N. Robinson 209 Daniel N. Robinson, Ph.D. 211 Table of Contents 212 The Great Ideas of Philosophy, 2nd Edition 212 Part V 212 The Great Ideas of Philosophy, 2nd Edition 213 Lecture Forty-Nine 214 Alan Turing in the Forest of Wisdom 214 Outline 214 Lecture Fifty 217 Four Theories of the Good Life 217 Outline 217 Lecture Fifty-One 219 Ontology\(What There “Really” Is 219 Outline 219 Lecture Fifty-Two 222 Philosophy of Science(The Last Word? 222 Outline 222 Lecture Fifty-Three 225 Philosophy of Psychology and Related Confusions 225 Outline 225 Lecture Fifty-Four 229 Philosophy of Mind, If There Is One 229 Outline 229 Lecture Fifty-Five 232 What Makes a Problem “Moral” 232 Outline 232 Lecture Fifty-Six 235 Medicine and the Value of Life 235 Outline 235 Lecture Fifty-Seven 238 On the Nature of Law 238 Outline 238 Lecture Fifty-Eight 241 Justice and Just Wars 241 Outline 241 Lecture Fifty-Nine 245 Aesthetics(Beauty Without Observers 245 Outline 245 Lecture Sixty 249 God(Really? 249 Outline 249 Bibliography 253 Humanity left childhood and entered the troubled but productive world when it started to criticize its own certainties and weigh the worthiness of its most secure beliefs. Thus began that "Long Debate" on the nature of truth, the scale of real values, the life one should aspire to live, the character of justice, the sources of law, the terms of civic and political life?the good, the better, the best. The debate continues, and one remains aloof to it at a very heavy price, for "the unexamined life is not worth living." This course of 60 lectures gives the student a sure guide and interpreter as the major themes within the Long Debate are presented and considered. -- Publisher's website Content: Lecture 49: Alan Turing in the forest of wisdom -- Lecture 50: Four theories of the good life -- Lecture 51: Ontology, what there "really" is -- Lecture 52: Philosophy of science, the last word? -- Lecture 53: Philosophy of psychology and related confusions -- Lecture 54: Philosophy of mind, if there is one -- Lecture 55: What makes a problem "moral" -- Lecture 56: Medicine and the values of life -- Lecture 57: On the nature of law -- Lecture 58: Justice and just wars -- Lecture 59: Aesthetics, beauty without observers -- Lecture 60: God, really?