Explore the meaning and importance of Plato's towering achievement in immortalizing the thoughts of Socrates in 35 dialogues, which laid the philosophical basis for Western civilization. The dialogues cover ideas about truth, justice, love, beauty, courage, and wisdom. Learn not what to think, but how to think, as you experience the subtlety with which Plato weaves philosophy and poetry, dialectic and drama, and word and action.
Plato, Socrates, and the Dialogues
Explore the meaning and importance of Plato's towering achievement in immortalizing the thoughts of Socrates in 35 dialogues.
Rated 1 out of
5
by
Jaymountain from
Am personally fond of Sugrue but cannot recommend
While I personally am very fond of Michael I cannot recommend this course. The course is wish-washy fluff designed for the novice mainstream who are not so much interested in the actual Dialogues but rather feel-good, light fluff speeches. There is little meat here and some lectures, particularly the final one, outright contradict Socrates (i.e. "you can't know anything anyway so get out and talk to people in the hardware store and the pub"). No, the Dialogues can and should first and foremost be studied and contemplated in solitude. Michael talks way too fast and analyzes and dissects the text way too little.
Date published: 2024-07-25
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Mo10 from
Dr Sugrue has probably had an impact on my life
I bought this lecture series for the lecture on the Phaedrus exclusively, given i had just read it and was planning on reading only a couple more dialogues. Sugrue's lecture's on Plato were so inspiring that lead me to read all of Plato's dialogues just to real experience the spiritual journey Socrates wants to take you on, and that Sugrue invited us to do throughout the lectures. I can't give any feedback yet about the journey as I am still on it, but what I can say is that I think about Plato and his ideas a lot throughout the day.
R.I.P Dr Sugrue -- Thank you for your teachings.
Date published: 2024-05-25
Rated 5 out of
5
by
DrJH from
Excellent Teacher, Excellent Course!👏👏👏❤️❤️❤️👍
I listen to this course on audible. I absolutely loved it! Professor Sugrue’s course is wonderful. He really brings Plato, Socrates, and the dialogues to life. I’ve taught Philosophy for almost 35 years. This course is the best introduction to Plato that I’ve heard. if I would’ve had a teacher like this when I studied Plato graduate school at Marquette University in 1977, I would’ve ended up doing my dissertation on Plato instead of Aquinas. Excellent job.Dr, Sugrue, Well, done!
Date published: 2024-05-17
Rated 2 out of
5
by
Rogerio from
Like a Running
We have a problem with this Courste. It is a good Course as subject: the Greek Philosphy. But Professor Michael Sugrue looks like is disputing a real verbal running. He begins the lecture in fair voice but almost immediately he begins to speak fast and faster. Even for those that understand English is difficulty to follow the reason of any lesson. I can not understand why he speaks so fast. Philosophy is a difficult subject as everybody knows; if we are listening a Course which the Professor can not speak in a fair velocity it is almost impossible to understand and keep all the necessary informations. I regret this. I almost gave up to listen all the 16 lessons but I keep my own oath to never give up because I really like Philosophy. Maybe the Direction of the Great Courses could have alerted the Professor to keep the same "velocity" and so all his great knowledge could be understand for all. It is very difficult for a novice to understand this Course I believe.
Date published: 2022-07-31
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Nicknamed42 from
Big vocabulary, fast paced, occasionally too fast, his insights were valuable. He does not let you drift. I recommend this series.
Date published: 2022-04-03
Rated 5 out of
5
by
ZN369 from
W
onderful
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Date published: 2022-03-22
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Logos from
great intro with insight !
I am a physicist and a lover of ancient history and philosophy. This is a great intro of platos philosophy with the tales of platos socrates. Love te insight provided by Prof. Michael Sugrue!
Super entertaining stuff learned so much thanks!
Date published: 2022-01-23
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Snarnujhig from
Professor Sugrue admires Plato's legacy
Professor Sugrue gives Plato and Socrates their due and fits in the central questions of some central dialogues in this course. At the same time, he examines the entire approach including the literary forms of the dialogues and gives us a bird's eye view of the mode and emergence of these monumental products of Plato's mind.
Date published: 2021-12-14
Overview
About
Dr. Michael Sugrue is Professor of History at Ave Maria University. A graduate of the Great Books Program, he earned his B.A. in History from the University of Chicago and his M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. in History from Columbia University.
Prior to taking his position at Ave Maria University, Professor Sugrue taught at Princeton University, the City College of New York, Columbia University, Manhattan College, New York University, Hampton University, and Touro College. He served as the Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at Johns Hopkins University from 1992 to 1994.
Professor Sugrue was awarded the Chamberlain Fellowship, the President's Fellowship, the John Jay Fellowship, and the Meyer Padva Prize.
01: The Domain of the Dialogues
This lecture describes the life and times of Plato and Socrates, the structure of the dialogues, the way the style of argument in the dialogues progresses, and the best ways to approach understanding this body of work.
46 min
02: What Socratic Dialogue Is Not
Professor Sugrue shows some of the methods used by Socrates to begin his caricature and demolition of the Sophists, and his long search to answer the question: "Can virtue be taught?"
46 min
03: The Examined Life
In the "Timaeus," the origins and principles of the physical world are discussed. In the "Theaetetus," Socrates engages a young wounded man in a discussion of knowledge, edifying the young man before he dies and before Socrates is taken away to be tried and executed by Athenian authorities as a corrupter of youth.
46 min
04: Tragedy in the Philosophic Age of the Greeks
The "Apology," the "Crito," and the "Phaedo" are the stories of Socrates's trial and execution. Professor Sugrue explores the motif of heroic journey from this new type of Greek hero, who looks at his accusers with courage and resolve as he faces death.
44 min
05: Republic I—Justice, Power, and Knowledge
This lecture focuses on Plato's development of his political, ethical, and educational theories. Socrates and Thrasymachus, a cagey Sophist, struggle to define justice and to determine whether it is an art that can be practiced.
46 min
06: Republic II-V—Soul and City
Socrates continues his search for the meaning of justice; the Homeric virtues and heroes are discussed and dismissed as corrupt; and Plato describes the ideal city.
44 min
07: Republic VI-X—The Architecture of Reality
Here, Professor Sugrue explains Plato's myth of the cave, the hierarchies of human moral development and the political regimes that accompany each, and the criticism of tragedy and comedy.
46 min
08: Laws—The Legacy of Cephalus
Professor Sugrue argues that toward the end of his life, Plato recognized serious problems with his philosophical positions—so serious that he wrote very little for more than 10 years—and that the "Laws" is one of the dialogues designated to a "second best" philosophical position.
45 min
09: Protagoras—The Dialectic of the Many and the One
A comic dialogue in which Socrates develops his argument on the nature of virtue, concluding that virtue is knowledge and, therefore, can be taught.
46 min
10: Gorgias—The Temptation to Speak
Socrates engages Gorgias, one of the great Sophists, in discussions of virtue and education, and converts Gorgias to teach true virtue rather than the corrupt craft of rhetoric.
45 min
11: Parmenides—"Most True"
This dialogue prefigures Hegel for its baffling qualities; it is a protracted and very difficult discussion on the nature of being and the consequences of Plato's conclusions for the theory of the ideal forms of being.
45 min
12: Sophist and Statesman—The Formal Disintegration of Justice
This pair of dialogues continues Plato's later project to expose the weaknesses of his earlier works and to propose and defend a workable theory and practice for knowledge and politics.
45 min
13: Phaedrus—Hymn to Love
The great lyrical masterpiece of Platonic poetry. The main themes of love and rhetoric are bridged by related themes: identity, the soul, desire, and the longing for ultimate beauty.
45 min
14: Symposium—The Pride of Love
Plato's famous description of a drunken discussion among Socrates and other remarkable Greeks concerning the nature of love.
47 min
15: The Platonic Achievement
Professor Sugrue summarizes his view of the intended and actual effects of Plato's work. Platonic argument is usually appreciated as the origin of Western speculation, but it is at least as important, Sugrue argues, to view Plato form the perspective of the intellectual traditions he continued and transformed.
45 min
16: The Living Voice
Professor Sugrue attempts a summary and understanding of Plato's new hero, Socrates himself. This hero, as seen through the dialogues, is a deeply ironic character because his questions often lead to no conclusions; he is distrustful of the written work and yet that is how we come to know him.
43 min
