What is philosophy? How does it differ from science, religion, and other modes of human discourse? This course traces the origins of philosophy in the Western tradition in the thinkers of Ancient Greece. We begin with the Presocratic natural philosophers who were active in Ionia in the 6th century BCE and are also credited with being the first scientists. Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximines made bold proposals about the ultimate constituents of reality, while Heraclitus insisted that there is an underlying order to the changing world. Parmenides of Elea formulated a powerful objection to all these proposals, while later Greek theorists (such as Anaxagoras and the atomist Democritus) attempted to answer that objection. In fifth-century Athens, Socrates insisted on the importance of the fundamental ethical question—“How shall I live?”—and his pupil, Plato, and Plato’s pupil, Aristotle, developed elaborate philosophical systems to explain the nature of reality, knowledge, and human happiness. After the death of Aristotle, in the Hellenistic period, Epicureans and Stoics developed and transformed that earlier tradition. We will study the major doctrines of all these thinkers. Part I will cover Plato and his predecessors. Part II will cover Aristotle and his successors.
FS
Good, interesting introduction to the cosmology and ethics of Plato and presocratic thinkers. The reading material is good and the lectures are pleasant and interesting!
MD
This was my first online course. In a crazy year, the flexibiilty to reset deadlines was much appreciated. I enjoyed the grading system, especially when your peers are from all around the world.
HL
This course is an excellent introduction to reading & learning about ancient philosophers. The videos helped to make the works of Plato, Socrates & many others understandable. Thank you.
LC
Its short duration course but so much new knowledge and conceptual. Really like the way of Socrates questioning and moreover their analysis argument is whole new best ever.
AO
Para mim foi muito bom pois me deu oportunidade de estudar essa ciencia da qual eu amo muito que é a Filosofia muito obrigado e quando eu estiver com tempo quero pode fazer outros.
JP
This is a brilliant course. Professionally designed and very well structured. I have enjoyed it thoroughly and more importantly I have learnt significantly. I highly recommen
LG
Excellent course, Pr. Sauvé-Meyer keeps the material very engaging, and makes it very clear and easily accessible. Knowing how difficult the original texts are sometimes, this is very valuable.
DY
Insightful and informative course. Prof Meyer has managed to break down difficult concepts into simple, bite-sized knowledge for any lay person to understand effectively.
AO
Although I do not have the time (or inclination, I guess) to write answers to the provocative questions, I found the lectures and the reading material fascinating. Thank you!
PP
Before this course the topic of philosophy had never appealed to me, while from now on it turns out to be an interesting subject. A wonderful introduction to ancient philosophy of Greece !
MA
Well taught and a very reasonable course load. Though I've studied some of the writings from this period, the class provided good structure and new insights, especially on the pre-Socratics.
JH
This course is pretty good. I'm not a fan of peer reviewing, I'd rather have TA's do it, but I realize that is logistically impossible. Other than that the professor is pretty good and makes phil
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Good intro to early Greek philosophy. Dr Meyer has a simple and subtly humorous approach to the material. Dr Meyer makes the subject approachable so that the student wants to do further reading.
Excellent course, Pr. Sauvé-Meyer keeps the material very engaging, and makes it very clear and easily accessible. Knowing how difficult the original texts are sometimes, this is very valuable.
This was an extraordinary learning experience. I wanna thank and congratulate coursera and specially teacher Susan Meyer for the clean communication. This will definitely help me in the future.
My experience with this course was fantastic. I could learn deeply about Ancient Philosophy and Plato's work, their relation and their vision of the world of that time, the start of what we know today as scientific inquiry and the revolution they made by trying to investigate the principles of the universe. The insights from the professor were interesting and made me gain confidence in what I was studying. I had the feeling of being doing real Philosophy using the "logos" during the discussion on Forums and while working on the final project and reviewing other people's work. I would like to thank the University of Pennsylvania, the professor Meyer and Coursera for this amazing opportunity.
Enjoyed week 1, looking forward to week 2. Believe my review will be five stars by the end of the course. Am interested in taking more MOOC like this in philosophy.
Enjoyed week 2, looking forward to week 3 and starting Ancient Philosophy: Aristotle and His Successors. I like the lecture style and can tell Susan really enjoys teaching the subject.
Enjoyed week 3, looking forward to week 4. So far, Plato and Socrates make much more sense to me than Aristotle but I have only done week 1 of Ari. Perhaps Ari mellows a bit as he gets older, lets hope so. ~(B-)
Just finished week 4, great course. Only sorry that I could't give it six stars. I read that Socrates was married to a bit of a dragon who kicked him out of the house every day, either to get a 'real' job or so he wouldn't get under her feet while she was doing the housework. So, Philosophy could have started as an alternative to drink or hanging 'round the bookies all day? Mind you, the drink still got to him in the end. No wonder his decision to go for the Hemlock was taken so quickly. Wonder why Socrates didn't ask other Athenians why they got married? If he had all other philosophers since may have been singles with no advice for the rest of humanity on the 'what, why, when, who, where, when, and how' of the logic of the process. Perhaps Aristotle may have the answer? See you all on the next stage down the road to discovering the 'Meaning of Life'. T.T.F.N.
This was my first online course. In a crazy year, the flexibiilty to reset deadlines was much appreciated. I enjoyed the grading system, especially when your peers are from all around the world.
The amount of study time required to do this enormous subject justice far exceeds the estimates. I spent a total of 82 hours on this subject, and average of nearly 21 hours per week.
I am not a great fan of "talking heads" teaching, so this subject could be a bit dry for those who, like me, appreciate a variety of delivery methods.
However, I completed, with a good grade (nearly 95%) but I am not sure I shall sign uo for its companion course, and if I do, I shall allow 2 weeks to study each teaching week.
This was my 13th Coursera class and among the best I've taken through this platform. Dr. Susan Sauve Meyer chose the right excerpts and provided the necessary context for students to better understand Plato's meaning and message. She didn't spoon-feed the material but guided students through it, as a good professor does. I actually feel better about the world after taking this course because it made me optimistic about the possibility that good is the central force.
Two suggestions for improvement: Nearly every text reading says it will take 10 minutes to read, but I found that they each took me about 40 minutes because I didn't want to speed read them but pore over them. I think that estimated reading time should be changed on the syllabus to at least 20 minutes.
Also, I was surprised at the lack of discussion that the weekly prompts generated. I made a point to read others' comments on the question and to at least give a thumb's up or say I concurred. But I noticed that nearly all the posts had no comments or reactions, and my posts also generated none. That was disappointing and unlike what I've experienced in other Coursera classes. I'm not sure how to change that, as it wasn't the instructor's fault. But perhaps Dr. Sauve Meyer at the end of each lecture could encourage students to interact in the discussion forums. Another option might be to ask people to comment on at least one. I realize that pondering the weekly question was a mental exercise that benefitted me. But it did feel like I was throwing comments into a void -- to take a cue from the course, it raised the question: Does my opinion exist if no one reads it.
What a great class! This was my first foray into the history of philosophy, and this was the perfect introductory class. The professor, Susan Meyer, is exceptional. Her lectures are interesting, intellectual, and clever. I learned a great deal, and while the class was challenging, it was so interesting that I didn't mind doing the work. I even found myself reading non-assigned texts for my own enjoyment. I am grateful I found this class, and look forward to part two.
Excellent Course guide (Professor Meyer) and Materials.
Very short but effective lectures.Its difficult to provide whole theme in short lectures but Professor has done this job fabulously.
This course covers a lot of very interesting material and is presented in a calm, clear, organized manner. I thought the selected materials were well-chosen and presented in a way that captured the most important ideas of the philosophers discussed. I would not recommend this course to anyone with any formal background in philosophy, as the pace is somewhat slow, and the course spends a lot of time covering some basics of philosophy. (This may be an unfair critique, since I covered this material in college. I was drawn to this course as a refresher, but also hoping to learn something new or gain a new perspective on material I had already read. Rather, this is very much an introductory survey.) As a technical issue, I did not like the "pop quizzes" interspersed into the videos. These were annoying, breaking up the flow of the lecture merely to reiterate basic points. These interruptions added no value. I also disliked the introduction to each video: while it was well-produced, it was repetitive. The into music should be only on the first video, or, at most, on the first video of every section. Not each and every video. It may seem like a little thing, but each video is short, which means you're listening to the same musical into every 5 minutes or so. This is maddening. I skipped over it, but I'd prefer if the videos were edited in a way that acknowledges that people will likely be "binge watching" these, and formatted to flow one into the other seamlessly.
Excellent course. This course has opened up ancient philosophy to me and made it accessible. I feel I have finished the course a good understanding of such keys texts as Plato's Republic. Excellent Course guide (Professor Meyer) and Materials.
Pr. Sauvé-Meyer keeps the material very engaging, and makes it very clear and easily accessible. Knowing how difficult the original texts are sometimes, this is very valuable.
This course was wonderful. Dr. Meyer does a wonderful job taking deep topics and making them very understandable and relatable, the mark of a good educator!
For those who have inquiring minds and a love of knowledge, the course offers a great deal. It takes you back to those Naturalist philosophers who preceded Socrates and winds through all the way to the amazing Dialogs of Plato. Highly recommended.
Excellent course. This course has opened up ancient philosophy to me and made it accessible. I feel I have finished the course a good understanding of such keys texts as Plato's Republic and Timaeus.
Great course. Thank you.
It's ok; worth your time if you are trying to get into philosophy and want part of the proper foundation. Overall I enjoyed it and it was good as a hand-hold through the pre-Socratics and some of the most essential Platonic writings.
Pros: the videos are pretty easy to understand, and the material chosen/covered is good to know.
Cons: the video quiz questions are really...dull...and there are too many. A downside of the ease of the videos/lectures is that they don't really go that in depth, and they're nowhere near the quality I've seen in other Coursera courses (like the Kierkegaard course from UCopenhagen).
I liked the content, but the valuation system is flawed, first is very very very easy; second the peer system is bad.
I would like to have a more challenging quizes and actually exams, and a more demanding essay.
I really liked the teacher, but despite the fact you cover a lot of subjects, you can go more deep, although was not mere superficial knowledge.
without more in-depth video lectures the key elements of the dialogues are left underdeveloped. the reason for this is that there is no real interaction between teacher, student, and materials
can give a better explanation in simple term rather more reading content. But overall a good beginner course
Poor course. Bad teacher bad environment boring and uneducational videos. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about and she says things that simply aren’t true.