This is a course designed to give a broad view of Platonism and to bring to light some of the more neglected aspects of the tradition. Our particular aim is to lay before participants the possibilities of Platonic philosophy as a spiritual path, exploring the insights of the ancient tradition while avoiding a dogmatic approach. The study/discussion will be underpinned by study papers and some background papers.
| Session | Introduction
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What is philosophy? Why philosophy? The Platonic tradition
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| Session | Metaphysics 1
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The One or the Good, the Gods of the Platonic tradition, Being
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| Session | Metaphysics 2
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The intelligible and the visible, eternal ideas and temporal manifestation |
| Session | Soul 1
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Self-motivity & immortality, reason & freewill, the path of the soul |
| Session | Soul 2
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The soul’s powers, activities, and faculties
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| Session | Dialectic | Dialectical questions: division, definition, demonstration and analysis |
| Session | Eros | The Symposium and Diotima’s path of love
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| Session | Virtue | Four primary virtues – and the direction of the soul’s activities
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| Session | Myth | Plato’s use of philosophical and poetical myth
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| Session | Philosophy as initiation
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The mysteries, theurgy. And a look back at the whole course. |
We do not charge for the course – the Trust runs all its teaching activities at cost as we consider the cultivation of wisdom to be not only priceless, but also the rightful inheritance of every soul and, as Socrates himself says in the Gorgias (at 420d), not something which should be subject to payments. Our venue is a retreat house in Warwickshire: their charges for a weekend are £175 inclusive of all costs (with shared facilities) or £205 for single ensuite rooms: this represents only what the Trust pays the retreat house for your accommodation and meals. Payment is due 6 weeks before the course- limited bursaries are available. Should participants feel so moved, the Prometheus Trust (a registered UK charity) welcomes donations, in order to further our work.
For more information on the course, please go to the dedicated page here. We also offer some of our student edition paperbacks at a discount- you will receive more information on registration. We encourage you to read these to get a feel for both the tradition and our approach to it. Registration is via google form here. Payment is due 6 weeks before the course.
Any questions, please use the education contact email address in the footer to get in touch.