161-053 The Good Life in Ancient Thought

This is an intensive subject held over two weeks during Summer Semester. Timetabling will be such that this subject and 161-054 Human Life in Modern Thought can be taken concurrently. Strict enrolment deadlines apply to subjects taught during the Summer Semester. Any enrolment in, or withdrawal from, this subject for the Summer Semester must be made in line with HECS census dates, see HECS census date. To be offered in alternative years.

Any two university subjects or equivalent, or permission from the Head of Department or the subject coordinator.

The subject examines and critically compares a number of conceptions of good human life to be found in ancient philosophical, cultural and religious texts and traditions. These conceptions include those of Plato and Aristotle and their Greek successors the Stoics and Epicureans; some from other Mediterranean sources such as the Roman, Jewish, and Christian; and some from further afield such as the Hindu, Buddhist and Confucian. Topics and themes include the nature of happiness and its relation to virtue, the varieties and significance of social life and relationships between the sexes, the relative importance of this-worldly and other-worldly goods, and the nature and causes of moral success and failure. Students will be expected to develop an understanding of these various conceptions, of important similarities and differences among them, of philosophical issues arising in and about them, and of their relevance to enduring questions concerning the quality of human life.