William Tyndale’s translation of the prologue to John’s Gospel (see Platonism & Christianity)
Enrolments are now open for Winter evening classes starting the week of Monday, 11 July 2022.
Gorgias: persuasion, power & passion reads one of Plato’s most accessible dialogues (from Wednesday 13 July). This course is suitable for beginners and continuing students.
Platonism & Christianity surveys the influence of Platonism on the development of Christian doctrine and mythology (from Tuesday 12 July).
The venue for all classes this term is the Kathleen Syme Centre in Carlton. If you can’t come in to Carlton then an online option is available and all classes are recorded.
Afternoon tea and at-home movie screening in Brunswick from 2pm Sat 4 June. RSVP essential for attendance.
Movie: Triumph of Love
As Autumn Term comes to a close, all past and present students are invited to afternoon tea from 2pm on Saturday, 4 June 2022. You might want to stay on for the at-home Platonic movie screening at 3pm. Tea and Coffee provided. BYO tipple.
Where I grew up, priests were not the least bit interested in philosophy, nor the history of ideas. Then I met the Orthodox. Then I met the Rumanian-trained Orthodox priest Doru Costache, author of Humankind and the Cosmo.
Doru took an interested in my thoughts on why Western science became separated from theology, and why modern science could never be Platonic.
In this video I explain how, paradoxically, the only science permissible in the Middle Ages was atheistic science. I then explain the political threat posed by the revival of the Platonic “enthusiastic” attitude to science during the Renaissance. The story finishes with the Royal Charter won by a society for the advancement of science during the restoration of the British monarchy in the 1660s. This is where atheistic science was successfully re-marketed as a remedy for the religious enthusiasm that was threatening the spiritual authority of the state Church during the civil war. This marketing model was both hostile to Platonism and very successful, and very successful it was when exported onto continental Europe as integral to what we now call “The Enlightenment.”
Nicholas of Cusa, a 15th century Platonic Christian Mystic
Enrolments are now open for Autumn evening classes starting the week of Monday, 2 May 2022.
For this term we will return to face-to-face classes (with a zoom option).
Those new to philosophy, or new to Plato, should first take our foundation course, Reading Plato (Wednesdays from 4 May in the City) [BOOKED OUT]. Even if you have studied some philosophy at school or university, our students recommend still taking this course, as it helps with orientation towards a very different approach to Plato.
For continuing students we have a new course in Platonic mysticism. This will be the first time we make a close reading of Platonic texts not written by Plato. Nicholas of Cusa and the Mystical Foundation of Science (Tuesdays from 3 May in Carlton) [BOOKED OUT] surveys the path of Platonic Mysticism from Plato through neoPlatonism so that we finish up reading a masterful but little-known dialogue composed at the very dawn of the Renaissance.
For continuing students wanting to go deeper into the origins of philosophy, Ancient Greek Language and the First Philosophers will be offered again in collaboration with the ISP, only now spread-out over two terms. Basically, you start with the Greek alphabet and end up reading the surviving fragments of Heraclitus. This difficult course is (surprisingly!) popular. There are still a few places available in Part I, which starting online-only from Monday, 2 May. [BOOKED OUT]
Sunday, 20 Mar ’22 | 10.30 am | Camberwell | RSVP essential for attendance
Can the soul make peace with the desires of the body? (artist unknown)
All students, former students and friends are invited for coffee, cake & discussion at this Sunday morning salon to celebrate the end of our summer term. RSVP for details.
