When Christianity and Judaism went their separate ways: Destruction of the 2nd Temple, 70 AD (Arch of Titus)
Enrolments are now open for Spring evening classes starting the week of Monday, 23 August 2021.
Those new to philosophy, or new to Plato, would best take our foundation course, Reading Plato (Wednesdays, classroom & online).
For those who missed out last year, Platonism and Christianity is on again. If you are curious about the origins of Christianity, and especially its origins in Hellenistic philosophy, then this course might be for you (Mondays, online).
For continuing students, there is a new course exploring the fantastic psycho-physical cosmology and cryptic mathematical passages of Plato’s famous Timaeus. We then continue on to the Critias and finish with its account of Atlantis.
At the age of 23, Pico della Mirandola thought he might bring together intellectuals across Christendom in a convocation of divine ascent and for this purpose he penned an oration that has since come to define Renaissance humanism. The oration was never delivered as his project failed spectacularly and by the age of 31 he was dead, kill by poisoning. ( image source).
In Platonic Love last night we discussed the influence of Plato’s Phaedrus on two very different philosophical schools.
First came the influence on Renaissance humanism through Marsilio Ficino and Pico della Mirandola and their revival of the philosophical aspiration towards ecstatic union with the divine:
Last night in Platonic Love discussion turned to the affinities between ancient Greek homoeroticism and the ‘camp’ culture in British public schools and university from the late 19th century to the middle of the 20th century. This affinity is exemplified by a 1965 movie adaptation of Plato’s Symposium, which was nevertheless censored of any explicit sexual references that might offend those outside the insular Oxbridge world.
The Drinking Party, 1965 adaptation of Plato’s Symposium directed by Jonathan Miller
Drunken Alcibiades interrupting the symposium as depicted by Pietro Testa, 1648 (Source)
Places are still available in our Winter evening classes starting the week of Monday, 21 June, 2021.
If you are new to Plato and philosophy, then we recommend for starters Reading Plato [BOOKINGS CLOSED]. Continuing students are challenged to go deeper into Platonic philosophy by reading Plato’s Sophist [BOOKED OUT]. As both these classes remain online, they will not be affected by continuing uncertainty about COVID restrictions in Melbourne.
Platonic Love [BOOKINGS CLOSED] is on again and hopefully still in the Lonsdale St classroom (otherwise online, we will keep you posted). This begins with reading and partly acting-out the speeches from Plato’s famously dramatic Symposium. The second half of the course takes up the picturesque dialogue set by a cool stream on a hot summer’s day between Socrates and the handsome young Phaedrus.
If the influence of Platonism on Christianity interests you, then join us for Bernie Lewin’s talk Philosophy to Scriptures as the Hellenic Museum, 11 am Saturday 19 June. This co-hosted event is permitted under the new COVID restrictions (i.e., starting 11 June). Alas, numbers will be limited, and so booking is essential. After the talk we can head upstairs and check out the Museum’s wonderful collection.
Alcibiades and revelers gatecrashing what had until then been a relatively sober and discursive drinking party: a scene from Plato’s ‘Symposium‘ as depicted by Anselm Feuerbach (1869) | Source: Wikipedia
Enrolments are now open for Winter evening classes starting the week of Monday 21 June.
Those new to philosophy and Plato would best take our foundation course Reading Plato (online) [BOOKINGS CLOSED]. For continuing students who missed out last Spring, Platonic Love [BOOKINGS CLOSED] is offered again, and this time in the Lonsdale Street classrooms. In this popular and accessible course, Plato’s Symposium comes alive with readings from the famous (notorious!) drinking party speeches. The theme of love continues with the Phaedrus, which includes the famous myth of the soul as a winged-horse Chariot.
Below the surface frivolity, there is in fact lots of provocative philosophy running through the Symposium and Phaedrus. However, if you are one of those hardcore philosophy nuts, then you might otherwise wish to join the group currently reading Theaetetus. For Winter term, they have decided to go on and tackle Plato’s Sophist [BOOKINGS CLOSED].
This meandering attempt to define the character of ‘the sophist’ – the teacher of rhetoric – starts deceptively playful. But then, towards the end it shifts gear as it enters into the ‘higher dialectic’ (as referenced in the Republic) to give Plato’s answer to Parmenides in the most advanced version of his so-called ‘Theory of Forms’. This is Bernie’s favourite dialogue, and he can’t wait to show you how it presents the peak of Plato’s achievement.
Plato pointing up, Aristotle pointing down in Raphael’s School of Athens
Places are still available in our Autumn evening classes starting the week of Monday 12 April 2021. If you are new to Plato and philosophy, we recommend for starters Reading Plato [NOW BOOKING FOR WINTER]. Continuing students are challenged to go deeper into Platonic philosophy by reading Plato’s Theaetetus [BOOKED OUT]. Delve into the geometric imagination behind the dialogues by practicing Platonic Esoteric Geometry [BOOKED OUT]. Meanwhile, Happy Easter!
