Plato's Ship of State, Expertise & Democratic Citizenship
Directed Studies & Political Thought
Close reading of Book VI of Plato's Republic—weighing Plato's critique of democratic rhetoric against civic education and constitutional self-government.
College is a crucial institution in which our society works through its expectations for young people. This course explores the purposes of college education through the first great book on the philosophy of education, Plato’s Republic. We read The Republic in conversation with other thinkers including Aristotle, Confucius, John Stuart Mill, Virginia Woolf, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King. For the 325th anniversary of Yale’s founding, we also explore the changing conception of college education at Yale over the centuries and read some of the college’s and the university’s key founding documents. Themes include the development of personal character, participation in a community, preparation for citizenship, and conversation with others on intellectual matters. We also explore some of the social and economic functions of college education.
Professor at Yale University
Norma Thompson is a Professor at Yale University, specializing in political philosophy and the history of political thought, with a focus on classical and modern texts.
Professor at Yale University
Bryan Garsten is a Professor of Political Science at Yale University, focusing on political theory, rhetoric, and the history of democratic thought.