Ancient Philosophy Warnborough College

Overview

The study of Ancient Philosophy has more than mere academic interest, for the ancient thinkers set themselves the task of securing for their students ‘the good life’, that is, the capacity to live as well as one may in ways that are appropriate for rational and conscientious beings.

The student on this program is therefore encouraged to appreciate in a significant sense what it means to be a philosopher (a ‘lover of wisdom’) and how living the ‘philosophic life’ contributes to one’s well-being and to the development of one’s humanity.

This program at Warnborough College has several related aims:

• to introduce candidates to how the key ancient thinkers addressed the question of how human beings should secure the ‘good life’ and how to ‘live well’.

• to develop an understanding of important concepts required for this endeavour, including ‘good’, ‘pleasure’, ‘happiness’, ‘desire’, and ‘virtue’.

• to introduce to the candidate important texts written by the great thinkers of the period, namely: Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus and Epictetus.

• to develop the necessary reasoning and analytical skills for accomplishing this.

Careers

The rigorous intellectual training that philosophy provides has value and appeal to employers in areas such as: teaching (most likely at the college level), course development and curricula design, research, civil service, local government, charities, information technology, solicitor’s firms, publishing and journalism.