Choose between Option 1 and 2. You may respond to both if you wish, of course.
I knew some of you (maybe one or two) would be disappointed if you did not have the opportunity to discuss Alexander. This topic is “simple.” Take a position, defending or arguing that Alexander was: a failure or a success; that the products or consequences of his conquests were good, or bad. Be sure to provide persuasive examples.
NOTE THE OPTION, HERE! Choose between this one and Option 2.
By the way, I notice no one has DARED to comment on another student’s comments - as if there’s a taboo! Be ye not timid thinkers!
We aren’t covering the major Greek philosophers in any detail, but perhaps one of them interests you most. I invite your general responses or comments on any or all of them. I do have a couple of questions, just to start things off. FIRST: Given our focus on the foundational character of the Greeks, what do you make of the teachings of Socrates and the ultimate response of the Athenians to him? SECOND: Plato and Aristotle have paramount significance as thinkers who shaped the mind of the western world. What connections do you see between their ideas or teachings and our own contemporary approaches to knowledge and truth?
This is your assignment in lieu of class attendance on 9/16. Remember it is due by midnight on Tuesday. (It is separate from the regular discussion due Thursday midnight.)
The Peloponnesian Wars (Ist–460-445; GPW–435-404are a study in variable and failed diplomacy, intrigue, multiple alliances, and sheer destructiveness. It seems as if the many efforts of the leading states and their allies amounted to nothing by 335. Where did they go wrong? Did anyone come out ahead after all of this? Who lost the most? What lessons do you think the Hellenes’ experiences have for us in the twenty-first century?
Your reading this week focuses on the philosophical and religious developments in four major civilizations, and all within the same relative time period, an “axial” period. What do you think was going on? What similarities or common issues do you discern in these developments?
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