In the first class session of our course, we will be engaging in a general introduction to Platonic dialogues, discussing them as a philosophical and literary genre, and how to productively read them. We will also be working through the first Platonic dialogue for this class, Plato's Ion.

On Saturday, we will hold our first online class session using Zoom. We will be recording the class session, and it will be uploaded for all of you students as an unlisted YouTube video embedded here in our class site (these won't be shared with non-students). After that, I will open the Week 1 Discussion Forum to student comments and questions, so that we can continue the discussion throughout the week

The specific topics we will be working through during this week's class session are:

• Platonic dialogues as philosophical genre
• Productive ways to read Platonic dialogues
• The notion of “speaking well” on matters
• Different disciplines and subject-matters
• Whether poets or interpreters have knowledge
• Enthusiasm and the metaphor of the magnet
  
  

You will doubtless find it useful to read through Plato's dialogue, the Ion before our class session, perhaps more than once. You will also likely discover that rereading that portion of the text after participating in or watching the class session will help you develop a deeper understanding of Plato's ideas.