Session 1
January 17, 2024
11.00am -12.15pm
Session 2
January 24, 2024
11.00am -12.15pm
Session 3
January 31, 2024
11.00am -12.15pm
Session 4
February 7, 2024
11.00am -12.15pm
Session 5
February 14, 2024
11.00am -12.15pm
Session 6
11.00am -12.15pm
Session 7
11.00am -12.15pm
Session 8
11.00am -12.15pm
Session 9
11.00am -12.15pm
Session 10
11.00am -12.15pm
Session 11
11.00am -12.15pm
Session 12
11.00am -12.15pm
Session 13
11.00am -12.15pm
Session 14
11.00am -12.15pm
Session 15
11.00am -12.15pm
Session 16
11.00am -12.15pm
Session 17
11.00am -12.15pm
Session 18
11.00am -12.15pm
Session 19
11.00am -12.15pm
Session 20
11.00am -12.15pm

Online Course Details    

Philosophy we think of it in the West evolved from the cosmopolitan environment of the Eastern Mediterranean. From the out set it has spiralled around questions about the nature of reality and the human self, about knowledge, society and ethics, and about the existence and nature of God.  The pursuit of philosophy has gone hand in hand with the evolution of mathematics, logic, the natural sciences and medicine.  This year-long programme introduces a selection of philosophical thinkers and their writings from antiquity to the present day. 

The programme is made up of six 5-week courses, beginning in September 2023 and ending in July 2024. Each week there is a seminar on the text or topic led by a member of the London Jesuit Centre Team. Texts will be provided in advance ,with a guide and questions to help reading.

Course outline

 

Term 1
Thales to Plato

An introduction to ideas and arguments from the first Greek-speaking philosopher-scientists through to the work of Plato, whose thought set the agenda for the next two thousand years of philosophy.

 

Term 2
Aristotle and After

This course introduces the work of Aristotle, and goes on to explore the complex intellectual world that evolved in the Hellenistic and Roman eras and which provided the matrix for Christian Theology.

 

Term 3
Medieval Philosophers

This explores the philosophers – both Christian and Islamic – of the Medieval period, in which Greek philosophical concepts were integrated into religious thought in new ways.


Term 4
The Birth of Modern Philosophy

This course explores the beginning of a new era in philosophy: from Descartes’ search for certainty, through Hume’s scepticism, to Kant’s ‘Copernican revolution’.

 

Term 5
The 19th Century

This course explores the work of five philosophical greats of the 19th century: Hegel, Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, Feuerbach, Nietzsche.


Term 6
The 20th Century

This course explores how philosophy developed in the 20th century: Heidegger and Wittgenstein, an influential group of women philosophers in post-war UK, French postmodernism, and more.

Course
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Tutors

Fr. John Moffatt SJ

John Moffatt SJ works at the London Jesuit Centre. His first degree was in Classics. He taught in London secondary schools intermittently between 1985 and 2016 and has worked briefly in University Chaplaincy. He has been involved with teenage and adult faith education in Britain and South Africa and has recently completed a doctorate in medieval Islamic philosophy.

MY LJC