The "Ancient Quarrel" between Poetry and Philosophy

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Violent video games make people violent. Philosophers waste their time debating whether tables exist. The ideas behind these statements can be traced back to an “ancient quarrel” between poets and philosophers (Plato, Republic). By reading philosophical and literary texts by great poets and philosophers, including (among others) Plato, Aristotle, Sidney, Shelley, Shakespeare, and Keats, this course will explore the “ancient quarrel” between poets and philosophers and its continuing relevance in modern art and culture. In class discussions and written assignments, we will learn to make arguments about the philosophy of literature and practise literary analysis of both philosophical and literary texts.