The Presocratics and their Contemporary Relevance with Bruno Gulli

In this course, we examine the metaphysics/ontology of individuation, rupture, singularity, and time. Indeed, the question that starts philosophical thinking (What is it?) is not only the question about the essence of reality, the whatness of things, but it is also the question of the process of individuation, change, and ultimately of singularity. The second, but more foundational, question, asked by Parmenides (Is it or is it not?), will, perhaps paradoxically, provide us with the critical tools for an understanding of the dialectics of existence, the vortex of becoming described by Heraclitus. The relationship between being and becoming, permanence and change (Parmenides and Heraclitus) will be central throughout the course. This is the question of time, which we will problematize starting from the original thought of Anaximander. Yet, the point is to also appreciate the importance of this early thinking for (and in) our own times. We will also make reference to other philosophical traditions, such as Taoism in China.

Venue:

James Baldwin High School
Room 317
351 West 18th St
New York, NY 10011

(7:00–9:00pm): an seven week course beginning October 7th, 2019 - $15 per session or $90 for all seven sessions.

Readings:

Patricia Curd's Reader of Presocratic Philosophy

John Burnet's Early Greek Philosophy

Martin Heidegger's Early Greek Thinking

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