LAT 18.01 Mortality and Immortality in Roman Philosophy
An ancient biography reports that during the long night before his suicide, with Caesar’s men outside his bedroom door, the defeated general Cato read twice through the Phaedo, Plato’s famous dialogue on the immortality of the soul. The scene is iconic for a persistent concern of Roman philosophy: does any part of a person live on after death? In this course we trace arguments of Rome’s most important philosophical thinkers both for and against the post-mortem survival of the psyche, and we consider, as well, the reasoning by which Romans managed to find consolation in both answers. Relatedly, we assess both Greek and Roman positions on the permissibility of suicide.
This course can be taken at two different levels. LAT 18 meets conjointly with LAT 27 (Roman Philosophy) and shares much of its content, but with shorter Latin reading assignments and a greater emphasis on language development.
Students whose most recent Latin course was Latin 10 at Dartmouth or an advanced high-school class are encouraged to register for Latin 18. Those who have taken Latin 15 or above at Dartmouth are encouraged to register for Latin 27. The two levels have somewhat different assignments and assessment protocols, the main difference being in the length of assigned readings in Latin and the nature of the writing assignments. For Latin 18, but not for Latin 27, there is also a required X-period every week to work on reading skills for Latin.
The Latin 27 course is eligible for Culminating Experience credit toward the Classics major with permission of the instructor.