Ancient Greece Archives - Public Seminar

Philosophy

What Did Aristotle Think About Slavery?

Why we need to read great books closely

August 27, 2020 • by Steven B. Smith

I admire Professor Collard’s attempt to defend Aristotle despite his views on slavery. My question is whether he actually held the views she attributes to him. We must avoid two common responses that seem to me misguided. The first is to reject Aristotle out of hand because his views do not ...

Philosophy, the Greeks, and U.S. Settler-colonialism

The Myth of an American Arcadia

February 26, 2020 • by Chiara Bottici

As I read more commentaries about the symbolic impact of such a choice for neo-classical architecture and the way in which it has been embraced by white supremacists to purports a view of the US past as “white only,” I am reminded of a striking fact that impressed me ever since I ...

Enveloped in Suspicion

Physical mail is becoming obsolete as communication moves online

May 25, 2019 • by Judith Donath

Envelopes are one of those banal objects of everyday life we seldom think much about. They are, however, an ancient -- and at one time controversial -- privacy technology. Envelopes render their contents secret. Today, once sealed inside a simple paper envelope, all kinds of messages -- bills, birthday greetings, college ...