This course focuses on the very end of the lives of Socrates and Jesus as presented in the works of Xenophon, Plato, Matthew, Luke, and John. The differences in the details of the presentations of the deaths of Jesus and Socrates point to fundamentally different understandings of human beings: our situation, our deficiencies, and our salvation. Although this course attends to the differences between our authors, shared elements in the understanding of the human situation among the Evangelists can be discerned which ground the horror of Jesus’ Passion and the beauty of the Socrates’ death.
Prerequisites
PHI 100 and any intermediate PHI course (151–154).