This seminar-discussion of Plato’s Phaedo is modeled after the educational methods of the “Great Books” programs of St. John’s College, Thomas Aquinas College, and St. Mary’s College’s Integral Program. The professor leading the discussion, John Albert Dragstedt, will lead off with a question which provokes inquiry into the heart of the text, and the discussion thereafter is a matter of the participants engaging the text and each other, with Prof. Dragstedt as “facilitator”. Space is limited so RSVP to Reynaldo Miranda at reynaldo.miranda@gmail.com if you can and desire to join us.
Although any translation is welcome, a recommended one is by St. John's Tutors Eva Brann, Peter Kalkavage, and Eric Salem, in the Focus Philosophical Library series, from R. Pullins Company, 1998, an inexpensive paperback.
Various translations of the text can also be found online, e.g. at http://evans-experientialism.freewebspace.com/plato_phaedo01.htm
Discussion led by Prof. John Albert Dragstedt, PhD in Classical Languages by UC Berkeley, Professor of Classical Languages, and Tutor in the Integral Program, at St. Mary's College of California. Prof. Dragstedt studied under Leo Strauss at the University of Chicago, and has taught at St. Mary's College in Moraga for over 45 years in the faculties of philosophy, history, classics, and the Integral Program (founded 1956 by St. John's Annapolis Tutor Brother Robert Sixtus Smith, FSC). Prof. Dragstedt has lectured at the Santa Fe campus of St. John's College, and participated in the "three dialogues on Liberal Education" held there in April, 1977 (published by the St. John's College Press, 1979).
The event is organized by St. John's College Alumni Association - Northern California Chapter.
