Death and the Greeks

For those doing RPE209 and RPE301, but really for anyone interested, a discussion point has been raised by Jeremy Stangroom on the Talking Philosophy website. Jeremy asks the following:

In the Phaedo, Cebes suggests to Socrates that a common fear amongst people is that the soul will be extinguished upon death.
Was that a common fear at the time? (The stuff I’ve been reading has sort of suggested that what people were really afraid of was that bad things might happen to their souls after death. But it’s possible I’ve been reading the wrong stuff.)
Is there a standard text dealing with attitudes towards death in Ancient Greece?

Prince Henry's High School - Evesham - Death and beyond...

Yesterday saw another school visit, to talk to the A Level students in Evesham at Prince Henry's High School -
Where the friendly, cofffee-providing staff helped us through a 2 hour session - on life-after-death (though we decided this was a problematic phrase) and religious language.

I was subjected to a range of rather difficult, but insightful, questions: and really enjoyed my visit. I hope to be back before too long.

For something on the philosophy of mind - how it relates to the notion of 'surviving death' see http://r-p-e.blogspot.com/2008/02/brimsham-green-school-yate-visit.html or HERE - or the very clear account HERE...

Cheers, Dave

Rushcliffe School Visit

Phew - this has been a manic set of school visits - but it is proving very exciting - giving a taste of University-style sessions -and getting to talk to a wide range of teachers and students: I am certainly learning a lot!

Today I did a long round-trip up to Nottingham - to Rushcliffe school - to talk mainly about Buddhism. The subject index I mentioned for Pali texts - very useful - is at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/index-subject.html. Pupils may also find my Four Noble Truths podcast (and accompanying text) useful - access it via http://r-p-e.blogspot.com/2007/02/buddhism-podcast-2-four-noble-truths.html. For a podcast on Not-Self (from Milinda's Questions) see http://r-p-e.blogspot.com/2007/02/buddhism-podcast-3.html

Hope these help - and hope to visit again at some stage - Dave