Happiness as Contemplation in Plato, Aristotle, and Plotinus

Plato, Aristotle, and Plotinus each seem to think that the best possible life is one spent contemplating—in other words, spent exercising theoretical knowledge not for any practical benefit. In this course, we will examine (1) whether each of them holds this view, and if so, (2) why they think this and (3) how they address questions and puzzles that arise for such a view. Why is contemplation the best activity we can engage in? How does contemplation differ from other rational activities, including practical reasoning? What are the proper objects of contemplation and why is contemplation only of these? Is there a tension between living a contemplative life and acting ethically? Is there a tension between a contemplative life and a practical life? We will read selections from Plato's Republic, Phaedrus, Theaetetus, and Timaeus, from Aristotle's Protrepticus, Eudemian Ethics, and Nicomachean Ethics and from Plotinus' Enneads.