The Ancient and Modern Challenges of Technology--Ancient Greek Wisdom by Dr. Pavlos Papadopoulos

2023-06-20

In the Phaedrus, Plato wrote about writing that, “it will create forgetfulness in the learners’ souls, because they will not use their memories, they will trust to external written characters and not remember of themselves.” It seems almost beyond believing that as we worry about technologies such as artificial intelligence and smart phones, Plato considered and rejected the new technology of writing things down on paper. It’s evidence that for millennia, we humans have been inventing new things and debatin...

In the Phaedrus, Plato wrote about writing that, “it will create forgetfulness in the learners’ souls, because they will not use their memories, they will trust to external written characters and not remember of themselves.”

It seems almost beyond believing that as we worry about technologies such as artificial intelligence and smart phones, Plato considered and rejected the new technology of writing things down on paper. It’s evidence that for millennia, we humans have been inventing new things and debating about whether or not they are or are not useful—or even safe.

At the 2023 Wyoming School of Catholic Thought, the college’s adult week, Dr. Pavlos Papadopoulos gave us this introduction to our readings from Sophocles, Plato, Aristotle, and Plutarch.

Readings:

1. Sophocles, Antigone 334–375
2. Plato, Phaedrus 274c–275e
3. Plato, Laws 796e–800b
4. Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 1.2
5. Aristotle, Politics 1.4, 2.8, 7.11
6. Plutarch, Marcellus ¶¶14–19

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