Humanities Forum — Phillip Mitsis

Phillip Mitsis, A. S. Onassis Professor of Hellenic Culture and Civilization, Professor of Classics and Hellenic Studies, and Affiliated Professor of Philosophy and Medieval and Renaissance Studies, New York University
Plato on the Morality of Hate
The Ancient Studies Week Lecture, organized by the Department of Ancient Studies
This event is part of the Fall 2024 Humanities Forum.

In reading ancient philosophers, we often face unsettling claims. A case in point is Plato’s view of hatred: he thinks that children must be taught to love the right things and to hate bad things. These are not childhood lessons to be abandoned in adulthood. Plato argues that to love what is good, philosophers must wholeheartedly hate things that are bad. Many Western philosophers before Kant adopted Plato’s views, including Christian thinkers relying on Luke 14.26. This talk examines the place of hatred in our moral lives and asks such questions as “Should we hate racism, genocide, sexism, etc., or is there no place for that?”

Phillip Mitsis is the Alexander S. Onassis Professor of Hellenic Culture and Civilization, Professor of Classics and Hellenic Studies, and affiliated Professor of Philosophy and Medieval and Renaissance Studies at New York University (NYU). He came to NYU from Cornell where he was Mellon Chair in the Humanities. He has been a visiting professor at Aberdeen (Philosophy), Pittsburgh (Philosophy), and Princeton (Classics), and a recipient of fellowships from the National Humanities Center, the Howard Foundation, the ACLS, and the NEH. From 1994 until 2005 he was director of the A.S. Onassis Center and then A.S. Onassis Program in Hellenic Studies at NYU. Mitsis teaches a wide variety of courses that focus on ancient, medieval, and modern philosophical, historical, and literary texts. His primary research interests are in Hellenistic philosophy and its influence in subsequent periods of philosophy.

Admission is free.

This lecture is organized by the Department of Ancient Studies and is co-sponsored by the Department of Philosophy and the Dresher Center for the Humanities.

Photo: Noel Comess