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The Teaching Company: Practical Philosophy: The Greco-Roman MoralistsTaught by Luke Timothy JohnsonEmory UniversityPh.D., Yale University24 lectures, 30 minutes/lectureIn Practical Philosophy: The Greco-Roman Moralists, Professor Luke Timothy Johnson introduces you to the sages who, as group, represent the missing page of the history of philosophy. Although their names are sometimes familiar, as in the case of Cicero and Plutarch, their philosophy is not.Classical Greek philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle are fine—if lofty thinking is what you want.But philosophy means love of wisdom, not love of thinking. What about solid advice on how to be a good father or friend; or how to grow old gracefully, or know what true happiness is?Where can you find philosophy that tells you not how to think well, but how to live well?That practical philosophy can be found in the works of Marcus Tullius Cicero, Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, Dio Chrysostom, and Plutarch of Chaeronea, among others. These Greeks and Romans of the early imperial period—from the 1st century B.C.E. to the 2nd century C.E.—devoted their lives not to metaphysics and epistemology but to the appreciation and practice of morality and virtue, values and character.Course Lecture Titles1. The World of the Greco-Roman Moralists2. How Empire Changed Philosophy3. The Great Schools and Their Battles4. Dominant Themes and metaphors5. The Ideal Philosopher—A Composite Portrait6. The Charlatan—Philosophy Betrayed7. Philosophy Satirized—The Comic Lucian8. Cicero—The Philosopher as Politician9. Seneca—Philosopher as Court Advisor10. Good Roman Advice—Cicero and Seneca11. Musonius Rufus—The Roman Socrates12. Dio Chrysostom—The Wandering Rhetorician13. Dio Chrysostom—Preaching Peace and Piety14. Epictetus—Philosopher as School Teacher15. Epictetus—The Stotic Path to Virtue16. Epictetus—The Messenger of Zeus17. Marcus Aurelius—Meditations of the King18. Jews Thinking Like Greeks19. Philo—Judaism as Greek Philosophy20. Plutarch—Biography as Moral Instruction21. Plutarch and Philosophical Religion22. Plutarch on Virtue and Educating Children23. Plutarch—Envy, Anger, and Talking Too Much24. The Missing Page in Philosophy’s Story