Posted by Naoya Iwata

A New Perspective on Plato and his Philosophical Methods

An International Conference for Young Researchers

Kyoto University, JAPAN
20–21st March, 2015

Keynote Speakers:

Sylvain Delcomminette (Université Libre de Bruxelles)

Yasuhira (Yahei) Kanayama (Nagoya University)

It is generally supposed that Plato’s philosophical methodology changed over the course of his carrier. In the early dialogues we see Socrates’ cross-examination, called elenchus, in search of definitions. The middle dialogues introduce Plato’s more constructive approaches in relation to the theory of Forms, such as the theory of recollection, the method of hypothesis, and ‘dialectic’. His methodological concern seems to be dominated in the later works by ‘collection and division’. In addition, we should not forget the role of myths in his philosophy.

This conference aims to investigate how Plato’s distinctive philosophical methods are related or unrelated to each other, with a close analysis of the characteristics of individual approaches. Can we really say that Plato changed or developed his methods? Or do they essentially share the same basic tenet? We welcome abstracts from young researchers (within about 10 years after their PhD degrees), including PhD students (but not MPhils), for papers of approximately 4,000 words (30 minutes for presentation and 15 minutes for discussion) which examine one of the topics above, the relationship between them or some other issues seen as important in terms of Plato’s philosophical methods. Papers which discuss later receptions within ancient philosophy are also welcome as long as their main objectives lie in clarifying relevant issues in Plato’s texts.

One of the objectives of this conference is to facilitate conversations between Japanese and foreign young researchers on Plato. We are expecting 14 speakers in total, of which about 6 will be Japanese and 8 from abroad. Thanks to a generous financial support by Kyoto University, we can provide each speaker with travel and accommodation expenses of 150,000 yen (approx. 1,500 US dollars), except people from East and Southeast Asia, who will be given 70,000 yen, and those living in Japan, who will be paid up to 30,000 yen. Please note that in order to help an audience with better understanding, we produce proceedings which will be given to participants in the conference, for internal use, so it is obligatory to submit your full papers if you are selected for presentations. The language used for the conference is English.

Submission deadline: 14^th November 2014.
Word limit for Abstract: 500 words.
Please put ‘Abstract Submission (Your surname)’ as the subject of your email.
Please include your name, departmental affiliation and position, email address, and title of your paper in the body of the email.
Abstracts should be prepared for blind review.
Please ensure that your abstract is free from identifying personal details and includes the title of your paper at the top.
The notification of the results will be given by the end of November 2014.
Please submit abstracts as .doc or .pdf by email to platosmethod@gmail.com as an attachment (If you do not latinize but write Greek, please use ‘Unicode’ fonts).
Successful speakers will be requested to submit their full papers of approx. 4,000 words excluding footnotes and bibliography by 14^th February 2015.