CALL FOR PAPERS
INDETERMINACY IN ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
Convenors:
Ugo Zilioli (Oxford University) and Refik Güremen (Middle East Technical U., Ankara)
Literature on indeterminacy and vagueness has expanded rapidly, especially since the late twentieth century. In recent decades, the debate has intensified, driven by a growing interest in metaphysical and ontic indeterminacy. Philosophers are exploring various models and methods to investigate indeterminacy and vagueness across multiple fields, including the metaphysics of ordinary objects, personal identity, mereology, states of affairs, truth-making, philosophy of physics, and time, alongside traditional sorites paradoxes. The discussion is largely shaped by a trichotomy of semantic, epistemological, and metaphysical approaches (J. Robert G. Williams, Philosophy Compass, 2008), with recent advancements in modality and hyperintensionality also contributing to the discourse.
It is reasonable to hope that these contemporary developments will inform, illuminate, and motivate fresh interpretations in the history of philosophy, particularly regarding ancient Greek and Latin thought. Epistemic issues concerning the sorites and future contingents were already being debated by Aristotle’s time, and current scholarship has provided a deep understanding of these disputes. However, one might argue that Greek philosophers noticed problems related to indeterminacy long before Aristotle, and their interest was not limited to the sorites or future contingents. The same applies to the post-Classical period. Although the sorites paradox was once again a point of contention between the Stoics and the Sceptics, the shift from epistemological issues to metaphysical ones in the debate between the Stoics and the Academics (as suggested by Charles Snyder, Bloomsbury 2021) may reveal new philosophical concerns regarding the indeterminate nature of reality and our access to it.
The goal of this conference is to explore new ways of analyzing Ancient Greek approaches to indeterminacy by considering recent debates on the subject. We invite scholars to revisit themes associated with indeterminacy in ancient philosophy and to explore new approaches in light of current developments in indeterminacy and vagueness studies.
Conference Topics Include, but Are Not Limited to:
– Pre-Socratic cosmogonies -Heraclitus’ ontology of flux
-Megarian perspectives on indeterminacy
-Eleatic views on indeterminacy
-Gorgias on being and non-being; Gorgias’ Encomium and the indeterminism of moral values -Protagoras’ relativism and its epistemological and ethical issues
-Democritus’ atomism -Cyrenaic epistemology and ethics
-Plato on conflicting appearances, the flux doctrine, and language
-Aristotle on the principle of non-contradiction, and his ontology of material objects and change
-The Stoics-Academics debate on kataleptic cognition; epistemological and metaphysical issues in the indistinguishability problem
-The nature of ancient skepticism and indeterminacy in Pyrrho, Aenesidemus, and Sextus
-Sorites and future contingents
(At this stage, we particularly encourage submissions on Pre-Socratic cosmogonies, Heraclitus, the Eleatics, Gorgias, Aenesidemus, and Sextus Empiricus).
A key question for each theme could be:
What is the nature of the indeterminacy in question? Is it semantic, epistemological, or metaphysical?
We invite scholars to submit their abstracts (at least 750 words), prepared for a 40-minute presentation, to phil@metu.edu.tr by August 20, 2024. Submissions should be prepared for blind review and sent as a separate file (docx or pdf only). Please include a title page with the title of the presentation, the author’s name, a mini-bio, institutional affiliation, and email address. The language of the conference is English.
The conference will be held at the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara in May 2025. There is no participation fee for the conference. (Speakers of accepted submissions will be required to cover their own accommodation and catering costs.)