Dear friends, It's a pleasure to announce the publication of this book by Gerard Naddaf with Louis-André Dorion, Making Sense of Myth: Conversations with Luc Brisson, with McGill-Queen’s University Press. https://www.mqup.ca/making-sense-of-myth-products-9780228020714.php
It was with great sadness that we learned of the passing of Anne Gabrièle Wersinger in January 2024. A. G. Wersinger studied literature and philosophy (in preparatory classes and at the Université de Strasbourg), was awarded first place in the Agrégation de philosophie (1979), and taught in secondary schools (1979-1994), before becoming a lecturer at the Université Paris 1 from 1994 to 2006, and then full Professor at the Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne and a member of the Centre Jean Pépin, CNRS. Always on the lookout for the subtleties of the text, A. G. Wersinger’s research has explored the full complexity of the Platonic dialogues, paying attention to the variety of ways in which dialectical operations were carried out in the dialogues. In her dissertation, L’usage des amphibologies dans les dialogues de Platon: essai sur l'interprétation pré-philosophique de la différence, defended under the supervision of Pierre Aubenque in 1992, [...]
According to a middle Platonist, Alcinous, the aim of life is to become as godlike as possible, a theme that Plato addresses in various ways. Indeed, in Republic X, it is said that those who live a life of justice become like god as far as possible for a human being. Famously, in the Theaetetus, Plato argues that to escape from earth is to become like god so far as possible, and this likeness is to be just and pious with wisdom. The concept of godlikeness appears to be intricately connected not just to Plato's ethics, but also to his epistemological views. In Republic VI, philosophers are depicted as gazing upon and imitating the Forms, thus attaining a divine state. Similarly, in the Phaedrus, the philosopher's soul is portrayed as following the divine circular motions, beholding the Forms. Do these descriptions represent various approaches to explaining the same philosophical concept, [...]
Giovanni Casertano was a founding member of the IPS, was born in Santa Maria Capua Vetere on 6 March 1941. A pupil of Giuseppe Martano, the first holder of the History of Ancient Philosophy chair at the University of Naples, he was full professor of History of Ancient Philosophy at the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Naples from 1980 to 2009. A member of the College of Honorary Citizens of the ancient city of Elea and Doctor honoris causa at the University of Brasilia, a refined scholar of the pre-Socratics, the Sophists and, above all, of his beloved Plato, he taught generations of students to think katà philosophian. With Gabriele Giannantoni, Mario Vegetti and Giovanni Cerri, as well as with many other scholars, both Italian and foreign, now deceased, he collaborated in the construction of the best international philosophical historiography on antiquity. Among his many important books, we [...]
In memoriam Maurizio Migliori (1943-2023) Maurizio Migliori, was born in 1943 and graduated from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan with Giovanni Reale. He taught History of Ancient Philosophy, first as an associate Professor from 1991 to 2000 and then as a full professor from 2000 to 2015 at the University of Macerata, where he animated a highly participative teaching activity and research activity focused especially on Plato and Aristotle, which generated a remarkable flowering of qualified studies. He himself was an influential member of the International Plato Society and vice-president of the Italian Society for the History of Philosophy. Among his numerous publications, we would like to mention the seminal work entitled Il disordine ordinato. La filosofia dialettica di Platone (Plato's Dialectical Philosophy), Morcelliana, Brescia 2013, divided into two volumes: Dialectics, Metaphysics and Cosmology and From the Soul to Ethical and Political Praxis. Valuable, among other things, is his [...]
“Eines Morgens wachst Du nicht mehr auf, die Vögel aber singen, wie sie gestern sangen. Nichts ändert diesen Tageslauf. Nur Du bist fortgegangen, Du bist nun frei und unsere Tränen wünschen Dir Glück“ "One morning you will no longer wake up, but the birds will sing as they sang yesterday. Nothing changes this course of the day. Only you have gone away, you are now free and our tears wish you happiness“ With these heartfelt words the Szlezák family announces the departure of Thomas Alexander Szlezák on 18 October, after a brief but difficult illness. He was not only a co-founder but also an active member of the IPS, both on the Executive Committee and the Editorial Board. His publications include first and foremost his edition and commentary on the Pseudo Archytas über die Kategorien (1972). His Habilitationschrift was on Platon und Aristoteles in der Nuslehre Plotins(1979). Together with K. [...]
The Czech Plato Society is pleased to announce the XIVth Symposium Platonicum Pragense on Plato's Theory of Soul. The conference will be held in Prague, Czech Republic, from 19 to 21 October 2023, both in person and online. The conference programme and the link for online access can be found here: https://www.platonskaspolecnost.cz/en/.
Holger Thesleff 1924–2023 On October 6th we heard the sad news from Helsinki that our esteemed colleague Holger Thesleff passed away on October 3rd. According to his son, who was present, he did so “peacefully and without pain.” He had not been his usual self since an illness last year, even though he had been amazingly active well into his nineties. Among his best known works were two early studies of the Pythagorean corpus of the Hellenistic era (1961, 1965); and three monographs on Plato: Studies in the Styles of Plato (1967), Studies in Platonic Chronology (1982) and Studies in Plato’s Two-Level Model (1999), all conveniently included in Platonic Patterns (2009). He also helped build up a literature on Plato in the Swedish and Finnish languages. He was a regular and valued contributor at the symposia of the International Plato Society. Some months before his death he learned that his final paper, “Afterthoughts on ‘School Accumulation’ in Plato’s Academy,” was [...]
Prof. Tomás Calvo Martínez (1942-2023) It is with great sadness and difficulty that we must announce to our members the passing of our beloved former IPS President, Prof.Tomás Calvo Martínez. He passed away on 1st October, in the company of his son Néstor and members of his family. A dear friend and excellent colleague, he has been our mentor and a supportive, vibrant member of academia. Naturally generous and sympathetic, he has contributed to our Society in many fruitful ways. Prof. Tomás Calvo has contributed to putting Spain on the map of countries that carry out serious and fruitful research in the field of the history of ancient philosophy. He became President of the International Plato Society in the period 1992-1995, as organiser of the IV International Plato Symposium in Granada, bringing together the best specialists in the world in the study and interpretation of the dialogues Timaeus and Critias [...]
THOMAS M. ROBINSON Thomas More Robinson passed away on April 29, 2023, in Paris, France, at the age of 86, following an accident. Predeceased last year by his beloved wife, Erna Paris, he is survived by his stepchildren Michelle Paris and Roland Paris (Katie); grandchildren Julia, Simon and Jacqueline; brother Gerard Robinson in Newcastle, England; brother-in-law Peter Newman (Renée Bouthot) and sister-in-law Jill Solnicki; and numerous nieces and nephews. Born in 1936 to Alban and Emily Robinson in Houghton-le-Spring, a mining town in northeast England, Tom was the second-youngest of eleven siblings, nine of whom predeceased him: Sydney, John, Terry, Francis, Winifred, George, Lester, Joseph, and Bernard. The family’s encyclopedia was his childhood window onto the wider world. He went on to study classics and philosophy at the Universities of Durham and Oxford, spending summers as a tour guide in Europe. His adventures continued when he moved to [...]