Virtual Colloquium 3, featuring Dominik Perler

I am pleased to announce that Dominik Perler (HU Berlin) will be the speaker at the next virtual colloquium.

Title: “Olivi on Personhood.”

Abstract: Following Boethius, most medieval philosophers defined a person as an individual substance of a rational nature. However, in the late thirteenth century Peter John Olivi presented a new definition, characterizing a person as an entity that “fully returns to itself and abides in itself or that perfectly reflects upon itself.” In my paper I intend to shed light on this new definition. I will first examine Olivi’s account of reflection, analyzing it against the background of his general theory of cognition. I will then look at the role he assigns to the will in the process of reflection, paying particular attention to the function of the will as a self-moving power. My aim is to show that Olivi did not simply give up the Boethian definition. He rather reinterpreted it by giving a new account of rationality: a person is an individual substance of a volitional nature.

Time: Thursday, April 9, 18:00 in Berlin (10am in Boulder).

Link: https://iea-paris.zoom.us/j/477208265

The event is open to all and, for those able to watch live, there will be a Q&A afterwards. The talk will also be recorded, and the link to the recording will be posted here.

 

Virtual Colloquium 2, featuring Peter Adamson

This week’s Virtual Colloquium features Peter Adamson (LMU Munich):

Time: Thursday, April 2, 18:00 Munich / 10am Boulder

Watch the recorded talk here.

Title: ‘Averroes’ “Decisive Treatise” as a Dialectical Work.’

Abstract:

Perhaps the most famous text from the Islamic world that combines the themes of philosophy and law is the Decisive Treatise (Faṣl al-Maqāl) by Averroes (Ibn Rushd, d. 1198). As is routinely noted by scholars, the Treatise is a legal determination of the role of philosophy within Islam: it argues that Muslims are enjoined to do philosophy insofar as they are capable of doing so. In making this case, Averroes sets out a famous distinction between three levels of discourse, inspired by Aristotle’s logical corpus: demonstration, dialectic, and rhetoric. The central question of my paper is what sort of discourse is being used in the Treatise itself. Discussing this work alongside the closely related Kashf (Exposition), I argue that Averroes is consciously adopting a dialectical mode of argumentation. This may seem strange, since Averroes often seems to use “dialectic” as a term of abuse, as when he convicts the mutakallimūn of engaging in dialectical argumentation. I argue however that he sees an important positive role for dialectic in clearing the ground for proper, demonstrative, philosophical discourse, and that techniques recommended in Aristotle’s Topics are being put to good use in both the Treatise and the Exposition.

Virtual Colloquium Update

A request about this week:  The first virtual colloquium is this Thursday, with Eleonore Stump.  See the previous post for details and the Zoom link.  Although it’s hard to say how many will turn up to watch live, I am concerned that the number may be large. So I would like to ask that, if you have invited your undergraduate students to join us, you ask them to wait and watch the recorded video. Perhaps this precaution will prove unnecessary, but if 10 professors ask their classes to watch live — and of course we are all searching for online content! — then we might quickly find ourselves with not enough virtual space.

An announcement about next week: I’m very pleased to report that Professor Peter Adamson (LMU Munich) will be our next speaker, on Thursday, April 2, 18:00 Munich, 10am Boulder. His topic will be ‘Averroes’ “Decisive Treatise” as a Dialectical Work.’

The Virtual Medieval Colloquium, featuring Eleonore Stump

In lieu of my usual conference announcements, I am writing to announce a very special virtual colloquium — an opportunity to connect across the globe at a time at which many of us are feeling disconnected and disconcerted.

So, I am hereby announcing — beginning this Thursday — the Virtual Medieval Colloquium.

The inaugural speaker in what I hope will be a weekly series will be Eleonore Stump, the Robert J. Henle Professor of Philosophy at St. Louis University.

Her topic will be “Aquinas on the image of God in human nature and its perfection in the afterlife.”

You can watch live and participate in the Q & A this Thursday (March 26, 2020), at 6pm in Paris / 12 noon in St. Louis, by following this Zoom link: https://iea-paris.zoom.us/j/700254497. (There is no need to contact me directly. All are welcome to join the meeting, up to whatever Zoom permits, which may be 300.)

A recording of the talk is available here.

Thanks to the Institut d’Etudes Avancées de Paris for providing the infrastructure to make this event possible.

Purdue etc.

The main news I have to share is that the three-year postdoc in medieval philosophy at Purdue University is, all of a sudden, being advertised for next fall. The deadline is very soon — March 1st, 2020.  Details here.

A few other items:

• The Avicenna Study Group is meeting June 3-5, 2020, at Trier University. Small travel grants are available to students interested in attending. Students seeking a grant should directly and immediately contact Andreas Lammer.
• St. Bonaventure University (New York) has announced its summer programs for 2020. They’re very theological in orientation, but perhaps of interest.

Varia, even a job in Colorado

• Stockholm University is advertising a three-year postdoc position on The Mechanization of Philosophy between 1300 and 1700. The application deadline is March 31, 2020.
• The University of Campinas in Brazil is advertising a postdoc position in ancient or medieval philosophy. The application deadline is February 28, 2020.
• Colorado State University, just up the road from where I live, is advertising a senior position for a scholar working “within the Catholic intellectual tradition.” I don’t have any inside information on what they are looking for, but medievalists (on the Christian side) would presumably be well qualified. Deadline Feb. 24, 2020.
• Columbia University’s Center for New Narratives in Philosophy is sponsoring a workshop this weekend: “Seeking Authority: Women, Genre, and Philosophical Reflection in Medieval and Early Modern Europe.” (NYC, February 15-16, 2020). Oddly, there seems to be nothing on the web about this, but for information send a query to ah3759@columbia.edu.
• There’s a conference this May in Bologna on Intersections of Theology, Language and Cognition in the Medieval Tradition and Beyond (May 12-13, 2020).
• The Aquinas and “the Arabs” International Working Group is running a conference in London this June, on Philosophy in the Abrahamic Traditions: Structures of Being, World and Mind. (June 11-13, 2020).
• The first Thomistic Summer Conference is being held this June at Thomas Aquinas College in California. The topic is Faith and Reason.  (June 18-20, 2020; cfp deadline is March 7)

Latest News, including even some jobs

Here’s the latest news, all with deadlines approaching very quickly. If you’re hoping to close a gap between your aspirations and your achievements, don’t put off reading this email for too long!

• The University of Groningen is advertising a four-year postdoc in the history of philosophy, to be associated with the Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Thought. Application deadline is January 30, 2020.
• KU Leuven is inviting applicants for a position associated with the Aristoteles Latinus project. This is a tenured, or tenure-track professorial position. Application deadline February 15, 2020.
• St. Bonaventure University (New York) is hiring an assistant or associate professor of theology in the Franciscan tradition. Review of applications begins February 3, 2020.
• Symposium Thomisticum V will take place in Cracow, June 4-6, 2020. The theme is “Aquinas on Action.” Deadline for receipt of abstracts is January 31.
• The folk in Würzburg are advertising a summer school on “Affective Intentionality in Medieval Philosophy and Phenomenology.”  Dates are August 24-28, 2020. Application deadline is February 15.
• The Lumen Christi Institute is advertising their latest round of summer seminars, including one in Chicago on the Five Ways and another in Berkeley on The City of God. Application deadline is February 1.  Details here.
• The University of Notre Dame has announced a new project, their History of Philosophy Forum, which comes with opportunities, among other things, for international scholars to visit UND. See details here. Grant application deadline is February 7, 2020.
• Speaking of Notre Dame, February 1 is the deadline for applying to the previously advertised, first ever, SMRP conference, to take place Sept. 30 – Oct. 2, 2020, in South Bend. I’ll be there, and you should come too. Details here.