Victor Caston, Professor of Philosophy and Classical Studies at the University of Michigan, will lead a one-day workshop on Alexander of Aphrodisias’ treatise De Anima, which is a systematic restatement and a philosophical defense of Aristotle’s core doctrines in his De Anima . Working on the first complete English translation and commentary of this important treatise for the Ancient Commentators Project (ed. Richard Sorabji), Caston will, in the first session, present general issues e.g. on Alexander’s Naturalism, Supervenience, Emergentism, and Alexander’s Theory of Perception. In the remaining three session, these topics will be taken up and discussed with a view on specific sections of Alexander’s text, in turn introduced in short comments (20 – 30 min.) by Miira Tuominen (Helsinki), George Karamanolis (Kreta / z.Zt. Stipendiat der Humboldt Stiftung), and Jakub Krajczynski (TOPOI’s Mapping Body and Soul).

Program

8.3.2011
10:00 - 11:30
Introduction: Alexander of Aphrodisias 'De Anima'
Victor Caston
11:45 - 13:15
Comment on Alexander's Hylomorphism in De Anima 2.10 - 11.13
Jakub Deuretzbacher
15:00 - 16:30
Comment on Alexander's critic on the Harmony Theory of Soul in De Anima 24.18 - 26.30
George Karamanolis
16:45 - 18:15
Comment on Alexander's Theory of Perception in De Anima 38.15 - 40.19
Miira Tuominen