[PHILOS-L] Call for Papers - Style and Substance: Lexis and its Application in Aristotelian Philosophy (Durham University)

[HORKY, PHILLIP]

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On behalf of the Aristoteles Pezographos research project and the Durham Centre for Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, we are happy to invite advanced PhD students and early career colleagues to submit paper proposals to present at a workshop, ‘Style and Substance: Lexis and its Application in Aristotelian Philosophy’, to take place in person in Durham from 11th-13th June 2025. Confirmed workshop presenters include: Edoardo Benati (Padova), Giulia Bonasio (Durham), Pierre Destrée (Louvain), Jamie Dow (Leeds), Phillip Horky (Durham), Doug Hutchinson (Toronto), Monte Johnson (UCSD), and Laura Viidebaum (NYU).

Paper proposals should be 300-500 words and should address one or more of the topics for the workshop, which can be found below. Eligible candidates should be advanced PhD students or early career colleagues working in Classics, Ancient Philosophy, or related fields. The selection committee does not stipulate a specific distance from PhD degree for the designation 'early career', since there are many pathways to professional development; but if applicants feel it necessary to provide further information regarding distance from doctorate, the selection committee be happy to consider it. Papers will be presented in English and last 45 minutes total (30 minutes for the paper, followed by 15 minutes of discussion).

Generous financial support from the Aristoteles Pezographos project means that will be able to cover costs for PhD students' and early career colleagues' travel to/from Durham (up to £500 per presenter), accommodation in Durham (two nights, including breakfast) and a conference dinner on the evening of 12th June.

Paper proposals must be received by 1pm GMT on Wednesday 6th February for consideration. Please email all proposals to both workshop co-organizers, Phillip Horky (Philli...@Durham.ac.uk) and Rosie Wyles (Mary.R...@Durham.ac.uk).

Support for this conference is generously provided by United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI), via Aristoteles Pezographos, and the Durham Centre for Ancient and Medieval Philosophy (DCAMP). For more information about the research project Aristoteles Pezographos: the Writing Styles of Aristotle and their Contribution to the Evolution of Ancient Greek Prose, please visit our website here.

All best wishes

Prof. Phillip Horky and Dr Rosie Wyles

(Conference co-organisers)

‘Style and Substance: Lexis and its Application in Aristotelian Philosophy’

The UKRI-funded Aristoteles Pezographos research group at Durham University hypothesizes that Aristotle’s notion of compositional style (lexis) influences many aspects of his philosophy. 

In order to test this hypothesis, we are asking scholars to consider a number of relevant questions: what, exactly, are the characteristics of Aristotle’s notion of lexis? How does Aristotelian lexis, which is chiefly formulated in Rhetoric Book III, inform his scientific methodology and technical practice, including his theories of philosophy and dialectic? What are the limits of lexis, i.e., at what stages of human activity are the characteristics of style operative (or non-operative)? Is lexis the same, or different, for the ‘exoteric’ and ‘esoteric’ writings of Aristotle? Does lexis have a specific function in Aristotelian theories of learning? What role does lexis play in the constitution of the human subject? How does lexis inform and even condition emotional response and human action? Does lexis operate according to fundamental principles of structure, e.g., parts and wholes? What is the exact nature of lexis, and what are its correspondences with reality as expressed through speech? Finally, in the light of these questions, what impact does Aristotelian lexis have on the methodologies of post-Aristotelian philosophers, scientists, technical, or medical writers?

In order to pursue answers to these and other related questions, Aristoteles Pezographos plans to hold a workshop in Durham, in co-sponsorship with the Durham Centre for Ancient and Medieval Philosophy (DCAMP), 11th-13th June 2025. The workshop will be divided up according to three separate but interlinked aims:

(1) Defining Aristotelian lexis and recognizing its methodological applications across Aristotle’s corpus;

(2) Determining the impact of lexis on the constitution of the human agent in Aristotle’s works (including, but not exclusive to, rhetoric and poetics);

(3) Evaluating the ancient reception of Aristotelian lexis in philosophical, scientific, technical, and medical literature after Aristotle’s death (from the 4th century BCE – the 6th century CE)

Phillip Horky

Professor of Ancient Philosophy

Department of Classics & Ancient History

Durham University

Durham Centre for Ancient and Medieval Philosophy (DCAMP)

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