[PHILOS-L] [CORRECTION!]: CfA – ISNS panel on Aristotle’s Metaphysics in Neoplatonic and Medieval Thought (abstracts due 19 January)

[Timo Zarakovitis]

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Dear colleagues,

At the upcoming June meeting of the International Society for Neoplatonic Studies (ISNS), we are organizing a panel entitled:

“Agreement, Disagreement, and Interpretation: Aristotle’s Metaphysics in Neoplatonic and Medieval Thought.”

The panel explores how Neoplatonists and medieval philosophers (Latin and Byzantine) read and used Aristotle’s Metaphysics within their own systems. While papers on any part of the work are welcome, we are especially interested in Alpha Meizon, Alpha Elatton, and Beta, and in how these books are employed to define first philosophy, order causes, and frame or resolve aporiai.

A central concern of the panel is authority and canonicity: how Neoplatonic and scholastic authors reconstruct Aristotle’s own position or his reception of earlier thinkers, and how particular books, chapters, or lemmata of the Metaphysics acquire a special canonical status.

Possible topics include (but are not limited to):

• Strategies for harmonizing or opposing Plato and Aristotle, or Aristotle and Christianity (e.g. hierarchy of the sciences, the role of theology, the value of aporia).
• The place of the Metaphysics within scholastic philosophical systems and its role in shaping key metaphysical notions.
• Authority and canonicity: how prolegomena, divisio textus, citation practices, and teaching contexts rank Aristotle among other authorities and confer special status on certain books.
• Comparative studies that put Neoplatonic and medieval/Scholastic commentators into dialogue on the same passages of the Metaphysics.

Proposals should briefly indicate

1. the Neoplatonic and/or medieval text(s) to be discussed;
2. the relevant parts of Aristotle’s Metaphysics; and
3. the intended interpretative payoff (agreement, disagreement, or constructive reinterpretation), with particular attention to how commentary practices authorize or de-authorize Aristotle’s text.

Please send an abstract by 19 January to both organizers:

• Nastas Jakšić – nastas...@helsinki.fi
• Timo Zarakovitis– timo.zar...@kuleuven.be

We would be grateful if you could circulate this announcement to anyone who might be interested.

Best wishes,

Nastas Jakšić & Timo Zarakovitis

---

Van: Timo Zarakovitis
Verzonden: dinsdag 2 december 2025 10:13
Aan: phil...@liv.ac.uk <phil...@liv.ac.uk>
Onderwerp: CfA – ISNS panel on Aristotle’s Metaphysics in Neoplatonic and Medieval Thought (abstracts due 19 January)

 

Dear colleagues,

At the upcoming June meeting of the International Society for Neoplatonic Studies (ISNS), we are organizing a panel entitled:

“Agreement, Disagreement, and Interpretation: Aristotle’s Metaphysics in Neoplatonic and Medieval Thought.”

The panel explores how Neoplatonists and medieval philosophers (Latin and Byzantine) read and used Aristotle’s Metaphysics within their own systems. While papers on any part of the work are welcome, we are especially interested in Alpha Meizon, Alpha Elatton, and Beta, and in how these books are employed to define first philosophy, order causes, and frame or resolve aporiai.

A central concern of the panel is authority and canonicity: how Neoplatonic and scholastic authors reconstruct Aristotle’s own position or his reception of earlier thinkers, and how particular books, chapters, or lemmata of the Metaphysics acquire a special canonical status.

Possible topics include (but are not limited to):

• Strategies for harmonizing or opposing Plato and Aristotle, or Aristotle and Christianity (e.g. hierarchy of the sciences, the role of theology, the value of aporia).
• The place of the Metaphysics within scholastic philosophical systems and its role in shaping key metaphysical notions.
• Authority and canonicity: how prolegomena, divisio textus, citation practices, and teaching contexts rank Aristotle among other authorities and confer special status on certain books.
• Comparative studies that put Neoplatonic and medieval/Scholastic commentators into dialogue on the same passages of the Metaphysics.

Proposals should briefly indicate

1. the Neoplatonic and/or medieval text(s) to be discussed;
2. the relevant parts of Aristotle’s Metaphysics; and
3. the intended interpretative payoff (agreement, disagreement, or constructive reinterpretation), with particular attention to how commentary practices authorize or de-authorize Aristotle’s text.

Please send an abstract and a short academic bio by 19 January to both organizers:

• Nastas Jakšić – nastas...@helsinki.fi
• Timo Zarakvotis – timo.za...@kuleuven.be

We would be grateful if you could circulate this announcement to anyone who might be interested.

Best wishes,

Nastas Jakšić & Timo Zarakvotis

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