Workshop: Platonist Discourses on Dualism. 1st c. BC to 3rd c. AD

Since at least Plato dualism – the idea that there are two distinct types of reality that possibly have different origins – is a central topic of philosophy where it is addressed from a wide range of perspectives: metaphysics, psychology, epistemology, and ethics. In the Imperial Age (27 BC – AD 284) this issue is infused with non-Greek influences and perspectives (e.g. Gnosticism, Hermeticism), hailing mostly from the Eastern part of the Roman empire. Some of these lead to a stronger form of dualism whereby matter and evil are said to arise from a separate evil principle. Towards the end of the Imperial Age and the rise of Neoplatonism this view will be resolutely rejected in favour of a clear-cut monism. Up to now there still exists no true inclusive overview of this concept in the Imperial Age. The principal reason for this is the relatively recent exploration of philosophy in this period as well as the exclusion of sources that are not strictly philosophical. The workshop Platonist Discourses on Dualism. 1st c. BC to 3rd c. AD will bring together an interdisciplinary team of scholars tasked with considering how this can be done.

Confirmed speakers:

Kasra Abdavi Azar (KU Leuven/Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg)

Dylan M. Burns (University of Amsterdam)

Phillip Horky (Durham University)

Lloyd Gerson (University of Toronto)

Rareș Marinescu (University of Toronto)

Arianna Piazzalunga (University of Turin)

Denis Robichaud (University of Notre Dame)

Christian Wildberg (University of Pittsburgh)

Organizer: Rareș Marinescu