Platonism and Neoplatonism Unit
The Vision of God and the Divine Intellect
The vision of God is one of the key topics of Western philosophy and is frequently linked to a model of intellect derived from the Platonic tradition. This panel invites papers that explore how images of ‘vision’ relate to strictly epistemological and metaphysical concerns? These are issues that have captivated philosophers from Plato, to Nicholas of Cusa, to Spinoza, to Hegel and beyond. The notion of divine vision has generated numerous difficulties, as evinced by the critiques of many recent philosophers writing in the wake of both Heidegger and the twentieth century empiricists, both of whom have often been unsparing in their critiques of such metaphysical models. Analysis of some recent reflection on this topic from philosophers such as Jean-Luc Marion or Stephen Clark would be welcome. Papers are invited from both a historical and systematic perspective.
The Great Chain of Being
The Great Chain of Being is perhaps the most distinctive aspect of what C.S. Lewis described as ‘The Discarded Image’. Is the modern age best considered as the rejection of the scala naturae that shaped the Western mind from Parmenides to Dionysius the Areopagite, Dante, and Shakespeare? Since Descartes, many philosophers have tended to view human minds as ‘ghosts in the machine’ and as radically dislocated from ‘nature’. Others have subsumed the human person into ‘nature’ challenging the aspects of human nature that resist reduction to the ‘physicalist’ paradigm, such as ‘consciousness’ ‘intentionality’ or a ‘sense of value’. Some have viewed this dichotomy between Cartesianism and materialism as one reason for the ecological crisis. Are there good reasons for viewing the human being as a ‘part’ of nature, and yet occupying a unique role and responsibility in the ‘chain of being’? What are the prospects for the idea of the ‘chain of being’ without theology? Papers are invited from both a historical and systematic perspective.
Participatory Thought in the Platonic and Augustinian Tradition
The past several years have witnessed renewed interest in participatory metaphysics, a key conceptual element of the Platonic tradition. Participation has been employed in different ways to conceptualize the relationship between God and creation, transcendence and immanence, and the One in the many. In this context Augustine, and numerous figures influenced by his thought, have made important and innovative contributions to this tradition. As such, it represents a theological and philosophical conversation that has continued across centuries. This panel invites papers that consider participatory metaphysics that examine either Augustine and Augustine-influenced thinkers, as well as papers that consider participation in the wider Platonic tradition.
Deification
This is a co-sponsored session with the AAR Platonism and Neoplatonism Unit & SBL Religion and Philosophy in Antiquity Unit
This book review panel focuses on the biblical and philosophical roots of the doctrine of deification by discussing Part One of ‘The Oxford Handbook of Deification’, edited by Paul Gavrilyuk, Andrew Hofer, and Matthew Levering. In what sense is the concept of deification 'biblical'? How did Platonism and its later Christian and non-Christian expressions influence the development of this doctrine? What does the history of patristic and medieval biblical exegesis have to teach us about the significance of the doctrine of deification? What are the most significant shifts in the contemporary reception and appropriation of deification? A panel of three experts, to be chosen through the Call for Papers, will discuss these and related topics in conversation with two volume co-editors, Paul Gavrilyuk and Matthew Levering.
Platonism in the Religious Traditions of Eastern Late Antiquity
We are interested in proposals related to the reception of Plato and the Platonic tradition in the context of the religious traditions of Eastern Late Antiquity, including Jewish, Christian, and early Islamic voices in that time and place as well as proposals that take comparative approaches to these traditions and contexts.
This unit is committed to the ongoing study of Platonic traditions in connection with the history and philosophy of religions, from antiquity to the present. In this context we seek to feature the research of new and established scholars working in the field. We provide an avenue for the dissemination of new historical scholarship, as well as scholarship that draws upon the tradition as a resource to engage important contemporary questions. Many panelists publish their research through the many avenues that arise out of the unit’s collaborative endeavours.