CFP: The philosophy of non-philosophers in the Greco-Roman Empire

The philosophy of non-philosophers in the Greco-Roman Empire
(first-third century CE)

Thursday 18 and Friday, 19 June 2015
Université Stendhal-Grenoble III
Grenoble, France

Symposium organized in collaboration with the Universities of Paris-Sorbonne and Paris Est-Créteil, with the support of the Institut Universitaire de France

Philosophy has always attracted the fascination of and exerted influence over authors. Accordingly, far from being limited to an elite circle of professionals, this discipline has nourished ancient texts of all kinds (rhetorical, historical, poetical, dramaturgical etc.) in the form of reminiscences, allusions, quotations, distortions, rewriting. Philosophy simply is an intellectual and cultural point of reference impossible to escape. We wish to devote this symposium to highlighting the pivotal role philosophy plays in non-philosophical literature both Greek and Roman in the imperial period.

We aim to identify which authors practice philosophy without identifying themselves as followers of a specific school of philosophy, as philosophy professors, sophists or even magi. When, how, why, for what purpose, for what public and in which genres does philosophy appear? How do these authors adapt philosophy? Are they simply rehashing topoi or can we make out deep reflections stemming from accurate readings of philosophical texts that attest the dissemination of such knowledge?

We shall examine these aspects in regard to their confrontation with Christian philosophy. As early as the second century philosophy was enshrined as an auxiliary science by christian thinkers and served as a reservoir of images and concepts. We will have the opportunity to examine whether this confrontation – for which the Jewish sources are already well studied – manifests itself in the Greek and Latin context of a non-philosophical practice of philosophy.

Presentations will last 30 minutes and will be followed by discussion.

Proposals of not more than 300 words should be submitted to the Scientific Committee at
[email protected] before 15 October 2014. A selection will be made by mid-November 2014.

Organizing committee: Sophie Aubert (Grenoble 3), Charles Guérin (Paris-Creteil – Institut
Universitaire de France), Sébastien Morlet (Paris-Sorbonne – Institut Universitaire de France)