BEGIN:VCALENDAR PRODID:-//Grails iCalendar plugin//NONSGML Grails iCalendar plugin//EN VERSION:2.0 CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260605T064959Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20170909T050000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20170910T130000 SUMMARY:2nd Aristotle Reading Party on Metaphysics Mu: Ancient views on the nature of mathematics UID:20260607T115724Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@philevents-web-bd7db559-gt5qm TZID:Europe/London LOCATION:Faculty of Philosophy\, Radcliffe Humanities\, Woodstock Road\, Oxford\, United Kingdom DESCRIPTION:

Aristotle&rsquo\;s Metaphysics Mu is one of the most underrated and underappreciated books of his Metaphysics. The Aristotle Reading Party on Metaphysics Mu aims to give the book an opportunity to shine in new light. We will in a reading group setting go through and discuss all 10 chapters of Metaphysics Mu\, the chapter will be divided in 5 parts and led each by one of the invited speakers\, and further we will have presentations by graduate students and/or early career scholars (selected by blind review through easychair) on the themes of Metaphysics Mu. Most prominent are the first three chapters in Mu that sketch Aristotle&rsquo\;s view on mathematical objects\, but we will investigate the remaining 7 chapters with the same scrutiny and interest. Aristotle&rsquo\;s discussion in Mu is both an exposition of his own view as well as a rejection of Plato&rsquo\;s view. Plato famously believed in Forms\, which are according to some readings non-spatio-temporal objects and exist in a second abstract realm\, and perceptibles\, which are mere copies of said Forms. Likewise\, for Plato while mathematical objects appear to be ontologically inferior to Forms\, they are superior to everything perceptible\, and we are led to believe by Aristotle that Plato thought that mathematical objects exist separate from any perceptible object. Aristotle vehemently rejects this view and tells us in Mu 1 and 2 that many absurdities would follow from a Platonic account. His arguments in Mu are distinct from the more famous third men argument\, and while less polished deserve further investigation. This conference will go through the arguments step by step\, line by line if necessary\, to reconstruct Aristotle&rsquo\;s arguments and their flaws. The invited speakers will each introduce chapters of Mu (10 chapters in total) and guide the audience through the text passages. A particular interest is Aristotle&rsquo\;s claim that mathematical objects do not exist independently from perceptible objects\, and are thus not substances (ousiai) but mere entities (onta) and exist in the way matter does (hulekos). Further\, does Aristotle characterise Plato&rsquo\;s view correctly? The rest of Mu discusses various views on numbers and always gravitates back to Plato&rsquo\;s Forms. The goal is to clearly analyse the arguments and gain new insights in both Aristotle&rsquo\;s view but also the views of his contemporary philosophers on the nature of numbers and abstract objects more generally.

ORGANIZER;CN="Janine Gühler": METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR