CFP: Analysis and Synthesis – Philosophical Method and Scientific Methodology in Ancient and Medieval Thought

On December 18-21 2013 the Faculty of Philosophy of VU University Amsterdam will host a conference entitled “Analysis and Synthesis – Philosophical Method and Scientific Methodology in Ancient and Medieval Thought”, organised by Wouter Goris and Marije Martijn in collaboration with Theo Kobusch (Bonn). We hereby invite young scholars to present their research on these topics in a lightning talk. A lightning talk should take anywhere between 1 and 7 minutes, with an average of 3 minutes. As far as we are concerned, the shorter the better, so we can host more people!

You are welcome to present your work using one slide, or a one page handout, but we encourage you to do without. Alternatively, you may bring along a poster relating to your lightning talk, which we will put up during the entire conference.

Topics may be anything which can be found in the intersection of analysis/synthesis and ancient/medieval philosophy. Some suggestions: Plato and Platonists (Syrianus, Proclus, Boethius, Eriugena, School of Chartres) on the hypothetical method, dialectic, axiomatics; Aristotle and Aristotelians and the Analytics; analysis in Stoic logic; analysis and synthesis in ancient mathematics, astronomy, medicine; Byzantine theories of analysis and synthesis; theories of analysis and synthesis in Al-Farabi, Avicenna, Averroes; resolutio and metaphysics in Albert, Aquinas, Henry, Scotus; reception of ancient and medieval theories of analysis and synthesis/resolutio and compositio in Renaissance and early modern philosophy.

Confirmed speakers for the invited lectures are Michael Beaney, Jens Halfwassen, Gisela Striker, Frans de Haas, Jim Hankinson, Theo Kobusch, Amos Bertolacci, Philippe Vallat, Katerina Ierodiakonou, Olga Lizzini, Cornelia Schoeck, Rudi te Velde, Martin Pickave, and Wim de Jong.

If you wish to participate, please submit a one sentence abstract of no more than 100 words, plus an indication of intended duration (1-7 mins), by October 15. You will be informed of our decision by November 1. The ten best abstracts will be awarded a travel grant.

For more information on the conference and for submission of an abstract, write the organisers at [email protected]. 

For more information on lightning talks, their possibilities and pittfalls, seehttp://perl.plover.com/lt/osc2003/lightning-talks.html, http://www.perl.com/pub/2004/07/30/lightningtalk.html and many other pages.