CFP: Atelier Présocratiques

We are pleased to announce a call for papers for the first session of the Atelier Présocratiques, co-organised by Mathilde Brémond (Université Clermont Auvergne), Arnaud Macé (Université Marie et Louis Pasteur, Besançon), Lucia Saudelli (Université de Montpellier—Paul Valéry) and Anne-Laure Therme (Université Paris Est-Créteil). This workshop, which will be held each year at one of the four universities mentioned, will provide an opportunity to discuss current research on the ‘Presocratics’ (including literary, poetic and religious texts of philosophical interest, the writings of the sophists and the contemporary Hippocratic corpus), as well as their reception.

The inaugural session will be held on 6–7 November 2025 at the Université Clermont-Auvergne (in person) and will focus on the theme of ‘the infinite’. Barbara Sattler (University of Bochum) will be the keynote speaker.

The infinite (apeiron), which refers both to that which is unlimited (in space, time or number) and to that which is indeterminate (indistinct or undefined), plays a central role in Presocratic questioning and brings physical, mathematical and logical issues into dialogue. We will be particularly interested in contributions dealing with:

-       the infinite as a pre-existing primordial entity, and the cosmogonic narratives that draw on it;

-       infinity as a property of the universe or its elements, and the debate between finitude and infinity of the world or of being;

-       the relationship between determination and indeterminacy in the physical world;

-       the infinite as an object of the mathematical sciences (infinite number, infinite set, etc.);

-       logical paradoxes linked to infinity (division to infinity, going back to infinity, etc.).

Proposals (max. 2,500 characters), which may be written in the main languages of scientific research, must be submitted by 31 March 2025 on the following website: https://forms.gle/ZUxwg83HxQ1WLucq8. They will be examined anonymously, on the basis of their soundness and originality. All authors responding to this call will be informed of the committee’s decision in early May. The Atelier Présocratiques will provide on-site accommodation and meals, but participants will be responsible for their own travel costs.