Cfp: "Critical Approaches to Ancient Philosophy," University of Bristol, March 21-22, 2009.

Update: Visit the conference homepage here: http://www.bris.ac.uk/ias/events/2009/257?t=10:27:57. Original Post (December 12, 2008): While the diversity of disciplines influenced by classical philosophers is a testament to their works’ fecundity, all too often it happens that specialists approaching them from the perspective of the history of philosophy, literary theory and 'continental' philosophy, and ancient cultural history do not communicate. When they do happen, encounters between these perspectives are sometimes marked by confusion and frustration. Even with abundant good will, we may get the feeling that we simply are not speaking about the same texts. The purpose of this workshop is to bring scholars from different backgrounds into a round-table format in order to consider the feasibility and desirability of breaking down these 'disciplinary walls.' Speakers will give a series of methodologically self-conscious papers on ancient philosophical texts, reflecting on the preconceptions about the means and aims of 'philosophy' particularly and 'scholarship' generally that underlie their approaches. Equal time will be given to papers and discussion, and there will also be a closing discussion. Speakers include:

• Kurt Lampe (Bristol),
• Miriam Leonard (UCL),
• Wilson Shearin (Stanford),
• Robert Wardy (Cambridge), and
• John Sellars (UWE).

Christopher Rowe (Durham) will chair the first day’s papers, and David Konstan (Brown) will chair the second day and introduce the closing discussion.

This workshop is supported by BIRTHA (The Bristol Institute for Research in the Humanities and Arts) and the Bristol Institute of Greece, Rome, and the Classical Tradition. Inquiries should be directed to Kurt Lampe (clkwl@bristol.ac.uk).