The legacy of fundamental structures in Plato’s Timaeus for Medieval and Renaissance Europe

Durham Centre for Ancient and Medieval Philosophy

Registration is open for the following international conference, which will take place at the Miners' Hall in Durham on 14th to 16th March 2018:

There is no charge for attending the conference, but, so that numbers for catering can be arranged appropriately, interested colleagues are asked to contact me *by Thursday 8th March* at the latest.


The legacy of fundamental structures in Plato's Timaeus for Medieval and Renaissance Europe
The Miners' Hall, 8 Flass Street, Durham DH1 4BB

Wednesday 14 March

1.30-2.00 Arrival and registration

2.00-2.30 INTRODUCTION: Edmund Thomas (Durham)

2.30-3.40 PAPER 1 Federico Petrucci (Durham), “Why the Timaeus? The Philosophical Reasons for the Priority of the Timaeus in Middle Platonist Exegesis”

Tea and coffee 3.40-4.10

4.10-5.20 PAPER 2 Sarah Byers (Boston), The concept of matter-as-such in the Neoplatonism of Marius Victorinus [by SKYPE]

5.20-6.30 PAPER 3 Gijsbert Jonkers (Zwolle), “From disorder to order, Plato’s Timaeus and Proclus’ Commentary”

Drinks 6.45-7.30

Buffet Dinner 7.30-9.00

Thursday 15 March

9.10-10.20 PAPER 4 Nancy Van Deusen (Claremont Graduate University), “‘What is it that we want to know?’ Plato’s Timaeus, with Chalcidius’ Commentary, on the Topics of Understanding Motion through Sight and Sound”

10.20-11.30 PAPER 5 Jacomien Prins (Utrecht), “‘Not for Irrational Pleasure’: Music in Marsilio Ficino’s Timaeus Commentary”

Tea and Coffee 11.10-11.40

11.40-12.50 PAPER 6 John Hendrix (Roger Williams University, Rhode Island), “The Timaeus and Durham Cathedral”

Lunch 12.50-2.00

2.15-3.45 Cathedral tour: Contributions by John Hendrix, Edmund Thomas, and others

Tea and coffee 4.00-4.30

4.30-5.40 PAPER 7 Guy Claessens (Leuven), “Saving the phenomena: geometric atomism and the Timaeus in the Renaissance”

5.40-6.50 PAPER 8 Andrew Briggs (Oxford): “Curiosity in an age of science” (with lunch)

7.00-7.30 Drinks

7.30 -10.00 Conference dinner

Friday 16 March:

9.10-10.20 PAPER 9 Carlos Steel (Leuven), “Ficino and Ambrogio Fiandino explaining Plato’s views in the Timaeus on the origin of the world”

10.40-11.50 PAPER 10 Christian Frost (Birmingham), “The Timaeus, Movement, Medieval Architecture, and the City”

11:50-13.00 PAPER 11 Nicholas Temple (Huddersfield), “The Timaeus, The Trinity and Renaissance Concepts of Architectural Space”

Lunch 13.00-13.30

13.30-14.30 ROUND TABLE AND CONCLUSION

Contact:

Dr Edmund V. Thomas
Associate Professor in Ancient Visual and Material Culture
Department of Classics and Ancient History
Durham University
38 North Bailey
Durham DH1 3EU

Tel.: + 44 (0)191 3341676
Fax: + 44 (0)191 3341671
Email: e.v.thomas@durham.ac.uk