Summer at Plato’s Academy: Philosophy returns to its cradle
MAY 30- JULY 31: The Municipality of Athens organizes a series of activities for all ages, giving a boost to the area and the neighborhood
This summer, the Municipality of Athens, having the privilege and honor of hosting the Plato’s Academy within its boundaries, is organizing, from May 30 to July 31, a series of activities under the title “Philosophy at the Plato’s Academy”. This new project aims to highlight the importance of the Academy, spread its spirit, showcase the work produced by the Academy and make the area a reference point for Athenians and all visitors to the city, both Greek and foreign. On May 30, PavlosKalligas, former director of the European Cultural Centre of Delphi and co-editor of the book Plato’s Academy (Cambridge University Press, 2020), will inaugurate this great feast of philosophy with his talk on “Myths and reality about Plato’s Academy“.
Then, on June 3 and 4, a two-day international conference on “The Historiography of Philosophy” is in place. The conference will pose questions about how we see the past, how the history of philosophy is written, and its particularities and consequences. It will focus on the recent publication of a book by the brilliant scholar of antiquity Michael Frede (The Historiography of Philosophy, Oxford University Press, 2022). Frede, a professor at Berkeley, Princeton, Oxford and Athens, loved ancient and modern Greece, but he is no longer with us.
Heargued that Greeks ‘have a special responsibility to cultivate ancient philosophy. Inheriting something is not enough because, as with property, you can quickly lose it if you do not manage it properly. During the conference, the moderator, Katerina Ierodiakonou (Professor of Ancient Philosophy at the National and Kapodistrian Universityof Athens & University of Geneva), and 25 of Frede’s students and colleagues, professors and researchers at Greek and foreign universities will be present in Atraktos camp.
On weekdays, from June 8 to July 29, in the unique venue of the Plato’s Academy Park, three series of lectures will take place, focusing on the “Platonic Dialogues”, “Ancient Science”, and “Public Philosophy”, including 2 round tables on “Discussing Ancient Greek Philosophy: Challenges and Perspectives”, with Katerina Ierodiakonou, George Karamanolis, Spyros Ragos and Voula Tsouna, and “Debating on Ancient Greek Science: Challenges and Perspectives”, with Jean Christianidis, Michalis Sialaros, Petros Bouras-Vallianatos, Efthymios Nicolaides, Stamatina Mastorakou, and Giouli Korobili. In the first series of lectures, Vassilis Kalfas will talk about one of Plato’s most famous and attractive dialogues, Phaedrus, which deals with love, rhetoric and the relative value of the written versus the spoken word.Next, Panos Dimas will speak oncentral elements of Plato’s Meno dialogue, and, finally, Chloe Balla will analyse Phaedo, a dialogue of rare dramatic and literary value that discusses, among other things, the immortality of the soul. The “Ancient Science” lecture series poses four key questions: What role did the Platonic Academy play in developing scientific discourse? What are the historical sources available for the study of ancient science? How has the way historians read and interpret these sources changed? What kinds of challenges does the discipline of the history of ancient science face today, and what are its prospects for the future? Finally, as philosophy today attempts to reconnect with the city and public affairs, in the third lecture series on public philosophy, Pericles Vallianos will ask, “Can the demos philosophize?” Then, Antonis Hatzimoysis will touch upon “The logic of emotions”, Konstantinos Papageorgiou will focus on “Philosophy and War”, and Stelios Virvidakis and Vaso Kinti will talk about “Philosophy in the age of pandemic”.
A program dedicated to philosophy could not miss “Little Philosophers in the Academy”, an activity organised in collaboration with Atraktos, a non-profit initiative aiming to promote education and positive standards and introduce children and teenagers to the “game” in the most entertaining way. A team from the University of Crete will be in charge. With the hours of the program shared between the Plato’s Academy Digital Museum and the Atraktos, children will have their first “dive” into philosophy through “Be a superhero for an hour!” and “Be invisible for an hour!”. In contrast, teenagers will have the opportunity to attend the exciting program “Matrix and Philosophy: Bound in Plato’s Cave”!
The Municipality of Athens invites us to Plato’s Academy, one of the most iconic educational institutions of antiquity with an immeasurable impact on culture. We will again discover the archaeological site and the neighbourhood and approach them, along with philosophy, from a fresher and more modern angle! Admission to all events is free, except for the educational programs, where participants will pay a nominal fee. This summer, philosophy and culture return to their cradle!
More information: www.athens-technopolis.gr
* The activities are part of CultureisAthens
** The program may be subject to change.
*** The conference will be held in English only.
Admission to all events is free, on a first-come, first-served basis. The Philosophy for Children program is exempted.
Philosophy for Children | Tickets
Participation fee per workshop: 3 euros per child
Advance Ticket Sales exclusively from viva.gr and its network of resellers.
SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE: Katerina Ierodiakonou, PavlosKalligas, Vassilis Kalfas, VassoKinti, VoulaTsouna
DETAILED PROGRAM
Α. OPENING SPEECH
30.5 |Pavlos Kalligas: “Myths and reality about Plato’s Academy”
Β. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
03.06 & 04.06 |The Historiography of Philosophy
On the occasion of the publication of Michael Frede’s book under the same title |
Organisation: Katerina Ierodiakonou
The conference will be held in English.
C. Lectures
Platonic Dialogues
Time: 19.00
14.06| Round table: Discussing Ancient Greek Philosophy: Challenges and Perspectives | Katerina Ierodiakonou, George Karamanolis, Spyros Ragos, Voula Tsouna
27.06 | VassilisKalfas, Phaedrus
11.07 | Panos Dimas, Meno
25.07 | Chloe Bala, Phaedo
Ancient Science
Time: 19.00
08.06| Jean Christianidis: The Sources of Ancient Science and their Study
22.06| Vassilis Karasmanis: Science in the Platonic Academy
06.07| Michael Sialaros: Ancient Greek Science as a Field of Controversy
20.07| Round Table: Discussing Ancient Science: Challenges and Perspectives|Giannis Christianides, Michael Sialaros, PetrosBouras-Vallianatos, Efthimios Nicolaides, Stamatina Mastorakou, Giouli Korobili
Public Philosophy
Time: 19.00
17.06| Pericles Vallianos: Can the demos philosophize?
01.07| Antonis Hatzimoysis: The logic of emotions
15.07| Konstantinos Papageorgiou: Philosophy and War
29.07| Stelios Virvidakis, Vaso Kinti: Philosophy in the age of pandemic
D. PHILOSOPHY FOR CHILDREN
Scientific Director: Chloe Balla, Associate Professor, University of Crete.
Program Director: Anna Ntinti, PhD Candidate, University of Crete
Teaching Staff: Stelios Gadris, Maria Kasmirli, Anna Ntinti, Kalliopi Papamanoli.
Laboratory of Philosophical Research and Translation, Centre for Research and Studies, University of Crete
Dates: 25.06 & 26.06, 03.07, 09 & 10.07, 16 & 17.07, 23 & 24.07, 30 & 31.07
Hours
09.00 – 11.00 | Be a superhero for an hour! *for children between 5 and 8 years old
11.30 – 13.30 | Be invisible for one hour! *for children between 9 and 13 years old
17.00 – 19.00 | Matrix and Philosophy: Bound in Plato’s Cave *for teenagers between 14 and 17 years old
*Maximum number of participants in each workshop 15 persons.
**Tickets exclusively from viva.gr | Cost: 3 Euros per child
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PHILOSOPHY AT PLATO’S ACADEMY
Participants:
Pericles Vallianos, Professor Emeritus in Political Philosophy University of Athens, Greece
Stelios Virvidakis, Professor of Philosophy National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
Panos Dimas, Professor of Ancient Greek Philosophy, University of Oslo.
Katerina Ierodiakonou, Associate Professor in Ancient Philosophy at the University of Athens & University of Geneva
Pavlos Kalligas, Director of the European Cultural Centre of Delphi, Professor of Ancient Philosophy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
Vassilis Kalfas, Professor of Ancient Greek Philosophy, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
George Karamanolis, Associate Professor in Ancient Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, University of Vienna
VassilisKarasmanis, Om. Professor of Ancient Greek Philosophy, NTUA
Vasso Kinti, Professor of Philosophy of Science, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
Giouli Korobili, Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Utrecht University
Stamatina Mastorakou, Postdoctoral Fellow, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin
Chloe Balla, Associate Professor of Ancient Philosophy, University of Crete.
Petros Bouras – Vallianatos, Associate Professor of Medieval Science, University of Athens, Greece
Efthimios Nicolaides, Research Director, Historian of Science, National Hellenic Research Foundation
Konstantinos Papageorgiou, Professor of Philosophy of Law, National and Kapodistrian UniversityofAthens, Greece
Spyros Ragos, Associate Professor of Ancient Greek Literature and Philosophy, University of Patras, Greece
Michalis Sialaros, Assistant Professor of History of Science in Antiquity, University of Athens, Greece
Voula Tsouna, Professor of Ancient Greek Philosophy, University of California, Santa Barbara
Antonis Hatzimoysis, Professor of Modern Philosophy, University of Athens, Greece
Jean Christianidis, Professor of History of Mathematics, University of Athens, Greece