Periodic Reporting for period 4 - NeoplAT (Neoplatonism and Abrahamic Traditions. A Comparative Analysis of the Middle East, Byzantium and the Latin West (9th-16th Centuries))
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2022-11-01 al 2023-10-31
NeoplAT offered a fresh and thoroughly documented account of the impact of Pagan Neoplatonism on the Abrahamic traditions. It focused mainly, but not exclusively, on the Elements of Theology of Proclus (fifth century) which occupies a unique place in the history of thought. Together with its ninth-century Arabic adaptation, the Book of Causes, it has been translated, adapted, refuted and commented upon by Muslim, Jewish and Christian thinkers across centuries, up to the dawn of modernity. Despite a renewed interest in Proclus’ legacy in recent years, one still observes a tendency to repeat conventional hypotheses focused on a limited range of well-studied authors. This project radically challenged these conservative narratives both by analysing invaluable, previously ignored resources and by developing an innovative comparative approach that embraces a variety of research methods and disciplines. Specialists in Arabic, Greek and Latin history of ideas, philology, palaeography and lexicography develop an intense interdisciplinary research laboratory investigating the influence of Proclus on the mutual exchanges between the scriptural monotheisms from the ninth to the sixteenth centuries.
NeoplAT provided significant breakthroughs in the scholarly understanding of this topic by
* identifying, analysing and making accessible a previously overlooked cultural patrimony: dozens of unpublished texts produced in various scholarly centres and today scattered in hundreds of manuscripts across the world.
* reconstructing the scholarly networks of transmission within and between the Middle East, Byzantium and the Latin West.
* reevaluating the reception of typical Greek Neoplatonic themes on key philosophical (in particular in metaphysics and epistemology) and theological themes (in particular, themes on creation, providence, divine immediacy, etc.).
NeoplAT provided significant breakthroughs in the scholarly understanding of this topic by
* identifying, analysing and making accessible a previously overlooked cultural patrimony: dozens of unpublished texts produced in various scholarly centres and today scattered in hundreds of manuscripts across the world.
* reconstructing the scholarly networks of transmission within and between the Middle East, Byzantium and the Latin West.
* reevaluating the reception of typical Greek Neoplatonic themes on key philosophical (in particular in metaphysics and epistemology) and theological themes (in particular, themes on creation, providence, divine immediacy, etc.).
During this second stage of the project, the team focused in parallel on three work-packages: (1) the identification and description of the corpus of the unknown manuscripts; (2) the study of the longest commentary written on Proclus’ Elements of Theology: Berthold of Moosburg 14th-c. Expositio; (3) the reception of Proclus in Byzantium. The team has put a great effort in organising international workshops, seminars, roundtables and conferences and displaying their results to a wider public: some of the meetings have been recorded and uploaded on a YouTube channel dedicated to our project. Also, it is important to mention that members of the team accepted to participate give interviews to radio broadcasts and newspaper of vulgarisation. However, the main focus of the project remains the groundwork, the advancement of the research that will provide tools for further studies.
We published: 2 monographs; 4 edited volumes, 19 articles in peer-reviewed journals; 8 book chapters. other accomplished works have been accepted for publication, but are not yet published (and I can't list them under major achievements because of their number): 1 monograph (by Iulia Székely), 2 book-length critical editions (by Dragos Calma and Giovanna Bagnasco); 4 edited volumes (by Dragos Calma in collaboration with members of the team); 3 articles (by Odile Gilon and Dragos Calma) in peer-reviewed journals; 11 book chapters (by Dragos Calma, Maria Evelina Malgieri, Iulia Székely, Odile Gilon, Jonathan Greig, Joshua Robinson) in edited volumes. We organised 25 international events comprising 5 major conferences/symposia, 17 international research seminars (invited speakers either in UCD or online during Covid-19, some recorded and uploaded on YouTube), 2 round tables on recently published books, 1 workshop; 37 research seminars with the members of the team; we currently set up a database comprising over 300,000 images of medieval manuscripts in Greek and Latin on the long history of Neoplatonism (East and West) – hosted at the University of Bonn; the vast majority of images have been purchased during the NeoplAT project; we purchased and donated to UCD Library over 200 printed books.
We published: 2 monographs; 4 edited volumes, 19 articles in peer-reviewed journals; 8 book chapters. other accomplished works have been accepted for publication, but are not yet published (and I can't list them under major achievements because of their number): 1 monograph (by Iulia Székely), 2 book-length critical editions (by Dragos Calma and Giovanna Bagnasco); 4 edited volumes (by Dragos Calma in collaboration with members of the team); 3 articles (by Odile Gilon and Dragos Calma) in peer-reviewed journals; 11 book chapters (by Dragos Calma, Maria Evelina Malgieri, Iulia Székely, Odile Gilon, Jonathan Greig, Joshua Robinson) in edited volumes. We organised 25 international events comprising 5 major conferences/symposia, 17 international research seminars (invited speakers either in UCD or online during Covid-19, some recorded and uploaded on YouTube), 2 round tables on recently published books, 1 workshop; 37 research seminars with the members of the team; we currently set up a database comprising over 300,000 images of medieval manuscripts in Greek and Latin on the long history of Neoplatonism (East and West) – hosted at the University of Bonn; the vast majority of images have been purchased during the NeoplAT project; we purchased and donated to UCD Library over 200 printed books.
• Iulia Székely decided to produce a stemma codicum of all known manuscripts and a new critical edition of the Book of Causes before the end of the project. She equally discovered four new manuscripts with the Latin text of the Book of Causes:
• The new edition and the French translation of Roger Bacon’s Commentary on the Book of Causes prepared by Dr Odile Gilon in collaboration with the PI.
• The international collaboration, notably with Dr Odile Gilon (Université libre de Bruxelles). (for details, see: https://www.neoplat.eu/collaborations/(si apre in una nuova finestra))
• The new book series co-directed by the PI: History of Metaphysics (Brill, Leiden/New York).
* The first ever English translation with a new critical edition of Ioanne Petrisi's Commentary on Proclus's Elements of Theology - accepted (contract signed) by Brill Publishing
* A monograph on use of the Book of Causes in Quodlibetal questions at the University of Prague in the 15th century by Iulia Szekely - submitted for publication to Brill Publishing
* The critical edition of the Latin text of Heymericus de Campo's Tractatus de formis intentionalibus in lumine racionalis nature, gracie et glorie - accepted (contract signed) by Brepols Publishing
• The new edition and the French translation of Roger Bacon’s Commentary on the Book of Causes prepared by Dr Odile Gilon in collaboration with the PI.
• The international collaboration, notably with Dr Odile Gilon (Université libre de Bruxelles). (for details, see: https://www.neoplat.eu/collaborations/(si apre in una nuova finestra))
• The new book series co-directed by the PI: History of Metaphysics (Brill, Leiden/New York).
* The first ever English translation with a new critical edition of Ioanne Petrisi's Commentary on Proclus's Elements of Theology - accepted (contract signed) by Brill Publishing
* A monograph on use of the Book of Causes in Quodlibetal questions at the University of Prague in the 15th century by Iulia Szekely - submitted for publication to Brill Publishing
* The critical edition of the Latin text of Heymericus de Campo's Tractatus de formis intentionalibus in lumine racionalis nature, gracie et glorie - accepted (contract signed) by Brepols Publishing