Project description
A new approach to ancient Platonism: studying Plato through Aristotle
Conventional studies of Plato’s philosophy and derived philosophical systems follow patterns rooted in antiquity. While not exactly inaccurate, these traditional doxographical accounts nevertheless disregard continuities across this history’s different phases as well as some unforeseen discontinuities. This is because some philosophical debates are being ignored. The EU-funded PlatoViaAristotle project proposes an unorthodox approach to addressing this issue. Instead of attempting to reflect the issues highlighted in the sources, it will adopt one angle of approach: Aristotle’s critical discussion of Platonic views. By doing this, it intends to uncover new debates and examine the philosophical reasons for doctrinal varieties and developments. The project will change our understanding of the history of Platonism and add a new dimension to our historiographical accounts.
Objective
The conventional historiography of ancient Platonism follows patterns that ultimately go back to Antiquity itself. While these traditional doxographical accounts are not per se inaccurate, they do overlook continuities across different phases of this thousand-year history as well as some unexpected discontinuities. The reason for these shortcomings lies in the fact that certain philosophical debates are being ignored. Some omissions could be detected by searching for the philosophical reasons explaining doctrinal developments.
This project chooses an unorthodox approach in that it does not try to reflect the issues emphasised in the sources, but instead selects one particular angle of approach: Aristotle’s critical discussion of Platonic views. By analysing Platonic responses to Aristotle’s criticisms and using these as a heuristic tool, the project pursues a twofold aim: to uncover debates that have hitherto not been picked up in scholarship; and to examine the philosophical reasons for doctrinal varieties and developments. The research hypothesis guiding this project is that Aristotle’s criticism of Platonic philosophy was a driving force for many developments in Platonism.
The aims of the project can only be achieved through a large-scale investigation spanning the entire history of Platonism, searching for Platonic responses in all relevant philosophical domains. Since scholarship has been selective in its choice of topics, it cannot be predicted whether we can find sufficient traces of pertinent discussions in all subdomains. Despite the methodological difficulties and the uncertainty of the results the project is more than worth pursuing, as the pay-off is highly significant: it will radically change the way in which we understand the history of Platonism and add a whole new dimension to our historiographical accounts. If successful, it will uncover new debates and allow us to understand philosophical justifications for many philosophical developments.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been validated by the project's team.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been validated by the project's team.
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-ADG - Advanced Grant
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2019-ADG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
3000 LEUVEN
Belgium
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.