Power Structuralism in Ancient Ontologies (Week 3, TT18)
Wednesday 9th May 2018, 17.00
(Seminar Room, Corpus Christi College)
Richard Sorabji (Wolfson College & KCL): 'How Ammonius (445?-517/26) paved the way for the expansion of Greek Philosophy to other cultures'
Theme of Trinity Term Seminar: 'Alexandria 5th AD'
Ammonius was not a devotee of pagan theurgy, which helped him to resolve the Christian persecution of Alexandrian philosophy (488-9?). Teaching in the now excavated school of Alexandria, he expanded the tradition of having students record lectures to almost all of his own lectures, and increased the range of elementary introductions to Philosophy. Besides adding an introduction to Porphyry's introduction of 200 years earlier, he expanded the types of introduction to four or five, including new definitions of Philosophy. His school increased the number of introductions to six. This made Greek philosophy more accessible to other cultures. Paul of Persia recorded Ammonius' lectures on elementary logic in Persian for Kushru I of Persia (reigned from 531) and Sergius of Reshaina (died 536) reported Ammonius' lectures in Syriac, a language into which Paul of Persia was promptly translated. An Arabic version of Paul was available to the influential Arabic philosopher al-Farabi (c. 870-950)
All talks take place at Corpus Christi College, Seminar Room, from 5:00pm to 6:30pm. Drinks are served afterwards, to which all are warmly invited.