Anotace
Posterior Analytics is an essay on the theory of epistēmē, the closest ancient analogue to the modern concept of ‘science’. It is not a systematic treatise, but rather a collection of more or less elaborated reflections regarding the principles of demonstrative knowledge and the method of inquiry. Despite the difficulty of the subject matter and the sometimes opaque manner of its presentation, the text is worth close attention for anyone wishing to grasp the basic contours of the most ambitious scientific project in antiquity and to understand the nature of ancient ‘science’ more generally.
The aim of the seminar is twofold: To get hold, as best as we can, of Aristotle’s project of epistēmē, its principles and methods; and to explore the limits of this project from the modern perspective. While reading selected chapters from the Posterior Analytics together, we will try to make sense of difficult passages, look for interconnections within Aristotle’s oeuvre, and confront the Aristotelian views and methods with anachronistic, post-Cartesian questions.
The seminar will require some degree of philological patience; but no knowledge of ancient Greek or ancient logic is presupposed. The main language of the seminar will be English, except for the fully Czech- or Slovak- speaking audience.
Organized by
Matyáš Havrda, PhD,
Department for the Study of Ancient and Medieval Thought
Prof. Ladislav Kvasz, DSc,
Department for Analytic Philosophy
Institute of Philosophy, Jilská 1, Praha 1, zasedací místnost
October 24th 2016 and every second Monday after that
(i.e. Nov 7 and 21, Dec 5 and 19, and according to agreement)
from 16:00 to 18:00
