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Nietzsche on Early Greek Philosophy

Nietzsche on Early Greek Philosophy

by Carlotta Santini (ENS/CNRS – UMR 8547 Pays Germaniques)
& Paulo Lima (Ifilnova / Lisbonne)

The seminar seeks to explore the dialogue between Nietzsche and early Greek philosophy during the period when he was Professor of Philology at the University of Basel. This is a subject that has not been studied in a systematic way, although there are some decisive contributions showing its importance for understanding Nietzsche’s philological and philosophical thinking. Our purpose is to provide a platform on which contributions from specialists in Nietzsche and ancient philosophy can be presented, debated, and complemented to fill this gap in Nietzschean studies. Key topics of the sessions will be Nietzsche’s activity as a scholar of ancient doxography on early Greek philosophy, his general conception of what he called the « pre-Platonic philosophers », as well as his interpretation of some of these philosophers. The body of texts to be studied during the sessions includes not only the published ones, but also Nietzsche’s lectures, notebooks, and correspondence. The seminar is part of the activities of the Lisbon Nietzsche Group and the Research Group on Ancient Philosophy (CultureLab/IFILNOVA). It is the result of a collaboration between IFILNOVA, the Centre Nationale de Recherche Scientifique, and the École Normale Supérieure (Paris). It will take place monthly starting from October 2023 and will have nine sessions. It will be open to all interested parties, who will be able to register for each session by contacting the organizers (contacts below).

PROGRAM

The conference of Anne Merker, Université de Strasbourg: “Nietzsche, Heraclitus, and Polemos” will take place on June 19th (Wednesday) at 16:00 Lisbon time (17:00 Rome time) — and not, as previously announced, on February 28th.
The conference of Helmut Heit, Klassik Stiftung Weimar: « Nietzsche and Protagoras » will take place on February 28th (Wednesday) at 16:00 Lisbon time (17:00 Rome time) — and not, according to previous changes, on 31 January and June 19th.

Session 1
4 October, 4 PM (Lisbon) | 5 PM (Rome)

Rafael Carrión Arias (Universidad Complutense de Madrid), « The Democritus Studies of 1867: Nietzsche’s Discovery of the New Philological Method »

Session 2
8 November, 4 PM (Lisbon) | 5 PM (Rome)

Eduardo Nasser (Universidade Federal de Pernambuco), « Considerations on Nietzsche’s Use of Anaxagoras in His Quarrel with Eleatism »

Session 3
6 December, 4 PM (Lisbon) | 5 PM (Rome)

Babette Babich (Fordham University), « To Hell and Back: Nietzsche’s Empedocles, Nietzsche’s Pythagoras, and Zarathustra »

Session 4
17 January, 4 PM (Lisbon) | 5 PM (Rome)

Matthew Meyer (University of Scranton), « The Unity of Opposites: A Fundamental Principle in Antiquity and Today »

Session 5
The conference of Helmut Heit, Klassik Stiftung Weimar: “Nietzsche and Protagoras” will take place on February 28th (Wednesday) at 16:00 Lisbon time (17:00 Rome time) — and not, according to previous changes, on 31 January and June 19th.

Session 6
27 March, 4 PM (Lisbon) | 5 PM (Rome)

Yannick Souladié (ENS, Paris), « The ‘Tremendous Leap of Anaximander’: Nietzsche’s New Understanding of the Apeiron »

Session 7
8 May, 4 PM (Lisbon) | 5 PM (Rome)

André Laks (Universidad Panamericana, México/Sorbonne Université, Paris): « Nietzsche doxographus »

Session 8
5 June, 4 PM (Lisbon) | 5 PM (Rome)

Daniel Conway (Texas A&M University), « How Socrates Became What he Was: The Evolution of a Diagnosis »

Session 9

The conference of Anne Merker, Université de Strasbourg: “Nietzsche, Heraclitus, and Polemos” will take place on June 19th (Wednesday) at 16:00 Lisbon time (17:00 Rome time) — and not, as previously announced, on February 28th.