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UID:96@prometheustrust.co.uk
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London;VALUE=DATE:20260626
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London;VALUE=DATE:20260629
DTSTAMP:20260508T174719Z
URL:https://prometheustrust.co.uk/events/annual-conference-2026/
SUMMARY:Annual Conference 2026
DESCRIPTION:\nConference: Philosophy as Transformation: Perspectives from t
 he Platonic Tradition\n\nPlato\, and the philosophers who followed him\, s
 aw philosophy as a practice for cultivating wiser and kinder individuals a
 nd societies. Plato frames this as a transformation toward a divine ideal:
  never fully attained\, but always pursued. This purpose recurs often in P
 lato’s central dialogues\, including the Republic\, Theaetetus\, and T
 imaeus\; it also motivates his most influential explorations of morality\,
  dialectic\, beauty\, science\, and a fair society.\n\nWe only have a few 
 spaces left. We still have lots of space in our Symposium of workshops\, w
 hich will run directly after.\nKeynote Speaker\nThe conference will open o
 n Friday with a keynote lecture by Michael Griffin: “Ladders of Inspirat
 ion: The Psychology of Platonist Receptivity and Creativity”\n\nThe tran
 sformation of human perception and personality\, as Hermias (c. 410-470 CE
 ) comments\, can take place in stages or all at once. This talk explores t
 he latter: ancient Platonist discussions of radical receptivity in the cre
 ative arts\, ritual life\, and interpersonal dependency\, states of ‘flo
 w’ that are framed as the result of divine inspiration and opening. Thes
 e experiences\, as Hermias explains\, can lead to a novel degree of human 
 generosity and altruism and a new vision of nature\, as well as a more gen
 uine experience of the self.\n\nMichael Griffin (D.Phil.\, Oxford) is Pro
 fessor of Ancient Philosophy at the University of British Columbia\, Canad
 a\, General Editor of the Ancient Commentators on Aristotle Series (Bloo
 msbury Academic)\, and author of several books and articles on ancient Pla
 tonic and Aristotelian philosophy. He has also recently contributed to a n
 ew volume on Platonist-Buddhist philosophical dialogue\, Crossing the Str
 eam\, Leaving the Cave: Buddhist-Platonist Philosophical Inquiries (Oxfor
 d\, 2024).\nThomas Taylor Lecture\nOn Saturday early evening we will have 
 the 18th annual Thomas Taylor Lecture given by Sonsoles Costero-Quiroga 
 “Bridges to the Good: Practices of Self-Transformation in Late Platonism
 ”\n\nLate ancient Platonists frame personal and social transformation as
  a search for human goodness or virtue (aretē). For philosophers like Por
 phyry (c. 234-c. 305 CE)\, Sosipatra (early 4th century CE)\, and Proclus
  (412-485 CE)\, the systematic pedagogy of the ‘scale of virtues’ (sca
 la virtutum) offers a bridge\, through which aspirational ideals like beau
 ty\, wisdom\, justice\, and courage can transform the gestures of ordinary
  life. This talk explores how each degree of aretē – ranging from cho
 ice of diet to contemplation – was perceived as allowing the philosopher
  to recognize a more authentic self\, and contribute to her broader commun
 ity in times of collective challenge.\n\nSonsoles Costero-Quiroga (Ph.D.\,
  Autonomous University of Madrid) is Visiting Scholar at Wolfson College\
 , Oxford\, incoming Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Ancient Comment
 ators on Aristotle Series\, and former Juan de la Cierva Fellow at the Co
 mplutense University of Madrid. She is author of several articles on ancie
 nt ethics\, developing an interdisciplinary approach to the social and cul
 tural history of Late Antiquity\; her dissertation on providence and fate 
 in the Neoplatonism of Proclus\, awarded national and international recogn
 ition by the Royal Academy of Doctors in Spain (2022)\, is forthcoming thi
 s year (De Gruyter Brill).\n\nFor more information please look at our dedi
 cated page here.\n\n&nbsp\;
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://prometheustrust.co.uk/wp-content/uploads
 /2026/01/Conference.jpg
CATEGORIES:Conference
LOCATION:Birmingham- Purley Chase Centre\, Purley Chase Ln\, Mancetter\,  C
 V9 2RQ\, United Kingdom
GEO:52.55528;-1.554278
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