Papers by Thomas Seissl
Physics IV.10 (217b30-218a30) is pivotal in Aristotle's discussion of time, preceding his own acc... more Physics IV.10 (217b30-218a30) is pivotal in Aristotle's discussion of time, preceding his own account from IV.11 onward. Aristotle presents three puzzles about the existence of time with reference to the "Now". Modern interpretations often view this section as an aporetic prelude with Aristotle's failure to provide explicit solutions. This paper examines Simplicius' alternative interpretation, which draws upon the theory of proof and the syllogistic model from the Posterior Analytics. Simplicius contends that the arguments' failure lies in their inability to fit within the suitable syllogistic framework to establish a demonstrable definition of time, not in their aporetic nature. Every science has to prove the relation between (i) establishing whether X exists and (ii) showing what X is by establishing what the cause of X is. In evaluating Simplicius' interpretation, this paper addresses two key aspects of the exegesis of IV.10: firstly, Simplicius can show why the "Now" is not part of the definition of time, and secondly, the ancient commentator underscores the close connection between the arguments in Physics IV.10 and the broader context of Aristotle's discussion of time.
Research Article, 2022
In one of the most famous but equally obscure passages in the Timaeus, Plato describes the genera... more In one of the most famous but equally obscure passages in the Timaeus, Plato describes the generation of time and the heavens. The “moving image of eternity” (37d5) is commonly read as Plato’s most general characterisation of time. Rémi Brague famously challenged the traditional interpretation on linguistic grounds by claiming that Plato actually did not conceive of time as an image (εἰκών) but rather as a number (ἀριθμός). In this paper, I shall claim that this controversy is by no means a modern one. The traditional interpretation is mostly owed to Plato’s most prominent reader, Plotinus, who famously conceives of time in relation to eternity (Enn. III.7.13.24-25). Brague’s alternative reading, however, is anticipated by Simplicius’ attempt to refute the Plotinian interpretation, as I shall show. According to my reconstruction, Simplicius’ reading of the Timaeus not only shows why the traditional interpretation falls short, but it also offers a systematic argument that bolsters Brague’s alternative reading. Finally, I shall show that this is consistent with Plato’s text. It shall become clear that current interpretative problems are essentially prefigured in the late ancient debate.
Conferences by Thomas Seissl
Workshop "Definitions between Plato and Aristotle" The 'Workgroup on Theoretical Philosophy in An... more Workshop "Definitions between Plato and Aristotle" The 'Workgroup on Theoretical Philosophy in Antiquity' of the GANPH (Gesellschaft für antike Philosophie-: https://ganph.de/arbeitsgemeinschaften/theoretische-philosophie) and the Philosophy Department Fribourg are pleased to invite you to the Workshop "Definitions between Plato and Aristotle", which will take place in Fribourg (Switzerland), on 17th-18th November 2023. Definitions clearly play a pivotal role in Plato's and Aristotle's thinking. Both believe that definitions are a-if not the-main goal (and, at the same time, an indispensable prerequisite) of philosophical and scientific inquiry. They are both preoccupied with similar issues: Which method(s) should we use in searching for definitions? What things are suitable to be defined? What is the special ontological status of definable objects? What are the requirements for an appropriate definition?
who are working on innovative and groundbreaking doctoral projects in ancient philosophy. We are ... more who are working on innovative and groundbreaking doctoral projects in ancient philosophy. We are aiming to provide them with an ideal opportunity to present their work, receive comments from fellow students and faculty, and lead a discussion session on topics arising from their research. Participants of the conference will also have the opportunity to take part in two close-reading workshops led by our keynote speakers.
The experience of time is among the most fundamental features of human existence. The present the... more The experience of time is among the most fundamental features of human existence. The present thereby serves as a basis by means of which we can make sense of both past and future; thus our experience of the present, which we capture in notions like “the now”, “the instant of time”, or “the present moment”, is of special concern. We are made aware of the moment of time through motion and changes, and since the present moment seems to be when we experience these changes, our conception of the “now” is strongly connected with the notion of change. But experiencing a change means experiencing that something turns from being F to not being F, or from F to not-F. If the instants when something is F and not-F are the same instant, however, then the thing seems to be both F and not-F at the same time, and we seem to end up with a contradiction. This threatening inconsistency prompted several influential answers in ancient times: for example, Heraclitus may seem to endorse this inconsistency, while Parmenides seems to have concluded that time and change are thus unreal. Plato develops the notion of exaiphnês to suggest that the turning from F to not-F occurs outside of time. And Aristotle develops both Parmenidean and Platonic intuitions to argue that change is continuous and the segmentation of time into ‘nows’ occurs in thought.
Talks by Thomas Seissl
2nd Central European Graduate Conference in Ancient Philosophy, Charles University in Prague, Cze... more 2nd Central European Graduate Conference in Ancient Philosophy, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, 1 - 2 November 2019
Workshop Paper, STRUCTURING NATURE. An Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Summer School on Prem... more Workshop Paper, STRUCTURING NATURE. An Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Summer School on Premodern Science and Philosophy, Berlin, 28 July – 3 August 2019
Platonism and Aristotelianism in the History of Philosophy, FINO Graduate Conference in the Hist... more Platonism and Aristotelianism in the History of Philosophy, FINO Graduate Conference in the History of Philosophy, North-Western Italian Philosophy Consortium, Pavia, Italy, September 16, 2019 - September 17, 2019
Books by Thomas Seissl
In meiner Masterarbeit, 2016 eingereicht am Institut für Christliche Philosophie der Universität... more In meiner Masterarbeit, 2016 eingereicht am Institut für Christliche Philosophie der Universität Innsbruck, beschäftige ich mit Fragen der Sprachphilosophie und der Philosophie des Geistes (insbesondere mit dem Problem der Intentionalität), die sich im Anschluss an spätmittelalterliche Debatten unter besonderer Berücksichtigung Cusanus' Schrift "Idiota de mente" ergeben. Nicolaus Cusanus (1401-1464) im Allgemeinen und seine Schrift "Idiota de mente" im Besonderen stellen sich unter diesen Fragestellungen als besonders ergiebiger Bezugspunkt der drei Hauptströmungen der spätmittelalterlichen Sprachphilosophie (Scholastik, Mystizismus, Renaissance-Pragmatismus) heraus, der in neueren Forschungen zur Philosophie des Spätmittelalters beinahe völlig übersehen wurde.
Im ersten Abschnitt (1) gebe ich einen kurzen geistesgeschichtlichen Überblick über das 15. Jahrhundert und einen kurzen biographischen Abriss. Der zweite Abschnitt (2) stellt die drei Hauptströmungen in der spätmittelalterlichen Philosophie zum Problem der Intentionalität gegenüber und versucht deren Einordnung im Cusanischen Denken. Der dritte Abschnitt (3) bietet eine philologisch wie philosophisch möglichst genaue Rekonstruktion der wichtigsten Argumente in der in Dialogform verfassten Schrift "Idiota de mente". Diese sollen schließlich im Hinblick auf die im zweiten Abschnitt aufgeworfenen Fragestellungen diskutiert werden. Im Schlusskapitel (4) ziehe ich kurz Schlussfolgerungen und versuche die philosophiehistorische Bedeutung von Cusanus' Konzeption abzuschätzen, die sich bis in die Sprachphilosophie des 20. Jahrhunderts verfolgen lässt.
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In my master thesis, submitted to the Department of Christian Philosophy at the University of Innsbruck (Austria) in 2016, I discuss problems in the philosophy of mind and philosophy of language (mainly the problem of intentionality) in late medieval philosophy, based on Nicholas of Cusa's work "Idiota de mente". Generally, Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464) - and "Idiota de mente" written in dialogue-form in particular - turns out to be a complex bundling of three major tendencies in the late medieval debate on intentionality (scholasticism, mysticism, renaissance pragmatism) and - surprisingly - almost overlooked in recent studies on this issue.
In the first section (1), I present the historical background for Nicholas of Cusa in the 15th century. The second section (2) discusses the three main tendencies in the debate on problems of intentionality in late medieval philosophy and its treatment by Nicholas of Cusa. The third section (3) provides a detailed examination of "Idiota de mente" by reconstructing approaches to the issues risen in the former section. The last section (4) gives a short conclusion of the results and a historical classification of Cusanus’ approach traceable up to the philosophy of language in the 20th century.
Translations by Thomas Seissl
Luzerner Universitätsreden Nr. 28, 2017
On April 26th 2017, Prof Dr h.c. mult Sir Anthony Kenny, University of Oxford, gave his last publ... more On April 26th 2017, Prof Dr h.c. mult Sir Anthony Kenny, University of Oxford, gave his last public lecture abroad entitled "Determinism and Freedom: A Lifelong Discussion" at the University of Lucerne (Switzerland). It was an honour for me to procure the German translation, published by the University of Lucerne.
Edited Collections by Thomas Seissl
Diese Sammlung beeinhaltet eine Auswahl der interessantesten Essays, die von den Studierenden für... more Diese Sammlung beeinhaltet eine Auswahl der interessantesten Essays, die von den Studierenden für die zweite Innsbrucker Ringvorlesung (2014/15) eingereicht wurden.
Den unterschiedlichen Herkunftsdisziplinen der Studierenden entsprechend finden sich Beiträge zur Ähnlichkeit zwischen Mensch und Tier, zur Ernährung, zur Philosophie, zum Recht, zur sozialen Konstruktion von Tieren, zu tiergerechter Stadtplanung, zum Tier in Kunst und Kultur und vielem mehr.
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Papers by Thomas Seissl
Conferences by Thomas Seissl
Talks by Thomas Seissl
Books by Thomas Seissl
Im ersten Abschnitt (1) gebe ich einen kurzen geistesgeschichtlichen Überblick über das 15. Jahrhundert und einen kurzen biographischen Abriss. Der zweite Abschnitt (2) stellt die drei Hauptströmungen in der spätmittelalterlichen Philosophie zum Problem der Intentionalität gegenüber und versucht deren Einordnung im Cusanischen Denken. Der dritte Abschnitt (3) bietet eine philologisch wie philosophisch möglichst genaue Rekonstruktion der wichtigsten Argumente in der in Dialogform verfassten Schrift "Idiota de mente". Diese sollen schließlich im Hinblick auf die im zweiten Abschnitt aufgeworfenen Fragestellungen diskutiert werden. Im Schlusskapitel (4) ziehe ich kurz Schlussfolgerungen und versuche die philosophiehistorische Bedeutung von Cusanus' Konzeption abzuschätzen, die sich bis in die Sprachphilosophie des 20. Jahrhunderts verfolgen lässt.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In my master thesis, submitted to the Department of Christian Philosophy at the University of Innsbruck (Austria) in 2016, I discuss problems in the philosophy of mind and philosophy of language (mainly the problem of intentionality) in late medieval philosophy, based on Nicholas of Cusa's work "Idiota de mente". Generally, Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464) - and "Idiota de mente" written in dialogue-form in particular - turns out to be a complex bundling of three major tendencies in the late medieval debate on intentionality (scholasticism, mysticism, renaissance pragmatism) and - surprisingly - almost overlooked in recent studies on this issue.
In the first section (1), I present the historical background for Nicholas of Cusa in the 15th century. The second section (2) discusses the three main tendencies in the debate on problems of intentionality in late medieval philosophy and its treatment by Nicholas of Cusa. The third section (3) provides a detailed examination of "Idiota de mente" by reconstructing approaches to the issues risen in the former section. The last section (4) gives a short conclusion of the results and a historical classification of Cusanus’ approach traceable up to the philosophy of language in the 20th century.
Translations by Thomas Seissl
Edited Collections by Thomas Seissl
Den unterschiedlichen Herkunftsdisziplinen der Studierenden entsprechend finden sich Beiträge zur Ähnlichkeit zwischen Mensch und Tier, zur Ernährung, zur Philosophie, zum Recht, zur sozialen Konstruktion von Tieren, zu tiergerechter Stadtplanung, zum Tier in Kunst und Kultur und vielem mehr.
Im ersten Abschnitt (1) gebe ich einen kurzen geistesgeschichtlichen Überblick über das 15. Jahrhundert und einen kurzen biographischen Abriss. Der zweite Abschnitt (2) stellt die drei Hauptströmungen in der spätmittelalterlichen Philosophie zum Problem der Intentionalität gegenüber und versucht deren Einordnung im Cusanischen Denken. Der dritte Abschnitt (3) bietet eine philologisch wie philosophisch möglichst genaue Rekonstruktion der wichtigsten Argumente in der in Dialogform verfassten Schrift "Idiota de mente". Diese sollen schließlich im Hinblick auf die im zweiten Abschnitt aufgeworfenen Fragestellungen diskutiert werden. Im Schlusskapitel (4) ziehe ich kurz Schlussfolgerungen und versuche die philosophiehistorische Bedeutung von Cusanus' Konzeption abzuschätzen, die sich bis in die Sprachphilosophie des 20. Jahrhunderts verfolgen lässt.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In my master thesis, submitted to the Department of Christian Philosophy at the University of Innsbruck (Austria) in 2016, I discuss problems in the philosophy of mind and philosophy of language (mainly the problem of intentionality) in late medieval philosophy, based on Nicholas of Cusa's work "Idiota de mente". Generally, Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464) - and "Idiota de mente" written in dialogue-form in particular - turns out to be a complex bundling of three major tendencies in the late medieval debate on intentionality (scholasticism, mysticism, renaissance pragmatism) and - surprisingly - almost overlooked in recent studies on this issue.
In the first section (1), I present the historical background for Nicholas of Cusa in the 15th century. The second section (2) discusses the three main tendencies in the debate on problems of intentionality in late medieval philosophy and its treatment by Nicholas of Cusa. The third section (3) provides a detailed examination of "Idiota de mente" by reconstructing approaches to the issues risen in the former section. The last section (4) gives a short conclusion of the results and a historical classification of Cusanus’ approach traceable up to the philosophy of language in the 20th century.
Den unterschiedlichen Herkunftsdisziplinen der Studierenden entsprechend finden sich Beiträge zur Ähnlichkeit zwischen Mensch und Tier, zur Ernährung, zur Philosophie, zum Recht, zur sozialen Konstruktion von Tieren, zu tiergerechter Stadtplanung, zum Tier in Kunst und Kultur und vielem mehr.