Chora in Plato's Timaeus

I am excited about the meeting we are organizing together with Jonathan (Beere), which will take place on September 19 and 20. This is one way in which Berlin undertakes dialogue, discusses and reconsiders debates, and promotes present and future research; this is one way in which Berlin realizes an ideal of dialogue under the aegis of TOPOI Excellence Cluster.

Here is the official announcement of our goals: The aim is to discuss some prominent and some new answers to the question: How should we understand the third entity which Timaeus introduces and labels receptacle or ‘chora’? This Platonic notion has been a bone of contention in both ancient and modern debates. Admittedly there have been some valuable contributions in Plato research. Nonetheless the problem of how we can work against the very influential Aristotelian exegesis has not been adequately focussed on.

Speakers:

Jonathan Beere
The Explanatory Role of Chora

Sarah Broadie
The Receptacle: an Ontological or a Cosmological Requirement?

George Karamanolis
The Reception of the Receptacle: Platonists on the Chora

Edward N. Lee
Mother CHORA and Her Children

Georgia Mouroutsou
Reading Plato Backwards: from Timaeus 52d to 48e.


Commentators:

Andreas Anagnostopoulos
Jenny Bryan
Pieter Sjoerd Hasper
Christopher Noble
Jacob Rosen


For further details you may consult: www.topoi.org/event/platos-chora/
If you wish to ask more about, or attend our workshop on chora, feel free to contact me.