Event Description:
How is the ancient exhortation to “know thyself ” related to consolation, virtue, and the study of nature? How did the commitment to self-knowledge shift over the centuries in writings by Islamic, Jewish, Christian, and early modern natural philosophers? How did medieval women contribute to modern notions of self, self-knowledge, and knowledge of nature?
This conference explores the meditative “reflective methodology” from its ancient roots, through medieval Christian, Muslim, and Jewish traditions to the so-called “new” methodologies of early modern science. Points of focus will be:
- The relation between the ancient imperative to “know thyself ” and early Christian concerns to reflect on one's soul as a means to find ultimate truths.
- The meditative genre as it developed from Augustine’s Confessions through Latin and Arabic spiritual exercises to late medieval Christian meditations and early modern kabbalist writings.
- The continuity between medieval meditations and the reflective methodology of early modern science.
- The meditative genre’s afterlife in Freud, Foucault, Arendt, and contemporary science.
A conference schedule and speaker abstracts are now available.
Event Information:
This event is free and open to the public. However, RSVP is required is via Eventbrite. Please email Skye Cleary ([email protected]) with any questions.
Sponsored by: Center for New Narratives in Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, Department of English, Department of French and Maison Française at Columbia University.
