History of Philosophy Works-in-Progress Luncheon, co-sponsored with the ND Workshop on Ancient Philosophy: Rareș Marinescu, "The Reception of Laws X in Platonism: The Case of Psychological Dualism"

Please join us for this week's History of Philosophy Works-in-Progress Luncheon, co-sponsored with the ND Workshop on Ancient Philosophy! This week's presenter is Dr. Rareș Marinescu (CSAMP, University of Toronto), who will present on "The Reception of Laws X in Platonism: The Case of Psychological Dualism," (abstract below).

Each meeting consists of a presentation by a graduate student or faculty member on a project that they are working on in the history of philosophy, followed by a period of comments/questions from other participants. The workshop is designed to give contributors the opportunity to develop ideas and receive helpful feedback on projects/papers in a friendly and low stakes environment.

Lunch is provided for registered attendees. Sign up here!

Abstract: I would like to further develop my project on the reception of Laws X in Platonism by focusing on the issue of psychological dualism. By investigating primarily Middle Platonist sources I will show that Laws X stood at the centre of the debate between psychological monism  and dualism. Essentially, some Middle Platonists adopt a dualist world-view whereby the cosmos is – or was – in part governed by an evil and  irrational (world-)soul. This topic is more generally related to the problem of evil, as this type of soul is supposed to account for evil in the  cosmos. The presence of this doctrine is most prominent in Plutarch, Atticus, and Numenius (all 2nd c. AD), but we find certain traces also in  Alcinous. It continues to be significant in Neoplatonism where dualist positions are discarded and the irrational world-soul of Laws X is interpreted in a different light. In my research, I consider not only the Platonists’ dependence on Laws X for the development of this idea but also other Platonic and non-Platonic sources, since the concept of an evil soul is connected by these authors with, for instance, the pre-cosmic receptacle of the Timaeus and the myth of the Statesman as well as Gnostic texts.

Originally published at historyofphilosophy.nd.edu.