Eventlist

Lecturers: Dr Edward Jeremiah
Entry: FREE

Synopsis

In this talk I will explore the differences between ancient and modern ideas about what it means to be a person, with a particular focus on the contemporary "self-help" industry and its precursors in ancient philosophy.

Contemporary humans in the developed west share a heavily internalised understanding of personhood that emphasises our unique inner psychological experience as the core feature of being a conscious agent in the world.

From a cross-cultural perspective, this view is bizarre, so where did it come from?

I will argue that we see such a view starting to emerge among the ancient philosophers, and that the psychological self-centrism we have inherited from them is both a blessing  and a curse.

Bio

Dr Edward Jeremiah lectures in Ancient Greek and Latin at The University of Melbourne.

His doctoral work was on the emergence of a reflexive understanding of the self in Ancient Greek literature and philosophy.

From 2010 to 2016 he worked as a post-doctoral researcher on the international Aëtiana project, which will produce a definitive text and commentary on an early philosophical encyclopedia known as the Placita.

He is currently assisting in the translation of Cyril of Alexandria's Against Julian into English for the first time.

Sponsors

We'd like to thank the following donors: Maria Rerakis.

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