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Demons, Calcidius and Vitello at ISNS Symposium
On June 3rd-6th in Leuven, Belgium, the 23rd annual symposium of the International Society for Neoplatonic Studies (ISNS) took place. The programme of the whole event can be downloaded here. AΦR was certainly present there.
Together with two other panelists, Tomasz Mróz presented his paper in the panel: Medieval Platonism. These panelists were Heide König (LMU Munich) and Ernesto Fuentes Padgett (Notre Dame). Mróz’s paper was titled Vitello’s Theory of Daemons. Platonic Inspirations in a Naturalistic Treatment.
Vitello was a philosopher and a natural scientist of the second half of the 13th century, best known for his treatise in optics. To obtain degrees he travelled to the universities in Paris and Padua, but he also visited Viterbo. Although he gained recognition as the author of Perspectiva, dedicated to Wilhelm of Moerbecke, his interests went beyond optical issues and in a letter titled De causa primaria paenitentiae in hominibus et de natura daemonum he differentiated between the real demons as animals and apparent demons, as the effects of optical illusions or malfunctions of human cognition. He developed a theory of demons, their nature, their position among natural creatures, and investigated a number of detailed issues connected to the life of demons and their various interactions with human beings.
Mróz took an attempt to demonstrate how Vitello started with Plato, Calcidius’ commentary to the Timaeus, mathematical considerations and the Averroists’ theory of double truth to prove the existence of demons as animals and how, subsequently, he took advantage of his experience as a natural scientist and a confessor to supplement the theory with a number of observations and the then common opinions that eventually, in his eyes, reinforced the theory.
The conference in Leuven was, as all ISNS events, a successful meeting, gathering specialist in history of philosophy from antiquity to modern times. It was also an opportunity to see and listen to papers of scholars from all the continents. It was also a pleasure to see there our collaborator from Vilnius University, Jonas Čiurlionis, who delivered a paper Mathematics of Music in Timaeus’ creation of the World Soul.
Erasmus+ Teaching Visits in Vilnius Continue
In May, 11th-15th, 2026, Tomasz Mróz enjoyed his fifth Erasmus+ teaching visit in Faculty of Philosophy, Vilnius University.
One of the lectures was focused on discussing various problems related to historiography of philosophy, using the method and structure of the History of Philosophy by Władysław Tatarkiewicz (1886-1980), especially in regard to ancient philosophers. An additional material for discussion was provided by the Lithuanian edition of this three-volume book (2001) with covers – contrary to Polish editions – decorated with various images. The front cover of vol. I, for example, depicts Boethius – what students were able to discover with only little help! – in his consoling dialogue with Philosophy herself, and the wheel of Fortune, an important argument for a philosophers not to let a hard lot get them down.
Another lecture related to the history of ancient philosophy scholarship was devoted to Wincenty Lutosławski (1863-1954), a renowned researcher of Plato, and the Vilnius period of his academic career. A decade spent in Vilnius was by Lutosławski considered a disappointment with his colleague professors and low number of students. He was able, however, to promote a successful Ph.D. student interested in Plato, Benedykt Woyczyński (1895-1927), initiate correspondence with notable persons, not only philosophers, and – last, but not least – work on his idea of a historical development of metaphysics, which was his focus until his ultimate years.
This lecture was an open event and it was advertised here.
Next Interview with Ancient Philosophy Scholar: Filip Karfik
We would like to invite you to watch the next interviews published on memoryclassics.eu website. The next interviews with historians of the Greek world (e.g. Cinzia Bearzot) are on the way, but we’d like to draw your attention to the conversation of Jaroslav Daneš, with whom we cooperated in the project Oral History and the Classics, with professor Filip Karfik (born 1963). Prof. Karfik is currently professor emeritus at the University of Fribourg and a former professor at Charles University in Prague.
First part of the interview is available here. Prof. Karfik shares his memories of his early interest in ancient languages and beginnings of his classical and philosophical studies. The video has English subtitles. The second part of this long and informative conversation is now under processing.
A Note on “Plato in Poland” in “The Polish Review”
It has been only recently that we have learned about a note on Tomasz Mróz’s book (Plato in Poland 1800-1950: Types of Reception – Authors – Problems, Baden-Baden 2021) that appeared in “The Polish Review” (New York) in 2022 (vol. 67, no. 4, p. 176) in the section: Books Briefly.
A paragraph long note by the journal editors assessed the book as “a valuable addition to the history of Polish philosophy”.
An Erasmus+ Visit of a Guest from Vilnius
A co-operation between Vilnius University and the University of Zielona Góra in philosophy is developing well and a recent (March 9th-13th, 2026) visit of a guest from VU, dr Mindaugas Stoškus, proves this. M. Stoškus is a scholar with whom Ancient Φilosophy Reception research group have recently started a formal collaboration in a project funded by the Research Council of Lithuania on the reception of Greek philosophy among the philosophers in VU in the 20th century. It is here where we have already announced this as well as Stoškus’ previous visits in Zielona Góra.
There were two lectures on ancient philosophy (and its application) among the classes of dr Stoškus. They both required students’ engagement and active participation. For philosophy students, he spoke about the ancient Greek idea of philosophy and wisdom, while for the students of doctoral school – about Plato and teaching methods. The photo on the right was taken by Urszula Majdańska-Wachowicz during the class for PhD. students. M. Stoškus (left) is being introduced by T. Mróz (right).
We are looking forward to the next visits of Vilnius scholars!
Paper on H. Jakubanis as a Promoter of Greek Thought
It is not the first time (and, hopefully, not the last one either) that the Lithunian journal “Logos” publishes a paper composed by a member of Ancient Φilosophy Reception research group. The scope of the journal are scholarly studies in all areas of philosophy.
This time the author is Mariam Sargsyan, who in 2025 defended her Ph.D. thesis cum laude and received her doctoral diploma during a ceremony at the University of Zielona Góra, where AΦR group is affiliated.
Her article was published in vol. 124 of “Logos” and is available here in a bilingual, that is, Lithuanian (translated from English by Tomas Kavaliauskas) and original English version. It is important to remark here that Henryk Jakubanis (1879–1949), whose works are the topic of this paper, and his ancestors had their roots in Lithuania, although their mother tongue was Polish and they spent most of their lives in the Russian Empire. Two language versions of Sargsyan’s paper title are Henrikas Jakubanis kaip graikų mąstymo puoselėtojas and Henryk Jakubanis as a Promoter of Greek Thought.
Sargsyan’s article covers some issues from her previous Polish studies, as for example a short sketch of Jakubanis’ and a presentation of his historical-philosophical works. This is supplemented with archival materials from the Catholic University of Lublin. Additionally, the article delves into the intellectual lineage of Jakubanis, focusing on the influences of Alexei Gilarov (1856–1938) and Tadeusz Zieliński (1859–1944).
Let us focus only on Jakubanis’ work titled The Importance of Ancient Philosophy for the Modern Worldview (published in Kyiv in 1910) in which he identified the characteristic features of ancient thought with inner harmony on the top of them. Along with harmony, he listed universalism, sincerity, the ability to adopt justified views, and the plasticity of objectivism. He used harmony as an intrument for reviving ancient philosophy at the dawn of the 20th century. According to the him, modern times could undoubtedly be described as an epoch in a state of profound philosophical crisis. The essence of the crisis was the lack of unity in spiritual life and a deep split in its manifestations. This state was described as a threefold disharmony: in the scientific and theoretical sphere, in the discord of mind, feelings, and will, and, finally, in a disunion between theory and practice. In this regard the harmony of Greek thought seemed to him to be an accurate cure. More details can be found in Sargsyan’s paper.
The Interview with Professor Marian Wesoły Available with English Subtitles
We are very glad to announce that finally, after two years, the interview with Professor Marian Wesoły is available online with English subtitles on the website of the project Oral History and the Classics, here. We have already reported on shooting this interview here.
Professor Wesoły, at his desk at home, talked about his intellectual biography, his teachers, collaborators, colleagues, correspondents, about his academic adventures at research centres in Germany (Tübingen) and Italy (Naples), books and editions, and many other fascinating issues. Moreover, he shared his views on prospective developments of research in the field of ancient philosophy.
We want to encourage you, once again, to click here and watch the video.
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