Lectures-publications

on general or specific issues regarding ancient Greek philosophy and ancient Chinese thought
March-November 2023

Chinese Philosophy as a Mirror for a Better Insight into Greek Philosophy

Pantelis Golitsis (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Abstract
Like other world philosophies, Chinese philosophy is actually largely unknown to Greek academics and students, who have traditionally focused on the philosophical canon established through European historiography and academic practice during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the Center for Ancient Greek and Chinese Civilizations will promote unbiased knowledge about ancient Chinese philosophy. We are also interested in scrutinizing the establishment of the Western philosophical canon and in viewing into Chinese philosophy not only for its own merit, but also into it as a mirror which, unlike Tatian’s mirror for instance, will reveal neglected aspects of Greek philosophical thought and practice. The reasoning behind medical art, the advisory poetry of Solon, Xenophon’s political and military treatises, φιλοσοφία as conceived by the orator Isocrates are only some examples of thinkers and texts that lie outside the ‘philosophical canon’. Chinese philosophy may help us broaden our perspective on Greek philosophy itself.

The full text is available here.

Speaker
Pantelis Golitsis is Associate Professor at the University of Thessaloniki. His research interests include Ancient Philosophy with focus on Aristotle, Neoplatonism and the Commentators on Aristotle; Byzantine Philosophy; Medieval Philosophy (Logic – Metaphysics); Early Modern Greek Philosophy (18th cent.).