The Dialetheic Theory of Truth In Neo-Platonic Philosophy
2021-2023
Funded by the Hong Kong University Grants Committee [General Research Fund]
In the following two years (2021-2023) I will be completing a research project entitled The Dialetheic Theory of Truth in Neo-Platonism. In this research project, I will establish a new reading of the history of philosophy that demonstrates how the concept of dialetheism is at work in Classical Neo-Platonic Greek philosophy. During the past few decades, Graham Priest has advocated for dialetheism, the controversial position that some contradictions are true. In recent decades the philosophical community has begun to recognize the significant challenge posed by Priest’s arguments. Despite the increased interest in dialetheism, and the various attempts at discovering applications of this theory of truth in various philosophical traditions, philosophers and historians of philosophy have not yet applied a dialetheist conception of truth to Neo-Platonism. Although numerous scholars have investigated the role of contradiction in Neo-Platonic thought, scholars have not yet employed dialetheism as a principle by which to systematically elucidate the metaphysics and epistemology of Neo-Platonic philosophy.
In a series of four articles, I aim to uncover the dialetheic concept of truth in the texts of two Neo-Platonic thinkers: Pseudo-Dionysius and Meister Eckhart. This will be achieved by means of a close reading of Eckhart’s German sermons, and Pseudo Dionysius’ Greek texts. This initial research will prepare the way for a longer book length project that will investigate the dialetheic concept of truth in the broader Neo-Platonic tradition, which will include investigation of further authors such as John Scotus Eriugena and Nicolas of Cusa. Because Eckhart drew heavily upon the theology of Pseudo-Dionysius for inspiration, the dialetheic concept of truth in Eckhart and other Neo-Platonic thinkers follows a common pattern that can be traced to Pseudo-Dionysius as a common source.
The Autonomy of Mythology in Schelling and Cassirer
2019-2022
Funded by the Hong Kong University Grants Committee [Early Career Grant]
Beyond these research projects associated with dialetheism, I have a very strong interest in the philosophical anthropology of Ernst Cassirer, which has inspired another successful and competitive grant (2019-2021), entitled Ernst Cassirer and the Autonomy of Mythology, which explores the legacy of Schelling and Hegel in Cassirer’s philosophy of symbolic forms. In particular, this research investigates the claims by both Cassirer and Schelling that mythology is an independent cultural form that cannot be understood by reducing it to or modelling it upon any other form of knowledge or culture. This work on Cassirer follows upon my first monograph, which was published in 2014 under the title Ernst Cassirer and the Autonomy of Language (2014). My work in Cassirer’s philosophical anthropology integrates recent and contemporary empirical and ethnological research on mythology and religion and tests the claims of Cassirer concerning the autonomous character of mythology against the current research. My inter-disciplinary work on philosophical anthropology has inspired a co-taught course with a CUHK colleague working in ethno-musicology.
2021-2023
Funded by the Hong Kong University Grants Committee [General Research Fund]
In the following two years (2021-2023) I will be completing a research project entitled The Dialetheic Theory of Truth in Neo-Platonism. In this research project, I will establish a new reading of the history of philosophy that demonstrates how the concept of dialetheism is at work in Classical Neo-Platonic Greek philosophy. During the past few decades, Graham Priest has advocated for dialetheism, the controversial position that some contradictions are true. In recent decades the philosophical community has begun to recognize the significant challenge posed by Priest’s arguments. Despite the increased interest in dialetheism, and the various attempts at discovering applications of this theory of truth in various philosophical traditions, philosophers and historians of philosophy have not yet applied a dialetheist conception of truth to Neo-Platonism. Although numerous scholars have investigated the role of contradiction in Neo-Platonic thought, scholars have not yet employed dialetheism as a principle by which to systematically elucidate the metaphysics and epistemology of Neo-Platonic philosophy.
In a series of four articles, I aim to uncover the dialetheic concept of truth in the texts of two Neo-Platonic thinkers: Pseudo-Dionysius and Meister Eckhart. This will be achieved by means of a close reading of Eckhart’s German sermons, and Pseudo Dionysius’ Greek texts. This initial research will prepare the way for a longer book length project that will investigate the dialetheic concept of truth in the broader Neo-Platonic tradition, which will include investigation of further authors such as John Scotus Eriugena and Nicolas of Cusa. Because Eckhart drew heavily upon the theology of Pseudo-Dionysius for inspiration, the dialetheic concept of truth in Eckhart and other Neo-Platonic thinkers follows a common pattern that can be traced to Pseudo-Dionysius as a common source.
The Autonomy of Mythology in Schelling and Cassirer
2019-2022
Funded by the Hong Kong University Grants Committee [Early Career Grant]
Beyond these research projects associated with dialetheism, I have a very strong interest in the philosophical anthropology of Ernst Cassirer, which has inspired another successful and competitive grant (2019-2021), entitled Ernst Cassirer and the Autonomy of Mythology, which explores the legacy of Schelling and Hegel in Cassirer’s philosophy of symbolic forms. In particular, this research investigates the claims by both Cassirer and Schelling that mythology is an independent cultural form that cannot be understood by reducing it to or modelling it upon any other form of knowledge or culture. This work on Cassirer follows upon my first monograph, which was published in 2014 under the title Ernst Cassirer and the Autonomy of Language (2014). My work in Cassirer’s philosophical anthropology integrates recent and contemporary empirical and ethnological research on mythology and religion and tests the claims of Cassirer concerning the autonomous character of mythology against the current research. My inter-disciplinary work on philosophical anthropology has inspired a co-taught course with a CUHK colleague working in ethno-musicology.