Conference Aims
Adapting to epistemology the well-known distinction between general ethical theory and applied ethics, one could say that it is the job of applied epistemology to clarify what it means to know/explain/understand facts of a particular kind (e.g., to diagnose diseases, to explain the movements of the stars, to produce a mathematical proof and thus to grasp the truth of a mathematical proposition), while general epistemology is concerned with questions of what it means to know/explain/understand something in general – whatever it may be. Such a distinction, though potentially misleading, serves to call attention both to the discipline-specificity of knowledge and to the possibility that the conditions, both necessary and sufficient, for knowledge may vary depending on the subject matter, as Aristotle already observed: „For the educated person seeks exactness in each area to the extent that the nature of the subject allows“ (Nicomachean Ethics, 1094b23-25, transl. Irwin).
The aim of the conference is twofold: first, to explore the ancient discussion about the discipline-specificity of knowledge; second, to reconstruct discipline-specific accounts of knowledge/explanation/understanding that figure prominently in ancient texts, both philosophical and scientific; papers may approach the subject with respect to a single discipline (such as medicine, astronomy, mathematics) or from a comparative perspective. The emphasis will be on ensuring that the ancient tradition of ‘applied epistemology’ is covered as completely as possible, from the beginnings of ancient philosophy and science to the end of antiquity.
Management
JProf. Dr. Benedikt Strobel Universität Trier FB I - Philosophie D - 54286 Trier E-mail: strobeluni-trierde Tel.: 0049-(0)651-2340 Fax: 0049-(0)651-3922 | Prof. Dr. Georg Wöhrle Universität Trier FB II - Klassische Philologie / Gräzistik D - 54286 Trier E-Mail: woehrleuni-trierde Tel.: 0049-(0)651-2357 Fax: 0049-(0)651-3948 |
Financial Support: Schwarz-Liebermann von Wahlendorf’sche-Stiftung im Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft |
Organisation

Piotr Wozniczka, Mgr.
Universität Trier
FB II - Klassische Philologie
E-mail: epistag@uni-trier.de
Conference Program
Donnerstag, 3. Juli / Thursday, July 3rd
08.45-09.00
| Georg Wöhrle / Benedikt Strobel (Universität Trier): Begrüßung / Welcome address |
A: Arten des Wissens und der Wissenschaft bei Aristoteles | |
09.00-10.00 | Jeffrey Golub (The New School for Social Research in New York City/University of Colorado Denver): The Stochastics of Articulate and Inarticulate Forms of Knowledge in Aristotle |
10.00-11.00 | Albert Joosse (Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg): Proper Science in Aristotle |
11.00-11.30 | Kaffeepause / Coffee break |
11.30-12.30 | Sebastian Odzuck (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main): Über welche Art von Wissen verfügt Aristoteles zufolge der Naturforscher? |
B: Angewandte Epistemologie in aristotelischer Naturwissenschaft | |
14.30-15.30 | Theodora Zikou (University of Ioannina): Applied Epistemology in Aristotle’s Chemistry |
15.30-16.30 | Petter Sandstad (Universität Rostock): Aristotle on Exceptions in Biology |
Abendvortrag / Evening Lecture | |
18.15-19.15 | Wolfgang Hübner (Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster): Theorie der Praxis: Die Medizin als Referenzwissenschaft der Astrologie |
Freitag, 4. Juli 2014 / Friday, 5 July
C: Epistemologie und Ethik bei Aristoteles | |
09.00-10.00 | Laura Summa (Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn): Welche Art von Wissen hat das aristotelisch erzogene Kind nach der ersten Erziehungsphase erlangt? |
10.00-11.00 | Joseph Karbowski (University of Notre Dame): Aristotle on the Outline Status of Ethical Principles |
11.00-11.30 | Kaffeepause / Coffee break |
11.30-12.30 | Christopher Turner (DePaul University, Chicago): Happiness, Time, and Perplexity: Aristotle’s Ethical Epistemology in EN I.10 |
D: Angewandte Epistemologie bei Galen und Sextus Empiricus | |
14.30-15.30 | Stefan Sienkiewicz (Oriel College, Oxford): |
15.30-16.30 | Matyáš Havrda (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin): |
Abendvortrag / Evening Lecture | |
18.15-19.15 | Peter Hucklenbroich (Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster): Allgemeine und Angewandte Epistemologie am Beispiel der Medizin: Der Krankheitsbegriff und die Logik der Diagnostik Unfortunately this lecture is omitted! |
Samstag, 5. Juli / Saturday, 5, July
E: Grenzfälle zwischen Wissenschaft und Nicht-Wissenschaft: Kybernetik und Mechanik | |
09.00-10.00 | Boris Dunsch (Philipps-Universität Marburg): Esti kybernetes ho epistamenos kratistos: Zum epistemologischen Status der kybernetike techne bei Platon und Aristoteles |
10.00-11.00 | Diego De Brasi (Philipps-Universität Marburg): Die epistemologische Aufwertung der Mechanik in Archimedes' Schrift die Methode über die mechanischen Theoreme |
11.00-11.30 | Kaffeepause / Coffee break |
Schlussvortrag / Closing lecture | |
11.30-12.30 | Claas Lattmann (Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel): Vom Mikro- zum Makrokosmos und wieder zurück. Anmerkungen zum Gebrauch von Modellen in Antike und Moderne |
Conference Languages: English and German
Registration
The participation in the conference is free of charge. If you are interested in taking part in the conference please register sending a mail to epistemologie-tagung@uni-trier.de until no later than 23 June 2014.
Conference Location

All sessions will take place on the campus 1 of the university. You can reach the campus 1 from the place of your accommodation by taking the bus lines 6 and 16 from the bus stop “Brettenbach” (Olewig) to the bus stop “Univesität-Süd”. For more information see: http://www.uni-trier.de/?id=46704#129113.
From the bus stop you have to walk through the campus to the A/B building, where in the conference room A9/A 10 the conference will take place. For the campus map see: http://www.uni-trier.de/index.php?id=43619
Accommodation

All conference participants will be accommodated in the Hotel Blesius Garten which is located in the picturesque wine-district Olewig: www.blesius-garten.de.
You can reach this hotel easily from the central station by taking a taxi or bus (Nr. 6 or 16; after 6. pm. Nr. 81): http://www.blesius-garten.de/anreise-per-bahn.php. For the bus schedule see: http://www.vrt-info.de/.
If you prefer a different accomodation, you will certainly find something suitable at http://www.trier-info.de/hotel.
Publication
Conference papers will be published in volume IX of the series AKAN – Antike Naturwissenschaft und ihre Rezeption – Einzelschriften. www.wvttrier.de