Prime Matter: The Ontological Stakes of Physical Endurance

Conference, HU Berlin (DE). 28 February 2020.

What is prime matter? And why did medieval practitioners of both philosophy and science strive intellectually to maintain its existence? The conference Prime Matter: The Ontological Stakes of Physical Endurance delves into these and further questions directly concerning the hylomorphic model of nature. Organised by Nicola Polloni, the conference will take place at HU Berlin and is funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung. A whole day of discussions on matter, prime matter, and natural change that will close with a keynote lecture given by Cecilia Trifogli (University of Oxford).

Organiser: Nicola Polloni.

Participants: Elena Baltuta, Vincenzo Carlotta, Yael Kedar, Andreas Lammer, Silvia Manzo, Cesare Pastorino, Nicola Polloni, Cecilia Trifogli.

Programme

9.00-9.30: Conference opening

Session 1 Chair: Yael Kedar

9.30-10.00
Vincenzo Carlotta (HU Berlin), Dividing the Indivisible: The Material Substrate of the Four Elements in Byzantine Alchemy.

10.00-10.30
Andreas Lammer (Universität Trier), The Being of Matter before and after Avicenna: New Light on Greek and Arabic Sources.

10.30-11.00
Nicola Polloni (HU Berlin), Original, First, or Prime: 12^th-century Perspectives on Matter, with and without Aristotle.

11.00-11.45: discussion

Session 2 Chair: Andreas Lammer

13.30-14.00
Elena Baltuta (Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj), What’s the Matter with Prime Matter? Aquinas vs Kilwardby.

14.00-14.30
Yael Kedar (Tel Hai), Dimensions, Quantity and Geometry in Roger Bacon’s Conception of Matter.

14.30-15.00: discussion

Session 3 Chair: Elena Baltuta

16.15-16.45
Silvia Manzo (Universidad Nacional de La Plata), Francis Bacon on Rebellious Matter and the Order of Nature

16.45-17.15
Cesare Pastorino (TU Berlin), Experimenting on the Weight of Things: Johannes Kepler on Specific Gravities

17.15-17.45: discussion

18.00-19.00
Keynote lecture: Cecilia Trifogli (Oxford), Matter as Principle of Change.

Conference Photos

©️Nicola Polloni | Latest update: March 2020