News

New Essay Collection on Cambridge Platonist Henry More, edited by Centre Fellow, Dr Christian HengstermannThe first major essay collection on the most prolific of the Cambridge Platonists since Sarah Hutton’s 1990 Tercentenary Studies, this new book provides an in-depth exposition of Henry More’s metaphysics and its legacy. As well as a detailed in…

New Interfaith Research Project funded by the Spalding TrustCan Platonic metaphysics bridge the perceived gap between faith and reason? Much popular secular rhetoric opines that the two are irreconcilable both for Christians and, more pointedly, in the case of Islam. Media commentators regularly pillory the latter for “mediaeval” attitudes and exce…

PhD researcher appointed as part of the ‘Reception of German Mysticism’ grantJonathan Lyonhart has been appointed as a Research Assistant as part of 'The Reception of German Mysticism' grant.The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) have awarded a three-year Insight Grant to Professor Torrance Kirby of McGill University …

Lecture delivered via ZoomOn 8 June, the Cambridge Centre for the Study of Platonism hosted Prof. Robert C. Koons via Zoom to deliver his talk, 'Tolkien, Barfield, and Neoplatonism: How Metaphysics Moulded Middle Earth'. Prof. Rob Koons is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Texas, Austin and has recently been a Visiting Fellow at Corpus C…

Prof. Douglas Hedley joins Dr Stephen Blackwood on the Ralston College PodcastWhat connects truth, imagination, and freedom? Stephen Blackwood talks with philosopher-theologian Douglas Hedley about the human mind and its participation in a fundamentally knowable universe. The conversation begins with an introduction to three foundational aspects of…

Zoom ConferenceThe conference, 'Barfield, Coleridge, and the Imagination' was hosted via Zoom by the Cambridge Centre for the Study of Platonism. For more details, see the programme.

Tuesdays from 11-12.30The Plotinus Reading Seminar will continue noetically this term, meeting on Tuesdays from 11-12.30. Our first session is 28 April, and we will resume our reading at IV.7 11. Contact djt57@cam.ac.uk for Zoom details.

$177,000 (CAD) Grant awarded from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) have awarded a three-year Insight Grant to Professor Torrance Kirby of McGill University (PI), with Professor Douglas Hedley, Cambridge Divinity Faculty and Director of the Cent…

Workshop at the University of SiegenOn 4 March, Prof. Douglas Hedley presented his paper, 'Cambridge Platonists and Idealism' at the workshop 'The Dissident Renaissance: History of Early Modern Philosophy as Political Practice' at the University of Siegen.

Beierwaltes Seminar VIOn 24 February, Prof. Schmidt-Biggemann (Berlin) delivered a talk, entitled 'Shelling’s Theology and Heidegger’s Godless Revelation', to the Cambridge Centre for the Study of Platonism. While in Cambridge, Prof. Schmidt-Biggemann also participated in the Centre's Schelling reading seminar. The following day the Centre hosted '…

Dr. Daniel Watson gave a talk, entitled 'The Conciliation of Natural Language and Natural Law in Early Irish Literature', to the Cambridge Centre for the Study of Platonism.

It is with great regret that the Cambridge Centre for the Study of Platonism notes the untimely death of Professor Jens Halfwassen of Heidelberg university. Professor Halfwassen was a scholar of immense erudition, wide systematic range and formidable insight. He was distinguished bearer of the living metaphysical traditions of Late Antique Platonis…

The nation has lost an eminent philosopher, and an ardent defender of the humanities in an age when we urgently need his light. Throughout his illustrious career and prolific writings, Roger Scruton developed a rich and nuanced system of thought, within which the soul’s longing for beauty, a sense of wonder and a veneration of sacred are pivotal. S…

Dr Stephen Blackwood gave the talk, entitled 'Why we need the Ancient Greeks today' to the Cambridge Centre for the Study of Platonism on 12 November 2019. The talk moved from reflections on some of the problems of modernity to a consideration of the ways in which ancient thought might help us to overcome these difficulties.

On 7 November 2019 Margaret Barker delivered a talk, entitled 'The Lady and Her City: The Book of Revelation and in a Led Book From Jordan', to the Cambridge Centre for the Study of Platonism.