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Cosmology and Argument in Ancient Philosophy
The aim of this conference is to gather a select group of scholars working on ancient cosmology, logic, epistemology, and metaphysics to explore the interaction between ancient cosmologies and arguments from the Presocratics to Late Antiquity, how different modes of argumentation interact in a single author or a group of authors, and whether there was, if any, an evolution of these themes in the history of ancient Greek philosophy. The conference will take place at K. Donelaitis Room, Faculty of Philology, Universiteto st. 5.
Keynote speakers
Gábor Betegh
University of Cambridge
Caterina Pello
University of Geneva
Thomas Kjeller Johansen
University of Oslo
Barbara Michaela Sattler
University of St. Andrews
Klaus Corcilius
University of Tübingen
Matthew Duncombe
University of Nottingham
Chiara Ferella
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Aistė Čelkytė
Leiden University
Mantas Adomėnas
Vilnius University / Baltic Institute of Advanced Technology
Vilius Bartninkas
Vilnius University
Luca Gili
Vilnius University
Mantas Adomėnas
Vilnius University / Baltic Institute of Advanced Technology
Mantas Adomėnas is an Associate Professor at the Classics Department of Vilnius University and Secretary General of the Community of Democracies. Previously, he was a Junior Research Fellow at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge (2000-2004), Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania (2021-2023) and Member of Parliament of Lithuania (2008-2020). He has translated into Lithuanian with an introduction and commentary the fragments of Heraclitus (Aidai, 1995) and published papers on Heraclitus and Plato in OSAP, Phronesis and elsewhere.
Abstract
ΚΟΣΜΟΣ ΕΠΕΩΝ: World as a Text in Presocratic Philosophy
This paper examines the Presocratic conception of the cosmos as a “text,” wherein the structures of reality and discourse are inherently parallel, reflecting a deep commensurability between being, thought, and language. Focusing first on Heraclitus, the study argues that his logos should be understood not only as discourse but also as a textualized model of reality, in which the grammar of opposites and their unification mirrors both linguistic and ontological structures. Turning to Parmenides, the analysis highlights his diagnosis of humanity’s epistemological “original sin”: the linguistic imposition of dual forms, which generated doxastic cosmology and distorted access to being. The paper then considers Democritus, whose analogy between atoms and letters extends the textual paradigm, situating atomic theory within a grammatological framework that emphasizes combinatory structures and the possibility of a language of reality. The study concludes by tracing two corollaries: Gorgias’ negation of the Presocratic identification of language and being, and the etymological section of the Cratylus, which is rooted in Presocratic antecedents. By bringing these strands together, the paper situates Presocratic thought as an early reflection on the isomorphism of world and text, anticipating later philosophical debates on the relationship between ontology, epistemology, and language.