Postdoc Position in Anchoring in Hellenistic Philosophy (1.0 FTE)

From its inception philosophy had to compete for cultural authority and legitimacy with other ways of explaining the world and regulating human behaviour, most notably traditional religion, and with icons of Greek paideia such as Homer (cf. e.g. Heraclitus, or Plato's Republic). But philosophers also competed among themselves, especially since philosophy ramified into different schools - a development that took definitive shape in early Hellenistic Athens in particular. New schools were founded, most notably the Epicurean Garden and the Stoa, and sought to attract their own followers. An older school, the Platonic Academy, took a new direction by turning sceptical. This project is designed to study the strategies used by these Hellenistic philosophers to make their innovations acceptable and authoritative, both among philosophers and within the polis community at large. A central conceptual tool will be that of 'anchoring' as applied to both successful and unsuccessful cases of philosophical (doctrinal, institutional) innovation. At face value, the strategies involved diverged in striking ways and for reasons that are unclear and merit closer study. On the one hand, Stoics and other philosophers anchored their positions through reinterpretation rather than outright rejection. This is true both for their approach to traditional religion, morality and civic institutions and for their relation to philosophical predecessors such as Socrates and the Presocratics. Thus both Stoics and Academics cast themselves as Socratics. Epicurus, on the other hand, stands out by his rejection of traditional religion and education as well as his criticism of the arts. He and his followers vilified Socrates. Thus Epicurus' approach can be characterized as 'negative anchoring', i.e. one that lays claim to a new and creditable identity by emphasizing what he and his school do not stand for.  But in his case too it needs to be asked how exactly he went about developing this line, how far he combined it with positive forms of anchoring and, ultimately, why he was so successful in launching his philosophy.

Candidates should write a proposal in which they respond creatively to the ideas developed in the above description of the struggle for cultural authority by and among philosophers in the Hellenistic period as they developed and propagated their innovations.

The results, laid down in at least two substantial articles, are to illuminate vital aspects of this use of philosophical traditions and the possible anchoring processes involved.

More information about the Anchoring Innovation research agenda of OIKOS can be found on the OIKOS website with further references to publications about the Anchoring Innovation program.