Giannis Stamatellos

Institute of Philosophy & Technology · President

The first book-length philosophical study on the Presocratic influences in Plotinus’ Enneads. Filling the void in the current scholarship, Giannis Stamatellos provides the first book-length study of the Presocratic influences in Plotinus’ Enneads. Widely regarded as the founder of Neoplatonism, Plotinus (204–270 AD) assimilated eight centuries of G...

The aim of this paper is to focus on the reception of Plotinus’ concept of matter in the Renaissance philosopher Giordano Bruno and his early Italian dialogue De la causa, principio et uno (1584). I argue that Bruno’s concept of materia in De la causa, principio et uno reflects Plotinus’ theory of intelligible matter in Ennead ii 4 [12] 2–5 as well...

Introduction to Presocratics presents a succinct introduction to Greek thinkers of the 6th and 5th century BCE and a thematic exploration of the topics and enquiries opened by these first philosophers and scientists of the Western tradition.

Plotinus and the Moving Image offers the first philosophical discussion on Plotinus' philosophy and film. It discusses Plotinian concepts like "the One" in a cinematic context and relates Plotinus' theory of time as a transitory intelligible movement of the soul to Bergson’s and Deleuze’s time-image. Film is a unique medium for a rapprochement of o...

The rapid advancement of information technology in modern societies affects the way we live, communicate, work, and entertain. Computers and computer networks formulate an information age in which traditional ethical questions are reexamined and new questions arise concerning moral standards for human behavior. Computer Ethics: A Global Perspective...

Socratic methodologies and dialogical thinking have been recognized as effective educational, psychological, and philosophical strategies for empowering ethical decision-making and moral judgment. The classical Platonic dialogues, featuring Socrates as the central figure, have inspired contemporary studies focused on human enhancement for both pers...

Despite the increasing prevalence of disinformation in digital information systems and social media, there is a noticeable research gap in discussing the philosophical use of Socratic methodologies and artificial intelligence to combat information disorder. This paper proposes a philosophical approach that utilizes Socratic methodologies, Socratic...

In spite of the increasing prevalence of disinformation across digital information systems and social media, along with the advancements in Socratic AI, there has been a noticeable lack of emphasis on creating a Generative AI tool that draws from Socratic methodologies to effectively tackle disinformation. This paper aims to highlight the philosoph...

In Plotinus’s Enneads , the concept of harmony is mainly discussed in relation to intelligible beauty and musical melody, the Pythagorean doctrine of soul’s harmony, the universal harmony of the heavenly spheres, the nature of the perceptible bodies, and the correlation between virtue and harmony. Modern scholarship emphasizes the Platonic-Pythagor...

In a time marked by profound polarization, this volume draws attention to virtue that is of key importance in many non-Western cultures but is largely neglected in modern Western thought: the virtue of harmony. The volume comprises a collection of thirteen essays that expound harmony against different cultural and disciplinary backgrounds. Each con...

The workshop aims to offer a concise introduction to early Greek philosophical ethics. Cicero (106 – 43 BCE) emphatically stated that “Socrates was the first who brought down philosophy from heaven to earth and placed it in cities, and introduced it even in homes, and drove it to inquire about life and customs and things good and evil (Tusculan Dis...

IPT Talks Series - Season 2021/22 Organized by the Institute of Philosophy & Technology

In Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite (2019), the impoverished Kim family acts as a fine-tuned gang of parasites, well-coordinated and inventive in the sophisticated art of deception and manipulation of the wealthy Park family. In the second century CE, the satirist Lucian of Samosata, in his dialogue De Parasito, amusingly portrays parasitism as an art. By t...

The aim of this critical note is to discuss Heraclitus' use of analogy as a pattern of thought not only with argumentative value but also ontological and epistemological status. Heraclitus' analogy is of two kinds and is expressed in the use of the adverbs ὥσπερ ("as") and ὅκωσπερ ("just as"). The first is used as an explanatory device, while the s...

The Netizen Workshop focuses on the concept of 'citizen' which is broadened and redefined in the new digital reality. The ever-evolving digital technology and the increasing use of digital media leads to a re-examination of ethical, social and political values. What is the role of the citizen (nowadays, aka 'netizen') in the digital age? What new p...

Aion (αἰών) (Ancient Greek). Eternity, lifetime, age, generation. Entry in ODIP https://www.odiphilosophy.com/aion

BEAGLE Project - Erasmus+ Open Educational Material Workshop: Environmental Computing Age range: 14-18 years old Time: 240 minutes (4 sessions of 60 min) Group: 10-15 participants Materials and tools: Computer or Laptop, Video Projector, Projection Screen, White Board, Markers, 12 multimedia infographics and mind maps (labelled from S1EEa to S4EEc...

“Teacher Guidelines in Early Bioethical Education” is a short introduction in bioethical education. However, it does not take into account every bioethical topic, but it is limited to the issues of human conduct toward his living environment (non-human living beings and nature). BEAGLE project has been funded with support from the European Commissi...

The aim of this research is to work on Plotinus' use of similes and metaphors of the sacred in the Enneads. Plotinus particularly uses the metaphoric images of the "holy sanctuary" (hieron) and the "temple" (naos) to designate the soul's internal intelligible and divine place of contemplation (I.6.7.6 and 8.2; IV.3.11.2; V.1.6.12; VI.9.11.19, 28-35...

Plotinus uses the term 'harmony' (harmonia) in various passages of the Enneads: particularly in relation to intelligible beauty and music melody (I.3.1; I.6.3.28-29; I.9.7; II.9.40.16; V.9.11.10-11; VI.6.16.43-44; VI.7.6.3-5); the constitution of the perceptible bodies (IV.2.1; IV.3.24.19-20); the early Pythagorean doctrine of soul's harmony (IV.7....

Book review

Neoplatonic virtue ethics is a philosophical development of the Platonic and the Aristotelian ethical theory. Plotinus discusses his virtue ethics mainly in Enneads I.2 On Virtues, I.3 On Dialectic, and I.4 On Well-Being. In Sententiae ad intelligibilia ducentes 32, Porphyry systematized Plotinus' treatment of the four cardinal virtues exposed in E...

This article focuses on the virtue ethics of Plotinus (204—270 C.E.) and its implications for later accounts of virtue ethics, particularly in Porphyry and Iamblichus. Plotinus' ethical theory is discussed in relation to the aim of the virtuous person to become godlike, the role of disposition in the soul's intellectualization, the four cardinal vi...

In the Enneads, various references are made to philia, but scant attention has been paid in modern scholarship to the philosophical importance of friendship and its sources in Plotinus. The aim of this paper is twofold: firstly, to focus on the reception of the Empedoclean philia in the Enneads and, secondly, to offer a discussion of the implicatio...

Peter Weir’s The Truman Show (1998), written by Andrew Niccol, has been approached from various philosophical perspectives particularly in relation to Cartesian skepticism and the question of the external world, Sartrean existentialism and the affirmation of individual freedom, and some accounts of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. However, despite the...

Heraclitus’ philosophy is an inquiry on the world of becoming. Despite the fact that none of his extant fragments refer directly to the notion of 'time' (chronos), Heraclitus' conception of time could be reconstructed in the light of his fragments (DK) regarding the everlastingness of aiōn (B52), the seasons of time (B100) and the flux of the river...

Plotinus and the Moving Image offers the first philosophical discussion on Plotinus' philosophy and film. It discusses Plotinian concepts like "the One" in a cinematic context and relates Plotinus' theory of time as a transitory intelligible movement of the soul to Bergson’s and Deleuze’s time-image. Film is a unique medium for a rapprochement of o...

The utilization of digital tools aiming at the cognitive enhancement of students and adults, so that they can achieve better performance and professional or academic success, has increased in recent years. This paper focuses on ICT tools such as computer games, programming languages and educational software as means for cognitive enhancement and at...

The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance of ἕξις in Plotinus’ virtue ethics. It is argued that since ἕξις signifies a quality of being in a permanent state of possession and virtue is defined as an ἕξις that intellectualizes the soul, therefore, it is suggested that virtue is an active ἕξις of the soul directed higher to the intelligibl...

The emergence of computer networking and advanced digital communication technologies has led to a philosophical reconsideration of our ethical, social and political values. In normative theories of cyber ethics, duty-­-based Kantian or consequence-­-based utilitarian approaches have frequently prevailed at the expense of a virtue ethics approach. I...

In early Presocratic philosophy, analogy is a pattern of thought that marks the first attempts for an explanation of the cosmos and its relation to the human soul. Analogical reasoning is initially identified in Thales of Miletus (fl. c. 585 BCE) and Anaximenes of Miletus (fl. c. 546 BCE). In particular, Thales’ explanation of the cosmos is based o...

In Ennead III.7 Plotinus defines eternity (aiōn) as the life of the Intellect, contrasted with time (chronos) as the life of the Soul. The aim of this paper is to highlight the philosophical importance of the notion of eternity in Plotinus and explore its philosophical background. It is argued that the association of aiōn with the notion of life in...

NEOPLATONISM - Wilberding (J.), Horn (C.) (edd.) Neoplatonism and the Philosophy of Nature. Pp. x + 257, ills. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012. Cased, £45, US$75. ISBN: 978-0-19-969371-9. - Volume 63 Issue 2 - Giannis Stamatellos

The aim of this paper is to reconsider Plotinus’ account of transmigration in the light of his dual-aspect theory of the soul. It is argued that transmigration is discussed in the Enneads only in relation to the lower perceptible part of the soul. The higher intelligible part of the soul remains undescended and uninvolved in any kind of transmigrat...

The ethical problem of privacy lies at the core of computer ethics and cyber ethics discussions. The extensive use of personal data in digital networks poses a serious threat to the user’s right of privacy not only at the level of a user’s data integrity and security but also at the level of a user’s identity and freedom. In normative ethical theor...

In normative ethical theory, computer ethics belongs to the area of applied ethics dealing with practical and everyday moral problems arising from the use of computers and computer networks in the information society. Modern scholarship usually approves deontological and utilitarian ethics as appropriate to computer ethics, while classical theories...

argument by analogy in Thales and Anaximenes;argument by analogy, and inductive inference;analogical argument, hypothetical similarities between cases;arguing by analogy, things similar or alike in certain respects;argument by analogy, not deductively valid;early Greek philosophy and analogy, a pattern of thought, cosmos;Anaximenes, offering an arg...

The ethical problem of privacy lies at the core of computer ethics and cyber ethics discussions. The extensive use of personal data in digital networks poses a serious threat to the user’s right of privacy not only at the level of a user’s data integrity and security but also at the level of a user’s identity and freedom. In normative ethical theor...

In normative ethical theory, computer ethics belongs to the area of applied ethics dealing with practical and everyday moral problems arising from the use of computers and computer networks in the information society. Modern scholarship usually approves deontological and utilitarian ethics as appropriate to computer ethics, while classical theories...

This paper examines an ancient philosophical discourse on angelos (messenger) found in the thought of Plotinus (AD 204-270) – a prominent philosopher of late antiquity, widely regarded as the founder of Neoplatonism. Understanding Plotinus’ message theory involves inquiring into his epistemology, psychology and metaphysics. In the Enneads, Plotinus...

Review of Eliasson, E., (2008) The Notion of That Which Depends on Us in Plotinus and Its Background, Leiden: E.J. Brill, in Ancient Philosophy XXXI (1): 238-240, 2011.

Review Published in Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2010.02.19 https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2010/2010.02.19/

The aim of this paper is to juxtapose the notion of infinity in Cantor’s mathematics to the concept of infinity in Plotinus’ ontology and metaphysics. This comparison elicits considerable discussion and results in a better understanding of both realms. We are struck by Plotinus’ concept of infinity appearing throughout the definition of the Three H...

The first book-length philosophical study on the Presocratic influences in Plotinus’ Enneads. Filling the void in the current scholarship, Giannis Stamatellos provides the first book-length study of the Presocratic influences in Plotinus’ Enneads. Widely regarded as the founder of Neoplatonism, Plotinus (204–270 AD) assimilated eight centuries of...

Τα φιλοσοφικά κινήματα της εποχής συνομιλούν με τις θρησκείες της εποχής εκφράζοντας "νέα" φιλοσοφικά ρεύματα όπως αυτά του Νεοπυθαγορισμού και του Νεοπλατωνισμού, αλλά και οι θρησκείες της εποχής διασταυρώνονται με την ελληνική φιλοσοφία δημιουργώντας ιδιόμορφα θεοσοφικά κινήματα όπως αυτά του Γνωστικισμού και του Ερμητισμού. Σκοπός του βιβλίου εί...