Christian Benne & James Porter
The third session of the International Seminar Nietzsche’s Basel Lectures will be dedicated to the theme Encyclopedia of Classical Philology and will take place online on 5 November 2025 (Wednesday), from 16:00 to 18:00 (UTC). The session will be led by Christian Benne, with a presentation entitled “Drives: Romantic Reflections in Encyclopädie der klassischen Philologie”, and James Porter, who will speak on “Thinking Backwards: Theocrasy and Syncretism in The Encyclopedia of Philology”.
Drives: Romantic Reflections in Encyclopädie der klassischen Philologie
More info soon.
Thinking Backwards: Theocrasy and Syncretism in The Encyclopedia of Philology
More info soon.
About the seminar
It is now widely accepted among experts on Nietzsche’s work that his Basel lectures are essential to a proper understanding of the development of his thinking. Now that the lectures have been published in the critical edition of the complete works, it is necessary to study their sources and the methods used in them, as well as their philological and philosophical content. Despite this, they remain largely unexplored. While some relevant research has emerged, it has focused mainly on specific lectures. There is therefore still a need for research that covers all the lectures, studies them systematically and in their interrelationships, looking for differences and similarities and seeking to determine to what extent decisive aspects of what distinguishes Nietzsche’s thought are already present in them or not. This seminar aims to be a first contribution to filling this gap. It will consist of ten monthly sessions. Each session will focus on one of the series of lectures and its key topic. And it will feature two speakers. The seminar format, with its discussion among all participants after each presentation, is a fruitful model for a project of this kind. Attendance to each seminar session must be preceded by registration through one of the organisers, who will provide the respective link (carlottasantini@hotmail.it, enasser@uol.com.br, plima@fcsh.unl.pt). For more information, see the full seminar programme below.
Org. Carlotta Santini (CNRS/ENS, Paris), Eduardo Nasser (UFPE/UFABC), Paulo Lima (IFILNOVA/NOVA FCSH)
Next sessions
Session 4: Latin Grammar
16 December 2025 (exceptionally on Tuesday), 16:00–18:00 (UTC)
Christian Wolleck, “A Philosopher Talks About Grammar: On the Philosophical Implications of a Philological Stint”
Marina Silenzi, “Instinct, Shout and Mimicry: Toward a Genealogy of Language”
Session 5: The Pre-Platonic Philosophers
14 January 2026 (Wednesday), 16:00–18:00 (UTC)
André Laks, TBD
Helmut Heit, “The Pre-Platonic Philosophers”
Session 6: Plato
18 February 2026 (Wednesday), 16:00–18:00 (UTC)
João Constâncio, “Nietzsche on Plato’s Phaedrus and the Question of Writing”
Pieter De Corte, “Nietzsche on Plato’s Political Thought in the Basel Lectures”
Session 7: Cicero’s Academica
18 March 2026 (Wednesday), 16:00–18:00 (UTC)
Luca Lupo, “Saying Yes: The Doctrine of Assent”
Stefano Busellato, TBD
Session 8: Rhetoric
15 April 2026 (Wednesday), 16:00–18:00 (UTC+1)
Rogerio Lopes, “Much Ado About (Almost) Nothing: How to Avoid Philosophical Inflation of Genealogical Claims”
Aritz Pardina Herrero, “F. Nietzsche’s Rhetoric Lectures: Dating and Interrelationship (and Why These Are Important)”
Session 9: Tragedy
13 May 2026 (Wednesday), 16:00–18:00 (UTC+1)
Sotera Fornaro, TBD
Enrico Mueller, TBD
Session 10: Greek Literature
17 June 2026 (Wednesday), 16:00–18:00 (UTC+1)
Gemma Adesso, “The Art of Reading and Writing”
Rafael Carrión Arias, “History of Greek Literature from 1874-76: The Origins of Genealogical Method in F. Nietzsche”