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Photos from this year's conference in Frascati are now available here. New members have also been added to Affiliations.

The Annual Michael Frede Memorial Lecture

Monday 18 May 2026, 18:00 (GR) / 16:00 (UK)

We are delighted to invite you to the upcoming annual Annual Michael Frede Memorial Lecture which will be given by Professor Hendrik Lorenz (Princeton University). This lecture will take place in-person at the BSA Upper House and online via webinar.

From one of my colleagues, Dr. Jason West:

"Saddened to learn of the recent death of the exeptional Canadian philosopher Thomas De Koninick (1934-2026). May he rest in peace. I share words of wisdom he gave on human dignity and death:

"For my part, I am deeply convinced, with arguments to support this view, that every human being, whoever they may be and whatever their condition, is unique in the world and possesses equal dignity — that of being an end in themselves. One can therefore never say or think: “he does not matter,” or “her life is no longer worth living.” With human dignity understood in this rigorous sense, which stands in contrast to the Roman concept of dignitas of old, no compromise is possible. Every human being matters.""

If you are fortunate enough to be in Athens on March 4!!

Professor Alex Long (University of St Andrews)

Abstract: Plato’s Phaedrus is widely regarded as the first expression in the Greek and Roman traditions of the view that literary compositions should possess ‘organic’ unity. And yet it is an apparently disjointed work, and the question of its own unity is a long-standing puzzle. The paper argues that there is a function shared by each part of the dialogue: illustrating and defending an indirect approach to protreptic (that is, the conversion of another person to philosophy), where the protreptic is left unannounced and exploits the other person’s pre-existing interests. The dialogue thus defends the distinctive approach to protreptic taken in Plato’s dialogues more generally.

Lecture handout notes are available here

Professor Alex Long (University of St Andrews)

Abstract: Plato’s Timaeus and Critias offer a puzzling combination of cosmology and the political quasi-history of ancient Athens and Atlantis. Previous discussions have taken Plato’s aim to be naturalizing the political theory or likening political lawgivers to the creator of the world. Alex Long argues that the relation should be seen as a contrast: the natural world provides direct empirical access to an everlasting educative model, whereas in the political sphere such models are typically unavailable. Plato’s aim in combining the two stories is not to lend support to his political claims, or to present an aggrandizing view of legislation as similar to the creation of the world, but to show the possibility of proper moral development in a flawed political environment.

Lecture handout notes are available here