At Campion Hall and Blackfriars, Oxford
Important Reminder: Non residents are required by the UK to complete and submit the ETA form
Philosophy in the Abrahamic Traditions
Oxford, UK 29-31 May 2025 (with a pre-conference graduate student day 28 May)
Organized by the Aquinas and ‘the Arabs’ International Working Group
The 2025 AAIWG Summer Conference hosted by our member Dr Daniel DeHaan, Frederick Copleston Senior Research Fellow and Lecturer In Philosophy and Theology in the Catholic Tradition, Campion Hall and Blackfriars, University of Oxford. The event is organized by Dr DeHaan, Prof. Luis X. López-Farjeat (Universidad Panamericana) and Prof. Richard C. Taylor (Marquette University & KU Leuven), with the assistance of Prof. Brett Yardley (DeSales University) and Prof. Nathaniel Taylor (The Catholic University of America).
The entire event will take place over four (4) days. On 28 May we will have a special day devoted to graduate student mentoring. The Conference itself will be 29-31 May. One of the three days will be specifically devoted to the topic of the influence of philosophy in the lands of Islam on the development of philosophical and theological thought in Europe.
Submissions: The CALL FOR PAPERS opens 1 December, closing 10 January. The intention is that the program be announced ca. 15 February 2025.Each submission should include a statement on whether it is tentative (e.g., dependent on procuring funding, et al.) or a firm commitment to attend if accepted by the Scientific Committee.
Membership in the AAIWG is not necessary but some priority may be given to submissions by members.
NOTE: All participants are expected provide for their own costs of their travel, housing and other expenses.
For the conference 29-31 May established scholars and post-docs should submit a title and a short descriptive abstract of 100 words to aaiwgscholarssubmissions@gmail.com. Recent Ph.D recipients and post-docs should submit a current CV.
For the graduate student workshop 28 May, students should submit a title and a short descriptive abstract of 100 words to aaiwggradstudentsubmissions@gmail.com. These graduate student proposals require that a letter of support be submitted by the student’s supervisor to the same email address in the previous sentence.
Need other information? Contact Richard Taylor at richard.taylor(at)marquette.edu or richard.taylor(at)kuleuven.be.
Selected Presenters: You are responsible for providing copies of handouts for your audience.
Meetings will be at Blackfriars and Campion Hall. ChatGPT says the following:
“The walking distance from Campion Hall to Blackfriars on St Giles in Oxford, UK, is approximately 0.5 miles (about 10 minutes). The exact time may vary depending on your walking speed and the route you take.
To get there:
- Exit Campion Hall (on Brewer Street) and head north on Brewer Street toward the High Street.
- Turn left onto the High Street and walk west.
- Continue along the High Street and take a right onto St Giles.
- Blackfriars will be a little further down on your right.
It’s a relatively short and straightforward walk.”
Travel: We recommend NOT FLYING TO STANSTED. It is great for Cambridge, but Stansted airport is very inconveniently located for getting to and from Oxford. To/From Oxford and Heathrow or Gatwick we recommend: https://www.theairlineoxford.co.uk/.
Housing options: see below.
Conference locations overview
We are at Campion Hall on Wednesday May 28 for the graduate student day and will be in the 1st floor seminar room by the chapel (meaning it’s 1 floor going up the stairs) .
We are at Campion Hall on Thursday May 29 on the ground floor lecture room by the entrance. The dinner that night at 19:00 is also in Campion Hall. (Vegetarian option available.)
We are at Blackfriars only one day. On Friday May 30 in the Aula. The wine reception will also be in this room at the end of the day.
We are at Campion Hall again on Saturday May 31 on the ground floor lecture room by the entrance.
Aside from the Conference Dinner Thursday 29 May, participants will be on their own for breakfasts, lunches and dinners.
Schedule for Graduate Student Colloquium 28 May 2025
Campion Hall
(First floor seminar room by the chapel, meaning it’s 1 floor going up the stairs)
Is Powerpoint use available? Yes.
28 May schedule for graduate student presentations
Format: 25-30 min. presentation, 15-20 min. discussion, total 45 min.
8:45 welcome and introductions
Morning Session Chair: Prof. Richard C. Taylor, Marquette University & Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
• 9:00-9:45 (1) Zahra Nayebi, University of Freiburg, “Being, Non-Being, and Essential Possibility: A Metaphysical Perspective on al-Fārābī’s Refutation of Parmenides”
• 9:45-10:30 (2) Saad Ismail, Oxford, “Avicenna and Knowledge-First Epistemology.”
• 10:30-11:15 (3) Keramat Varzdar, University of Tehran, & Sajad Amirkhani, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, “Individuation Misread: A Critical Study of Mullā Ṣadrā’s Interpretation of al-Fārābī”
11:15-11:45 break
• 11:45-12:30 (4) Ivonne María Acuña Macouzet, Universidad Panamericana, Mexico City, “The Relationship between Philosophical Ta’wīl and Averroes’s Jurisprudence
• 12:30-13:15 (5) John G. Antturi, University of Helsinki, “Aquinas on the individuality, universality, and incorporeality of human intellectual cognition”
13:15-14:45 lunch
Afternoon Session Chair: Prof. Luis López-Farjeat, Universidad Panamericana, Mexico City
• 14:45-15:30 (6) Alfonso Ganem, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, “Christ is Consubstantial with the Father qua Divinity and with Us qua Humanity: John Philoponus’ Theory of Partial Consubstantiality”
• 15:30-16:15 (7) Alexander Schmid, Louisiana State University, “Dante, Islamic-Judaic Rationalism, and the Doctrine of Double Truth”
• 16:15-17:00 (8) Nicoletta Nativo, Charles University, Prague, “Albertism and Averroism in the Paduan Renaissance: Zimara vs Nifo”
17:00 Closing remarks and open discussion.
17:30 Time for some wine or other beverages!
Graduate student presentation abstracts, TBA.
(forthcoming)
29 May 2025 Colloquium on Philosophy in the Arabic and Hebrew Traditions
Conference Presentation Schedule (TENTATIVE)
Is Powepoint available for these three days of the Conference? Yes, at both locations.
Campion Hall
(Ground floor lecture room by the entrance)
9-9:30 Welcome: TBA
Chair: (i) Prof. Frank Griffel, Professor for the Study of Abrahamic Religions, Fellow at Lady Margaret Hall
University of Oxford
9:30-10:25 (1) Dr. Therese-Anne Druart, Prof. Emerita, The Catholic University of America, “Al-Fārābī”s and Ibn Sīnā”s Problematic Conception of Justice “
10:25-11:20 (2) Prof. Yehuda Halper, Bar Ilan University, “Will the Wise Man Boast of Al-Fārābī? How Samuel Ibn Tibbon Slipped Parts of De Intellectu into his Explanation of Unusual Terms in Maimonides’ “Guide of the Perplexed” “
11:20-11:50 Break
11:50-12:45 (3) Dr. des. Ibrahim Safri (UM6P), University of Heidelberg, “Motion in Categories in Pre-modern Islamic Philosophy”
12:45-13:35 (4) Prof. Richard C. Taylor, Marquette University and KU Leuven, “A Critical Consideration of Ibn Rushd on Matters of Philosophy and Religion “
13:35-15:00 Lunch Break
Chair: (ii) TBA
15:00-15:55 (5) Prof. Jennifer Hart Weed, University of New Brunswick, “Maimonides and Analogical Reasoning”
15:55-16:50 (6) Prof. Randall B. Smith, University of St Thomas (Houston), “The Natural Law and Thomas Aquinas’s Debt to Maimonides”
16:50-17:20 Break
17:20-18:30 (7) Prof. Katja Krause, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science & Technical University, Berlin, “Method in the History of Medieval Philosophy: What Good does it Serve?” Commentator: Prof. Frank Griffel, Oxford
19:00 Conference Dinner at Campion Hall (Vegetarian option available.)
Blackfriars
(in the Aula.)
30 May Colloquium on the Influence of Philosophy in the Lands of Islam on European Thought
Chair: (iii) TBA
9-9:55 (8) Dr. R. E. Houser, Prof. Emeritus, University of St Thomas (Houston), “First Steps onto the Five Ways: Thomas and Avicenna”
9:55-10:50 (9) Prof. David B. Twetten, Marquette University, “Aquinas’ Novel Definition of ‘Universal’ and Its Background in Avicenna: How to Answer ‘Universal Realism’ “
11:50-11:20 Break
11:20-12:25 (10) Prof. John Peck, S.J., Saint Louis University, “Thomas Aquinas’s Prime Matter Pluralism “
12:25-13:20 (11) Dr. Daniel DeHaan, Oxford, “God, Creation, and Providence: Avicenna’s Influence on the Structure of the Contra Gentiles“
13:30-15:00 Lunch
Chair: (iv) TBA
15:00-15:55 (12) Prof. E. M. Macierowski, Benedictine University, Atchison, Kansas, “A brief survey of Aquinas’s use of Arabic sources in his exposition of Aristotle’s Posterior Analytics.”
15:55-16:50 (13) Prof. Patrick Zoll, S. J., Munich School of Philosophy, “Can We Know the Essence of a Simple God? Thomas Aquinas’s Critique of Maimonides in De potentia“
16:50-17:20 Break
17:20-18:15 (14) Dr. Marta Borgo, Commissio Leonina, Paris, & Dr. Mostafa Najafi, Lucerne University,”Ibn Rušd’s Commentary on Aristotle’s Metaphysics V.7 and Its Impact on Medieval Conceptions of Being as True”
18:15-19:10 (15) Prof. Nader El Bizri, Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at the University of Sharjah, heading the Falsafa Project of the Knapp Foundation, “Alhazen’s Optics and its impact on science and the architectural visual arts in Europe”
19:10 in the Aula: Knapp Foundation Wine Reception with remarks by Prof. Laurence Hemming, honorary professor jointly in Lancaster University’s Philosophy, Politics and Religion Department, and the Lancaster University Management School and Knapp Foundation Director
31 May 2025 Colloquium on Albertus Magnus, Bonaventure, Philo and More
Campion Hall
(Ground floor lecture room by the entrance)
Chair: (v) Dr Charles Burnett, Prof. Emeritus, Warburg Institute, London
9-9:55 (16) Prof. Adam Takahashi, Kwansei Gakuin University (Nishinomiya, Japan), “Albert the Great on Angels and Miracles: Providence and Natural Causality in his Commentary on the Sentences (Book II) “
9:55-10:50 (17) Dr. Andre Martin, Post Doctoral Fellow, Charles University, Prague (PhD, McGill 2022), “Averroes’ Agent Sense in the Early 13th Century: Albert and his Sources”
11:00-11:30 Break
11:30-12:25 (18) Prof. Tracy Wietecha, Technical University, Berlin, “The City as A Mirror of Virtue: The Influence of Averroes on Albert the Great’s Conception of Virtue”
12:25-13:20 (19) Dr. Edmund Lazzari, Duquesne University, “Reading the Book of Nature: Quranic and Bonaventurian ayāŧ/similitudines of God in Nature”
13:30-15:00 Lunch
Chair: (vi) Dr. Therese-Anne Druart, Prof. Emerita, CUA
15:00-15:55 (20) Prof. Luis López-Farjeat, Universidad Panamericana, Mexico City, “The literal (ῥητή or φανερά / ẓāhir) and the hidden (ὑπόνοια / bāṭin) in Philo of Alexandria and the Islamic philosophical tradition”
15:55-16:50 (21) Dr. Francisco J. Romero Carrasquillo, St. Gregory the Great Seminary , Seward, Nebraska, “The Multiple Meanings of Sacra Doctrine in Aquinas Seen Through Averroes’ Doctrine on the Levels of Discourse”
16:50-17:35 (22) Prof. Brett Yardley, DeSales University, “”Can ‘Pseudo’ Authors be Trusted?””
17:40 Final discussion and closing remarks
Abstracts of Presentations
(forthcoming)
Accommodations Advice and a Little Travel Advice from Dr DeHaan
If someone prefers all the American comforts, there is a good hotel a few blocks away: the Premier Inn Oxford City Centre (Westgate) hotel. https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/hotels/england/oxfordshire/oxford/oxford-city-centre-westgate.html?cid=GLBC_OXFORD
A little bit further walk away is the: Courtyard Oxford City Centre Hotel, 15 Paradise Street, Oxford, OX1 1LD United Kingdom https://www.marriott.com/en-gb/reservation/rateListMenu.mi?gclid=Cj0KCQiAkoe9BhDYARIsAH85cDPMvsWD–yAydw38iHs_Ywt5UHWyAHjGN86R86JErvMiCpJZ3jfTmEaAjZYEALw_wcB&dclid=CKONgp-lqosDFUxIHQkdVYkeIg
Here are options that you could share straight away as it is public information already available online:
Rewley House has a lot of rooms for University guests and at good rates but you’ll want to book ahead of time. It is in the city centre and really close to Blackfriars where we will be on Friday. https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/about/accommodation
Rewley house is a bit of a walk to Campion Hall from there; I could do it in a brisk 10 minutes. Google says 13 minutes.https://maps.app.goo.gl/245VfR5o8zZYdtbD8
There are often good rates for those wanting to stay a few nights in one of the other Oxford colleges if one books early. Like 3-6 months in advance. This website is what everyone uses: https://www.universityrooms.com/en-GB/city/oxford/home
Finally, there is a newish budget hotel in the Summertown neighborhood on the northside of Oxford. https://www.easyhotel.com/hotels/united-kingdom/oxford/oxford
I would probably only recommend this to graduate students since one would need to take a bus to the city centre from there (or walk 40 mins), but it is a very straightforward bus service with many buses serving City Centre to Banbury road stops all day and night probably 5-8 buses every hour (I live on this route and take it every day into work).
There are many other hotels, airbnb locations, and bed and breakfasts in the Oxford area, but these are places that are typically more affordable and easy to access from the train and/or bus.
On that, see: https://welcome.ox.ac.uk/getting-around
To/From Oxford and Heathrow or Gatwick Airports I recommend this bus service: https://www.theairlineoxford.co.uk/
I recommend NOT FLYING TO STANSTED. It is great for Cambridge, but Stansted Airport is very inconveniently located for getting to and from Oxford.