Philosophy by Hand II
In July 2025 we have concluded the first year of the Lecture Series "Philosophy by Hand: The Agency of Manuscripts in Shaping Human Thought," which comprised of eight lectures and ran between October 2024 and July 2025. The lecture series received very positive feedback and good attendance both in person and online. The series has gained visibility and the recordings (available online here, link) are reaching a very good number of views (For example, John Marenbon’s lecture has around 2,800 views, Yoav Meyrav’s lecture has over 1,700 views).
Building on our experience during this first year, in the second year of the lecture series we aim at widening the theoretical and geographical scope by adopting a more global perspective and deepening methodological questions. The focus of the series will continue to be the interaction between manuscript cultures and philosophical thought and will include a wider number of traditions and languages as described in the programme below.
The series will take place at the Institute for Jewish Studies in Jungiusstraße 11, the lectures will be hybrid and will be recorded like the first one. The lectures will take place between 17:15 and 18:45.
The programme runs between November 2025 and July 2026 and includes an opening roundtable session dedicated to materiality in world philosophies, followed by six lectures delivered by an international group of scholars.
Convenors
- Yoav Meyrav (University of Hamburg)
- Hanna Gentili (University of Hamburg)
- José Maksimczuk (University of Hamburg)
Programme
6 November 2025 | 17:15–18:45 CET
Roundtable Discussion: World Philosophies, Materiality, and Challenging the Canon
Sabrina Ebbersmeyer (University of Copenhagen), Monika Kirloskar-Steinbach (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), Mariken Teeuwen (Leiden University), Moderator: Yoav Meyrav (University of Hamburg)
16 December 2025 | 17:15–18:45 CET
Philosophising by Hand? Manuscripts and Print in Song Neo-Confucianism (11th–12th Centuries)
Michael Friedrich (University of Hamburg)
14 January 2026 | 17:15–18:45 CET
The Reading Mind: Practices of Annotation and the Historiography of Medieval Philosophy
Mario Meliadò (University of Siegen)
21 April 2026 | 17:15–18:45 CET
Samuel Ibn Tibbon’s Notes on His Translation of Maimonides’ Guide for the Perplexed
Carlos Fraenkel (McGill University)
19 May 2026 | 17:15–18:45 CET
Philosophy by Hand or Mouth-to-Ear Philosophy? Philosophy in Oral Traditions
Anke Graness (University of Hildesheim)
9 June 2026 | 17:15–18:45 CET
Reading, Writing, Philosophising in Medieval India
Isabelle Ratié (Sorbonne Nouvelle University)
14 July 2026 | 17:15–18:45
Don’t Look Back in Anger: Reconsidering Appropriation of Past Philosophy
Yael Gazit (Tel Aviv University)
Venue
in person and online
Institute for Jewish Studies
Further information
For further information and registration please write an e-mail to: hepmasite-reli@uni-hamburg.de
Programme: PDF download
