S.V. KEELING MEMORIAL LECTURE
Each year an internationally distinguished scholar of Greek philosophy is invited by the Keeling Centre to give a lecture on any topic of their choice in Greek philosophy from Thales to Plotinus. The event, organised in conjunction with the Department of Greek and Latin at UCL, also sees the Keeling Lecturer run a graduate masterclass on a topic related to the lecture.
Most of the Keeling Memorial Lectures have been published. The most recent volume of lectures was published in Themes in Plato, Aristotle, and Hellenistic Philosophy, edited by Fiona Leigh (Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies Supplements, 2021). Previous volumes are Modern Thinkers and Ancient Thinkers, edited by R. W. Sharples (London: UCL Press, 1993), and Perspectives on Greek Philosophy, edited by R. W. Sharples (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2003).
Below you will find a list of all previous Keeling lectures.
KEELING LECTURE 2024-2025
Professor Ursula Coope
The 2024/25 Keeling Lecture will be given by Professor Ursula Coope (Oxford) on Tuesday 18th March (time and title of talk TBA). On Monday 17th March (time TBA) there will also be a Keeling Graduate Masterclass, open to graduate students from University College London and King's College London.
KEELING LECTURE 2023-2024
Professor Verity Harte
The 2023/24 Keeling Lecture was given by Professor Verity Harte (Yale) on Tuesday 12th March, 6-8pm. She spoke on the topic of: ‘The Enemies of Philebus: Hedonism and Anti-Hedonism in Plato’s Philebus’. On Monday 11th March, 2-4pm, there was also a Keeling Graduate Masterclass, open to graduate students from University College London and King's College London.
KEELING LECTURE 2022-2023
Professor Rachel Barney
The 2022/2023 S.V. Keeling Memorial Lecture was given by Professor Rachel Barney (Toronto), on 15th November 2022, 5pm-7pm. She spoke on the topic of: ‘The Ethics and Politics of Plato's "Noble Lie"'. Prof. Barney also gave a graduate masterclass, attended by graduate students from University College London and King's College London.
KEELING LECTURE 2021-2022
Professor Alexander Nehamas
The 2021/2022 S.V. Keeling Memorial Lecture was given by Professor Alexander Nehamas (Princeton), on 5th May 2022, 6pm-8pm. He spoke on the topic of: ‘What Do We Learn About Philosophers and Philosophy at the End of Republic Book V?’. Prof. Nehamas also gave a graduate masterclass, attended by graduate students from University College London and King's College London.
KEELING LECTURE 2018-2019
Professor Mary Margaret McCabe
The 2018/19 S.V. Keeling Memorial Lecture was given by Professor M.M. McCabe (Emerita Professor of Ancient Philosophy, King's College London), on 14th March 2019, 5pm-7pm. Prof. McCabe spoke on the topic of: 'Taking time to talk: Plato's Euthydemus on the metaphysics of conversation'. She also gave a graduate masterclass, attended by graduate students from University College London and King's College London.
KEELING LECTURE 2018
Professor Gábor Betegh
The 2017/18 S.V. Keeling Memorial Lecture was given by Professor Gábor Betegh (Laurence Professor of Ancient Philosophy, University of Cambridge). He spoke on the topic of 'The Ingredients of the Soul According to the Timaeus'. Prof. Betegh also gave a graduate masterclass, attended by graduate students of University College London and King's College London.
KEELING SUPPLEMENTARY LECTURE
2017
Professor Dorothea Frede
In 2017, a supplementary Keeling Lecture was given by Professor Dorothea Frede (Hamburg) and was entitled 'Aristotle on the Importance of Laws, Rules and Institutions'. Prof. Frede also ran a Graduate Masterclass attended by graduate students from University College London and King's College London.
KEELING LECTURE 2017
Professor A. A. Long
The 2017 lecture was given by Professor A.A. Long (Berkeley) gave the Keeling lecture and entitled 'Divinity in Plato's Politics' Prof. Long also ran a Graduate Masterclass, attended by Graduate Students from University College London, King's College London and Royal Holloway University.
KEELING LECTURE 2016
Professor Suzanne Bobzien
The 2016 lecture was given by Professor Susanne Bobzien (All Souls, University of Oxford) and was entitled 'Did Frege plagiarize the Stoics?' Prof. Bobzien also ran a Graduate Masterclass, attended by graduate students from University College London and King's College London.
KEELING LECTURE 2015
Professor David Sedley
The 2015 lecture was given by Professor David Sedley (University of Cambridge) and was entitled 'Socrates' Second Voyage'. Prof. Sedley also ran a Graduate Masterclass, attended by graduate students from University College London and King's College London.
KEELING LECTURE 2014
Professor Gail Fine
The 2014 lecture was given by Professor Gail Fine (University of Oxford, Cornell) and and was entitled 'Knowledge, Belief and Perception in the Phaedo'. Prof. Fine also ran a Graduate Masterclass about knowledge and belief in Republic Book V, attended by graduate students from University College London and King's College London.
KEELING LECTURE 2013
Professor Richard Sorabji
The 2013 lecture was given by Professor Richard Sorabji (King's College London) and was entitled 'The Origins of the Idea of Moral Conscience, and Subsequent Consequences'. He also ran a Graduate Masterclass, attended by graduate students from University College London and King's College London.
KEELING LECTURE 2012
Lesley Brown
The 2012 lecture was given by Lesley Brown (University of Oxford) and was entitled 'Agreement and Truth in Plato'. She also ran a Graduate Masterclass, attended by graduate students from University College London and King's College London.
KEELING LECTURE 2011
Professor Malcolm Schofield
The 2011 lecture was given by Malcolm Schofield (University of Cambridge and was entitled 'Philosophy as Debate, Philosophy as Guidance: Cicero's Ethical Writings'. He also ran a Graduate Masterclass, attended by graduate students from University College London and King's College London
KEELING LECTURES 2001-2010
2010 Victor Caston - 'The Veil of Perception'
2009 Stephen Halliwell - 'To Banish or Not to Banish? The Dilemma of Plato's Relationship to Poetry'
2007 David Wiggins - 'What is the Order Among the Varieties of Goodness? An Aristotelian Proposal'
2006 Julia Annas - 'Virtue and Law in Plato'
2006 Luc Brisson - 'Soul in Plato'
2005 Richard Kraut - 'Flourishing: The Central Concept of Practical Thought'
2004 Gisela Striker - 'Mental Health and Moral Health: Moral Progress in Seneca's Letters'
2002 Dorothea Frede - 'Pleasure and Pain in Aristotle's Ethics'
2002 Martha Nussbaum - 'Compassion and Terror'
2001David Charles - 'Wittgenstein's Builders and Aristotle's Craftsmen'
KEELING LECTURES 1991-2000
1999 Myles Burnyeat - 'Plato and Aristotle on the Pleasures of Philosophy'
1999 Sarah Broadie - 'From Necessity to Fate: a Fallacy?'
1997 Bernard Williams - 'Plato's Construction of Intrinsic Goodness'
1996 T. H. Irwin - 'Morality and Immutability: a Platonic contribution to meta-ethics'
1995 Jacques Brunschwig - 'Do We Need New Editions of Ancient Philosophy?'
1994 David Furley - 'Aristotle and the Atomists on Forms and Final Causes'
1993 John M. Cooper - 'An Aristotelian Theory of the Emotions'
1992 Gunther Patzig - 'Quality of Life in Plato and Aristotle'
1991 Hilary Putnam - 'Aristotle after Wittgenstein'
KEELING LECTURES 1981-1990
1990 G. E. M. Anscombe - 'Plato's Theory of Forms'
1989 Denis O'Brien - 'Non-Being in Greek Philosophy: Parmenides, Plato, Plotinus'
1988 Michael Frede - 'Aristotle's Conception of the Soul'
1987 Montgomery Furth - 'A "Philosophical Hero"?: Anaxagoras and the Eleatics'
1985 Donald Davidson - 'Plato's Philosopher'
1984 Jonathan Barnes - 'A Third Kind of Logic: The Discovery of the Logic of Relations'
1983 Gregory Vlastos - 'Socrates and Athenian Democracy'
1982 Stuart Hampshire - 'Morality and Perfection'
1981 A. J. P. Kenny - 'Aristotle on Luck'
