Ermioni Prokopaki received her PhD from the University of Chicago in 2023 and her BA from Vassar College in 2015. She works primarily in Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy with a focus on Plato's epistemology and Plato's epistemic psychology. She has advocated for a dynamic conception of knowledge, according to which the knower is defined by her ongoing commitment to the value of truth. In her present work, she examines whether the practice of knowledge and philosophy may be fruitfully compared to the practice of mathematical commensuration. Her other major philosophical interest lies in the History of Analytic Philosophy and, in particular, the work of Wittgenstein and Ryle.
Recent Courses
PHIL 25500 The Republic of Plato
In this seminar, we read Plato’s Republic closely and in its entirety. We will attend equally to the epistemological and political aspirations of the text and we will examine its engagement with issues in the fields of psychology, aesthetics, metaphysics, and education. While this course will primarily focus on Plato’s text, the students will have the opportunity to read works from the secondary literature. (B)
PHIL 23502 Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind
This course introduces students to issues and questions that have defined scholarship in the philosophy of mind as well as to prominent theories in the field. Starting from Descartes and the articulation of a general “mind-body problem,” we will go on to investigate particular mental phenomena (such as beliefs, emotions, sensations, and intentions) by considering what philosophers have said about them, drawing primarily from the 20th century and the analytic tradition. We will read works in Dualism, Identity-Theory, Functionalism, and Eliminativism. Besides offering a brief survey of the field, this course equips students with the resources for evaluating whether some particular view provides an adequate account of human mindedness. (B)
PHIL 20128 Mathematics in Plato
This course explores the role that mathematics plays in Plato's philosophy with a special focus on the concept of incommensurability. We will be reading Platonic dialogues in which mathematical practice figures prominently and our goal will be to inquire into the ways that mathematical practice is similar to philosophical practice and the ways it can serve as a useful exemplar. We will also inquire into the ways that mathematics falls short of philosophy, which will give us a better sense of what the philosophical goals are. Finally, we will consider the challenges presented by mathematical incommensurability and we will investigate the ways that this concept is appropriated by Plato for philosophical purposes.
Texts will include: Meno, Republic 5-7, Timaeus, Theaetetus, Statesman. We will read some secondary literature on Plato (e.g. S. Menn, H. Benson, T. Echterling) and on the mathematics of the time (W. Knorr, J. Klein) but not every time. (B)
No mathematical background required, no prior familiarity with Plato required, no Greek required.