Dear colleagues and friends,
As we welcome the New Year, we recall with a sense of fulfillment the most significant events of our activity in 2024; it gives us great pleasure as we realize, that at this juncture our steady endeavor since 2011 to study and promote Aristotle’s legacy on an international scale has found a place at the heart of a growing trend, which places Aristotle at the forefront of the efforts to face global challenges of our era.
In July 2024, we were delighted and honored to collaborate in the organization of the 3rd Confucius-Aristotle Symposium on Ethics for the 21st Century, which took place in Qufu, the birthplace of Confucius, and in Beijing (July 8-12, 2024) with esteemed Institutions, such as the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), led by Professor Jeffrey Sachs, the China Confucius Foundation, the China Confucius Research Institute, the Tsinghua Institute for Advanced Study in Humanities and Social Sciences, the Mencius Foundation and the Academy of Athens It also gives us great delight that our team had a dynamic presence in the Symposium program.
In August 2024, the Interdisciplinary Centre for Aristotle Studies, A.U.Th., participated significantly at the 25th World Congress of Philosophy, Rome 1-8 August 2024. Three Invited Sessions organized by DIKAM were included in the official program of the 25th WCP Rome 2024 with the general title, “Aristotle-Contemporary Perspectives on his Thought.” The themes of the Sessions were the following: I. “Aristotle and the Sciences: Physics, Biology and Psychology. A Contemporary Interdisciplinary Approach.”, II: “Aristotle’s Insights on Ethics, Politics, Paideia and their Relevance Today.”, III: “The legacy of Aristotle and Confucius for facing global challenges in our era.” Session III was organized by DIKAM in collaboration with the China Confucius Research Institute. The Sessions were honored with the participation of renowned invited speakers. We are also happy that the papers presented by the members of our team set a special tone.
We wish to express our sincere appreciation and gratitude to the esteemed Institutions that honored our Centre with their collaboration in the past year, to the invited speakers of the above-mentioned events, and of all our events, for their valuable contribution. Our sincere thanks go also to all those who contributed to the success of our activities in the year 2024.
We wish you a very happy, creative, healthy, and peaceful New Year 2025!
Demetra Sfendoni-Mentzou
President of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Aristotle Studies, A.U.Th.
Professor Emerita of Philosophy of Science
Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences