GEORGIA MOUROUTSOU

My first Plato monograph shows how Plato withstands Aristotle’s severe critique of the metaphors of participation and mixture applied to metaphysical contexts, and establishes a framework for a philosophical analysis of metaphors in Plato. My publications on later Stoicism reflect my interest in the notion of time in physics and ethics—particularly the present moment and its therapeutic power—as well as the question of how to re-evaluate and appreciate Marcus Aurelius’ contributions to this topic.

My second Plato monograph, The Therapeutic Nature of Dialectic: Plato and the Hedonists in the Protagoras and the Gorgias (under contract with Brill and nearing completion), explains how Socratic dialectic functions as a cognitive therapeutic process in the dialogue with hedonists. While clinical psychologists have examined Socratic methods in therapy, ancient philosophy specialists have largely overlooked its therapeutic dimension, apart from Vlastos, who highlighted this aspect of the elenchus. This study offers a novel analysis of Plato’s dialogues with hedonists, exploring Plato’s twofold dialectic of pleasure—critical dialogue with hedonists and critical analysis of pleasure—and addresses the unexplored question of how the dialogue with his opponents shape Plato’s metaphysics of pleasure.

I am also completing Aristippus of Cyrene: Pleasure and the Present (Elements Series, Cambridge University Press), which reexamines Aristippus’s hedonism through a new historical reconstruction. This work sets a new methodological standard for addressing the daunting challenges in historical reports since nothing is preserved from Aristippus’ works. It explores Aristippus’s focus on present pleasures, inspired by Plato’s educational dialectic with diverse hedonists, as Plato did not directly engage with this type of hedonism. The study underscores continuity between Aristippus and later Cyrenaics in the cognitive aspects of pleasure while highlighting that Aristippus did not adopt a maximizing hedonic calculus strategy in contrast to the later Cyrenaics. It also examines how Aristippus can inform contemporary ethical debates, particularly the question of whether the present moment holds unique importance or neutrality compared to past and future (time relativity vs. time neutrality).

I strongly believe that ancient philosophy offers valuable insights for psychotherapy and am excited to foster collaboration with clinicians—psychiatrists and clinical psychologists—locally and internationally. Together with Dr. Warren, we are leading a series of interdisciplinary conferences at Cambridge University, beginning in July 14-15, 2025, with The Therapeutic Focus on the Present: Dialogues between Ancient Philosophers and Modern Clinicians. These events will establish a definitive platform for the emerging field of applied ancient philosophy, creating a landmark intersection between ancient philosophy and clinical practice. Locally, I have initiated a New Frontiers Research project with Dr. MacDougall and international collaboration (Drs. Browning, Kazantzis, and Warren): Healing Through Humanities: Co-Designing to Integrate Insights from Ancient Philosophy with Best Clinical Practices for Preventing Depression and Anxiety in Young Adults.

Selection of Published and Forthcoming Publications

 Refereed Monographs

1. Die Metapher der Mischung in den Platonischen Dialogen Sophistes und Philebos, in the Series of International Plato Society Vol. 28, Sankt Augustin 2010.
2. Therapeutic Dialectic: Plato and the Hedonists in the Protagoras and the Gorgias (in completion, contract with Brill Plato Series).
3. Aristippus of Cyrene, Pleasure and the Present. Forthcoming with Cambridge University Press (Elements Series)

Articles in Peer-Review Journals

1. ‘Plato in Search of a Language Without Particulars: Timaeus 49a6-50a4 in a New Light.’ Philosophical Inquiry, Athens 2019, pp. 240-276.
2. ‘Plato’s Phaedo: Are the Philosophers’ Pleasures of Learning Pure?’ Classical Quarterly 69, 2019, pp. 566-584.
3. ‘Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations: Plasticity of the Present Moment.’ Ancient Philosophy 40, 2, 2020, pp. 411-434.
4. ‘Choosing a life and rejecting a thoughtless life in Philebus 20-22.’ Ancient Philosophy 41, 2021, 393-412.
5. ‘Therapeutic Presentisms: A Hedonist and a Stoic in Agreement?’ History of Philosophy and Logical Analysis 2023 (26), 1-20.

Chapters in Refereed Volumes

1. ‘Die Frage nach der schlechten Seele in dem zehnten Buch von Nomoi: Versuch einer Entmythologisierung’, in: Platon über das Göttliche, D. Koch, I. Männlein-Robert, N. Weidtmann (eds.), Tübingen 2010, pp. 139-173.
2. ‘Placing Pure Pleasures Beyond the Chain of Hunger: Plato’s Quest for Paradigmatic Pleasures in the Philebus’, in: Plato’s Philebus, J. Jirsa, Š. Špinka (eds), Oikoymenh, Prague 2016, pp. 130-156.
3. ‘Moral Philosophy in the Imperial Roman Stoa’, in: Routledge Handbook of Hellenistic Philosophy, ed. by Kelly Arenson, New York 2020, pp. 319-331.
4. ‘Diagnosis of the Dialectic in Parmenides 142b1-144e7’, in International Plato Society Procedings for the Parmenides Symposium 2019. Sankt Augustin, 2022, 193-200.
5. ‘The Plasticity of Temporal Attention: Training a Healthier Mind as Inspired by Marcus Aurelius’, in The Phenomenology of Emotion Regulation. Feeling and Agency, ed. by Thomas Fuchs (in press with Oxford University Press).
6. ‘The analysis of pleasure in the Philebus and the Timaeus: Lessons on the Nature of Pleasure and the Methodology ‘On Pleasure’’ (forthcoming in the volume Platon. On the Soul. Tuebingen Platon-Tage, ed. by Klaus Corcilius).