PhD Candidate in the History of Philosophy

The Department of the History of Philosophy of the Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies is looking for a PhD candidate to conduct research on Hans Kelsen's interpretation of Plato. Hans Kelsen was one of the most influential jurists and legal philosophers of the twentieth century. His work comprises not only seminal publications on legal theory, but also in-depth investigations into the history of philosophy, including writings on Plato.

The aim of this project is to reconstruct the intellectual and theoretical background of Kelsen’s interpretation of Plato. The project will shed light on the relationship between Kelsen’s writings on the Platonic dialogues and other interpretations of Plato that have been propounded by major intellectuals, philosophers, and classical philologists in the twentieth century. Also, the project will investigate the connections between Kelsen’s approach to the Platonic dialogues and his theory of law. The project will thus provide a novel contribution to the history of the reception of Plato in contemporary thought.

The Department's research is embedded in the Center for the History of Philosophy and Science. The Center has a very cohesive research group. Its members lunch together on a regular basis. They share their research in work-in-progress meetings, and they co-teach, co-publish, and co-organise conferences. PhD supervision is of high quality, not at the least because of the daily presence of supervisors and supervisees at the department. The aforementioned project will be conducted in close cooperation with the Center for Contemporary European Philosophy.