Dr. Benjamin Wilck

Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy
Ancient Greek Mathematics
Philosophy of Medicine / Psychiatry 

 

Email: benjamin.wilck@mail.huji.ac.il
Personal website: Benjamin Wilck / PhilPeople

Current Projects:

My primary area of research lies on ancient Greek philosophy, as well as in the History and Philosophy of Mathematics, where I analyse historical mathematical methods from a philosophical perspective. My expertise comprises both the philosophical and mathematical dimensions of these fields, a dual perspective that has been crucial to many of my research contributions. My central interest concerns the role of definitions in ancient Greek philosophy (notably, Aristotle) and mathematics (notably, Euclid).

My secondary research area falls within Psychiatry and Digital Medical Humanities. Since 2019, I have been engaged in collaborative, interdisciplinary experimental medical research in partnership with research groups at Charité Medical University Berlin. My focus has been on language and metacognition in schizophrenia and related neurodiversities such as autism and dementia. For example, by applying AI techniques from Computational Linguistics, notably Natural Language Processing, to psychiatric databases, we have successfully identified novel linguistic markers of psychotic episodes

 

Curriculum Vitae

Fellowships and Grants (selection):

2022–26	Postdoctoral Fellowship at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Martin Buber Society of Fellows in the Humanities and Social Sciences
2023	W. Creighton Peden Scholarship by The Institute for American Religious and Philosophical Thought
2022	International Berkeley Society Diversity Engagement Grant, The University of Edinburgh
2022	DFG (German Research Foundation) Doctoral Scholarship, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
2014–18	DFG Doctoral Scholarship at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
2017	DFG Visiting Fellowship at Princeton University

 

Prizes:

2021	Finalist for the Teaching Award by the bologna.lab, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin https://bolognalab.hu-berlin.de/de/preis/finalist_innen/finalisten/finalist-innen-2021
2019	De Gruyter Trends in Classics Poster Prize  for doctoral dissertation project https://cloud.newsletter.degruyter.com/ticposterprize
2014	Karl-Max-Schneider Foundation Award for outstanding M.A. thesis

 

Education:

2022	Doctorate in Philosophy, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin / Princeton University Thesis title:  Definitions in Euclid’s Elements: a Philosophical Analysis
2014	Magister Artium (equals a combined B.A. and M.A.) in Philosophy, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
2014	Magister Artium in Cultural Studies & Aesthetics, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

 

Publications

• (2025) ‘Aristotle on Dialectical Induction: Topics I.12.’ Forthcoming in Lagerlund, H., and M. Perälä, eds.,   Aristotelian Induction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

• (2024) "Linguistic Markers of Schizophrenia: A Case Study of Robert Walser" (with Ivan Nenchev, Tatjana Scheffler, Heiner Stuke, Sandra Anna Just, and Christiane Montag), Transactions for the Association for Computational Linguistics: Proceedings of the 9^th Workshop on Computational Linguistics and Clinical Psychology (CLPsych 2024), Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2024, 41–60.

• "Euclid’s Kinds and (Their) Attributes." History of Philosophy & Logical Analysis 23(2), 2020, 362–397.

• "Can the Pyrrhonian Sceptic Suspend Belief Regarding a Scientific Definition?" History of Philosophy & Logical Analysis 23(1), 2020, 253–288.

 

Presentations (selection) 

(‘†’ indicates refereed, ‘∗’ indicates invited)

Presentations on History and Philosophy of Mathematics:

‘The Order of Definitions: Late Ancient and Medieval Latin, Arabic, and Hebrew Traditions of the Elements.’

• The Premodern Reception of Euclid’s Elements: Current Perspectives and Future Directions in Research, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Sep 2024, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.*

‘Euclid’s Elements Revisited: Style and Philosophy in Greek Mathematics.’

• Classics Department Seminar, Jun 2024, Department of Classical Studies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.*

‘The Logical Form of Arguments with Laypeople.’

• Bridging the Gap: The Importance of Communicating Mathematical Research to laypeople and in Education, May 2024, The University of the Balearic Islands at Palma de Mallorca, Spain.*

‘Are Definitions Boundaries of Concepts Only Metaphorically? A Reply to Frege.’

• 33^rd Novembertagung on the History and Philosophy of Mathematics: Interactions Between the History and Philosophy of Mathematics, Sep, 2023, University of Rijeka, Croatia.†
• 11^th European Congress of Analytic Philosophy (ECAP.11), Aug 2023, University of Vienna, Austria.†
• 97^th Joint Session of the Aristotelian Society and the Mind Association, Jul 2023, Birkbeck University, London, UK.†
• Annual Meeting of the Institute for American Religious and Philosophical Thought: Borders and Boundaries, Jun 2023, Catholic Academy Berlin, Germany.†

‘How To Use a Definition in Scientific Proof: Euclid’s Model.’

• Mandel School for Advanced Studies in the Humanities Fellows Meeting, May 2023, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.*
• The Women’s Classical Committee (WCC UK) Annual Meeting 2023: Resistance, Apr 2023, University of Oxford, UK.†

‘Philosophical Ancestries of Euclid’s Mathematical Method.’

• British Society for the History of Science PG Conference, Apr 2023, University of Oxford, UK.†

‘Language and Ontology in Euclid’s Elements.’

• 4^th International Conference of the German Society for Philosophy of Science (GWP.2022), Mar 2022, Technical University Berlin, Germany.†

‘Text-Based Approaches to the History and Philosophy of Mathematics.’

• UNESCO World Logic Day 2022: Inceptiones et Receptiones: On the Trace of Logic, Reason, and Mathematics, Jan 2022, National University of San Marcos in Lima, Peru.†

‘Euclid’s Measure of Complexity.’

• 6^th international conference of the Association for the Philosophy of Mathematical Practice, Jun/Jul 2021, Chapman University, Orange, California.†

‘Euclid’s Definitions: A Typology.’

• Lyceum Classics Community Seminar, Apr 2021, Department of Greek and Latin, University of London, UK.†
• Postgraduate Work-in-Progress Seminar, Mar 2021, Institute of Classical Studies, University of London, UK.†

‘Euclid on Polyhedra.’

• British Society for History of Science Post Graduate Conference, Apr 2021, School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science, University of Leeds, UK.†
• British Society for the History of Mathematics annual Research in Progress Meeting, Feb 2021, The Queen's College, University of Oxford, UK.†

‘Style and Philosophy in Euclid.’

• 9^th European Society for the History of Science Conference: Visual, Material and Sensory Cultures of Science, Sep 2020, University of Bologna, Italy.†

‘Hidden Messages in Greek Mathematics: Results of a Statistical Analysis.’

• New Classicists Conference: Collaboration and/or New Techniques in the Classics, Dec 2019, King’s College London, UK.†

‘Euclid’s Kinds and (Their) Attributes.’

• Lake Geneva Graduate Conference 2019: Kinds in Philosophy and Its History, Oct 2019, University of Geneva, Switzerland.†

‘What the Order of Euclid’s Definitions Tells Us About Euclid’s Philosophical Commitments.’

• 5^th International Meeting of the Association for the Philosophy of Mathematical Practice, Jan 2020, ETH Zurich, Switzerland.†
• 30^th Novembertagung on the History and Philosophy of Mathematics: Mathematical Cultures, Values and Norms, Nov 2019, Institut de Recherche Mathématique Avancée, University of Strasbourg, France.†
• 14^th Annual Philosophy Conference for Postgraduate Students in Philosophy (Open Minds XIV), Aug 2019, University of Manchester, UK.†
• 9^th Princeton-Humboldt Graduate Conference in Philosophy, Jun 2019, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany.†
• 48^th Annual Meeting of the Israel Society for the Promotion of Classical Studies, May 2019, Tel Aviv University, Israel.†

‘Euclid’s Definitions: A History.’

• 14^th London Ancient Science Conference, Feb 2019, University College London, UK.†
• 29^th Novembertagung on the History and Philosophy of Mathematics: History of Mathematical Concepts and Conceptual History of Mathematics, Nov 2018, University of Sevilla, Spain.†

 

Presentations on Ancient Philosophy:

‘The Unit Save Mereology! Weak Supplementation in Aristotle and Euclid.’

• Annual Conference of the Israeli Philosophical Association, Jul 2024, University of Haifa, Israel.†

• British Society for the History of Philosophy Annual Conference 2024, Apr 2024, University of Liverpool, UK.†
• Henology: Ancient, Medieval, and Contemporary Accounts of Oneness, Sep 2023, Corpus Christi College, Oxford University, UK.†

‘Was Aristotle a Sexist?’

• The Women’s Classical Committee (WCC UK) Annual Meeting 2024: Labour and Rest, May 2024, Durham University, UK.†
• Society for Women in Philosophy UK Annual Conference 2023: Interdisciplinarity, Aug/Sep 2023 Newcastle University, UK.†

‘What Are We? Definitions of the Human Being in Ancient Philosophy.’

• 6^th Antiquity Slam, Oct 2023, Pergamon Museum Berlin, Germany.†
• Culture and International History VI: Visions of Humanity, May 2019, Free University of Berlin, Germany.†

‘Dialectic & Reductio ad Absurdum.’

• Argumentation between Logic and Dialectic in Antiquity, Jul 2023, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany.*

‘Aristotle on the Logical Form of Debates with Laypeople.’

• 11^th Congress of the Society for Analytic Philosophy (GAP.11): Philosophy and the Public, Sep 2022, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany.†

‘Euclid’s Categories.’

• Categories and Kinds: Ancient Philosophers on the Structure of Reality, Jul 2022, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany.†

‘Why Mathematicians Should Care About (Aristotelian) Dialectic.’

• The 4^th Biennial Meeting of the Society for the History of Philosophy of Science (HOPOS), Jun 2022, University of California, Irvine, USA.†
• The British Society for the History of Mathematics & The Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Mathematics Joint Conference: People, Places, Practices, Jul 2021, The University of St Andrews, Scotland, UK.†

‘Was Euclid a Platonist Philosopher?’

• 3^rd Annual Rackham Interdisciplinary Workshop in Ancient Philosophy, May 2022, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.†
• British Society for the History of Philosophy Annual Conference, Apr 2022, University of Edinburgh, UK.†
• Postgraduate Work-in-Progress Seminar 2021/22, Jun 2022, Institute of Classical Studies / School of Advanced Study, University of London, UK.†
• Lyceum Classics Community Seminar 2021/22, Jun 2022, Department of Greek and Latin, University College London, UK.†
• Classical Association Conference 2022, Apr 2022, Swansea University, UK.†
• British Society for the History of Mathematics annual Research in Progress Meeting, Feb 2022, The Queen's College, University of Oxford, UK.†
• 32^nd Novembertagung on the History and Philosophy of Mathematics: Mathematics in Times of Crisis, Nov 2021, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK. †
• Intuition and Rigour in Geometrical Thinking from Antiquity to the 19^th Century, Dec 2020, Czech Academy of Sciences & Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.†

‘Dialectical Deductions and Dialectical Inductions: Aristotle, Topics I.12.’

• Induction from Aristotle to Galilei – Induction in Aristotle and the Greek commentators, Nov 2021, University of Stockholm, Sweden / University of Helsinki, Finland.*

‘Aristotle on Why Women Make a Difference (But Not a Species).’

• The Women’s Classical Committee Annual Meeting 2020: Green Shoots in Classics, Apr 2020, University of Manchester, UK.†  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ6e21tV35M

‘Scientific Definitions: A Difficulty for Pyrrhonian Scepticism.’

• 93^rd Joint Session of the Aristotelian Society and the Mind Association, Jul 2019, Durham University, UK.†
• British Society for the History of Philosophy Annual Conference 2019, Apr 2019, King’s College London, UK.†
• 3^rd International Conference of the German Society for Philosophy of Science (GWP.2019), Feb 2019, University of Cologne, Germany.†
• 10^th French Philosophy of Mathematics Workshop (FPMW10), Nov 2018, École normale supérieure de Paris / Université Paris Diderot, France.†
• 10^th Triennial Congress of the German Society for Analytic Philosophy (GAP.10), Sep 2018, University of Cologne, Germany.†
• Argumentation and Language in Hellenistic Philosophy, Aug 2018, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany.*
• 18^th Israel Society for History and Philosophy of Science Conference, Jun 2018, Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, Jerusalem, Israel.†
• 11^th Annual Cambridge Graduate Conference on the Philosophy of Mathematics and Logic, Jan 2018, St John's College, University of Cambridge, UK.†
• 28^th Novembertagung on the History and Philosophy of Mathematics: Tools for Research in Mathematics, History and Philosophy, Nov 2017, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.†

‘Sextus Empiricus and the Art of Geometry.’

• 13^th London Ancient Science Conference, Feb 2018, University College London, UK.†
• Scepticism from Antiquity to Modern Times, May 2017, Maimonides Centre for Advanced Studies – Jewish Scepticism, Hamburg, Germany.†

‘Mathematical Examples in Topics VI.’

• Aristotle’s Topics – The Central Books, Jul 2017, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany.*

‘What’s Odd About Euclid’s Definitions of Even and Odd? Aristotelian Dialectic and Ancient Arithmetic.’

• Annual Conference of the Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Science, May 2017, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada.†
• 2^nd Berlin-Munich Ancient Philosophy Joint Workshop, Feb 2016, LMU Munich, Germany.*

‘How Many Noses Did Socrates Have? Aristotle on the Definition of Snub Nose.’

• 9^th Congress of the European Society for Analytic Philosophy (ECAP.9), Aug 2017, LMU Munich, Germany.†
• 91^st Joint Session of the Aristotelian Society and the Mind Association, Jul 2017, University of Edinburgh, UK.†
• 7^th HU-KCL Graduate Philosophy Conference, Jun 2017, King’s College London, UK.†
• 61^st Annual Congress of the Canadian Philosophical Association, May 2017, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada.†
• 5^th Stockholm Philosophy Graduate Conference, Apr 2017, Stockholm University, Sweden.
• Philsoc meetings, Apr 2017, Princeton University, New Jersey, USA.†
• Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy Workshop: Argument in Ancient Thought, Apr 2017, University of Chicago, Illinois, USA.*
• 49^th Meeting of the North Texas Philosophical Association, Mar/Apr 2017, University of Texas at Dallas, Texas, USA.†
• 11^th Southeast Graduate Philosophy Conference, Mar 2017, University of Florida at Gainesville, Florida, USA.†
• North Carolina Philosophical Society Conference 2017, Feb 2017, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, North Carolina, USA.†
• 20^th Oxford Philosophy Graduate Conference, Nov 2016, University of Oxford, UK.†

‘Mathematical Babbling: Aristotle on Definitions with Repetitions.’

• Annual Meeting of Postgraduates in Ancient Literature (AMPAL): Repetition in Ancient Literature, Sep 2016, University of Oxford, UK.†

 

Presentations on Psychiatry / Digital Medical Humanities:

‘Novel Perspectives on Proverb Comprehension in Schizophrenia.’ (with I. Nenchev and C. Montag)

• 5^th Experimental Pragmatics in Italy Conference (XPRAG.it), Sep 2024, San Camillo Hospital IRCCS, Venice Lido, Italy.†

‘Linguistic vs. Metalinguistic Testing in in Recent Research on Schizophrenia.’ (with I. Nenchev)

• 4^th International Conference of the German Society for Philosophy of Science (GWP.2022), Mar 2022, Technical University Berlin.†

‘The Value of Philosophy of Language for Diagnosing Schizophrenia.’ (with I. Nenchev)

• Philosophy in Medical Education: Colloquium on Psychiatry, Nov 2020, King’s College London, UK.†

‘Metaphor Comprehension in Schizophrenia.’ (with I. Nenchev)

• British Society of Aesthetics Conference: Art, Aesthetics, and the Medical and Health Humanities, Feb 2020, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK.†
• 21^th Annual Conference of the International Network for Philosophy and Psychiatry: Experts in Mental Health, Oct 2019, University of Warsaw, Poland.†
• Exeter Medical Humanities Postgraduate Conference 2019: Embodiment, Health, and Medicine, Jun 2019, University of Exeter, UK.†
• Graduate Conference Socratic Dialectic Applied: How Can Principles Be Justified?, Feb 2019, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany.*

 

Poster presentations:

‘What’s Odd about Euclid’s Definitions of Even and Odd?’ 

• New Classicists Conference, Dec 2019, King’s College London, UK.†
• 15^th Congress of the Fédération internationale des associations d’études classiques / Classical Association of England and Wales Joint Conference (FIEC/CA 2019), Jul 2019, UCL Institute of Education, Senate House, Birkbeck, University of London, UK.†

Winner of the De Gruyter Trends in Classics Poster Prize 2019 

https://cloud.newsletter.degruyter.com/ticposterprize