Dr. Vilius Bartninkas

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Dr Vilius Bartninkas – Associate Professor at the Faculty of Philology of Vilnius University, Head of the Department of Classical Philology.

He graduated from Vilnius University with a BA in Philosophy, completed his MA in Classical Studies with distinction at Cambridge University, and defended his PhD in Philosophy there in 2019. His monograph, Traditional and Cosmic Gods in Later Plato and the Early Academy, was published by the prestigious Cambridge University Press in 2023.

His research interests include ancient philosophy, ancient Greek political thought, religion, cosmology and theology, the reception of ancient ideas, and contemporary political philosophy. He has also published critical editions of two of Plato’s dialogues, with translations from Ancient Greek, an introduction and commentaries. He has presented his research at nearly a dozen international scientific conferences, seminars and workshops and regularly gives several scholarly outreach speeches and interviews annually in the Lithuanian media.

Membership of working groups, councils, etc. within Vilnius University and IIRPS VU

Member of the Council of the Faculty of Philology of Vilnius University; Head of the Department of Classical Philology

Research projects and grants

“Politics of Moderation and Justified Beliefs: The Civic Participation Model in Plato’s Philosophy”, Research Council of Lithuania, postdoctoral fellowship. 2021-2023. Postdoctoral fellow.

“Between Nationalism, Globalism, and Ideologies: Analysis of M. Nussbaum Concept of Justice”, Research Council of Lithuania, students’ research. 2021. Research internship supervisor.

“Between the Individual and the Community: The Concept of Aristotle’s Political Friendship”, Research Council of Lithuania,  students’ research. 2021. Research internship supervisor.

“Philosophy and Religion in Plato‘s Academy during the Hellenistic Period”. Vilnius University Research Facilitation Fund, postdoctoral fellowship. 2019-2021. Postdoctoral fellow.

“A Dialogue Between Believers and Atheists: the Platonic Model in the Laws”. Lithuanian Research Council, Development of scientists, other researchers and students through practical research activities. 2020-2021. Supervisor of research practice.

“The Concept of Progress in Lithuania: from idea to policy”. Vilnius University Research Facilitation Fund. 2020. Project participant.

“The translation, preparation, and publication of Plato’s Alcibiades”. Lithuanian Council For Culture, humanities programme. 2016. Project supervisor.

“The translation, preparation, and publication of Plato’s Lysis”. Lithuanian Council For Culture, humanities programme. 2014. Project supervisor.

Selected conference papers

1. 2023/08/26 „Plato’s Economic Experts: Situating Household Management Between Mathematics and Politics“, International Conference “Economic Epistemologies in the Graeco-Roman World”, Leiden University.
2. 2023/06/01 „The Ouranian God in Plato‘s Academy“, tarptautinis kolokviumas „Gods In and Outside the Cosmos in Ancient Religion and Philosophy“, St. St Andrews University (Scotland).
3. 2023/05/19 „Platoniškoji nuosaikumo politika ir šiuolaikinė pilietinė teorija“, Annual Conference of the Lithuanian Philosophical Society, Vilnius University.
4. 2023/04/28 „Persistent Dissenters in Plato‘s Magnesia“, guest lecture, University of Oslo.
5. 2022/11/25 „Cosmic Gods: Philosophy and Astronomy“, invited lecture, University of Cambridge.
6. 2022/06/09 „Politics of Moderation: Reclaiming Plato’s Civic Participation Model“, international conference ‘Plato 2022’, University of Rhodes Island.
7. 2021/06/17 „The Greek Gods and the Planetary Names“, workshop Astronomy and Astrology in Early Text Cultures, Oxford University
8. 2021/04/15 „The Younger Gods in Plato’s Timaeus“, guest lecturer in Fribourg University (Switzerland).
9. 2021/03/05 „The Greek Notion of Sea-power“, international conference „The Ancient Sea: Utopia and Catastrophe in Classical Narratives and their Reception“, Liverpool University Press.
10. 2018/12/14 „Plato’s Ideal of Godlikeness and Its Contemporary Readers”, international workshop on ancient philosophy, University of Tartu.
11. 2017/12/05 „Ouranos and Kosmos in Plato’s Timaeus“, guest lecturer in Sun Yat-sen Unviersity (China).
12. 2017/09/19 „The Social Function of Plato’s Cosmology and Politogony“, international conference „Plato’s Communities: Citizenship and Diversity“, University of Brasilia (Brazil).