Jaap Mansfeld (born 1936) is a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

Emeritus Professor of

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

and a

historian of philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

Life

Jaap Mansfeld began his studies in 1954 at the

University of Utrecht Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

, where he received his doctorate in 1964 with a thesis on

Parmenides Parmenides of Elea (; grc-gre, Παρμενίδης ὁ Ἐλεάτης; ) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher from Elea in Magna Graecia. Parmenides was born in the Greek colony of Elea, from a wealthy and illustrious family. His dates a ...

. From 1973 until his retirement in 2001 he was a professor of ancient philosophy, and subsequently professor of History of Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, at Utrecht University. He has been a full member of the

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of Humanities, Letters, Law, and Sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europea ...

since 1989., as well as a member of the board for several scholarly journals. In 1991 he was elected a member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...

. A book was published in honour of his 60th birthday in 1996 by

Keimpe Algra Keimpe Arnoldus Algra (born 5 April 1959) is a Dutch professor of Ancient and Medieval philosophy at Utrecht University. Career Algra was born on 5 April 1959 in Utrecht. He studied classical languages and literature at Utrecht University. In 1985 ...

Pieter Willem van der Horst Pieter Willem van der Horst (born 4 July 1946) is a scholar and university professor emeritus specializing in New Testament studies, Early Christian literature, and the Jewish and Hellenistic context of Early Christianity. Education and career Va ...

, and David T. Runia. In 1998, Mansfeld was awarded the

Humboldt research award The Humboldt Prize, the Humboldt-Forschungspreis in German, also known as the Humboldt Research Award, is an award given by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany to internationally renowned scientists and scholars who work outside of G ...

for his outstanding achievements in research and teaching. Mansfeld was made an honorary citizen of the ancient city of Elea, the town of Parmenides, by the Eleatica conference in 2013. Mansfeld's focus is on

doxography Doxography ( el, δόξα – "an opinion", "a point of view" + – "to write", "to describe") is a term used especially for the works of classical historians, describing the points of view of past philosophers and scientists. The term ...

, and he has had a thirty year collaboration with David Theunis Runia on the fragments and testimonia of the doxographer Aëtios.

Select publications

* * * * * With Oliver Primavesi * * * * ''Aëtiana : the method and intellectual context of a doxographer.'' with David Theunis, in five volumes. ** ** ** ** **

Literature

References

External links

*
Profile at the University of UtrechtBibliography
(PDF-file; 360 kB)
Article on doxography in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mansfeld, Jaap 1936 births Living people Dutch historians of philosophy Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Utrecht University alumni Academic staff of Utrecht University Members of Academia Europaea