King's College London - Homepage

Dr Aufderheide studied Greek, Latin, and Philosophy at the Universities of Göttingen and St Andrews. Having skipped a first degree, he completed his Mlitt in Philosophy at the University of St Andrews in 2007, specialising in Ancient Philosophy by writing a dissertation on Plato’s Protagoras. He was visiting research assistant at Yale University in 2009 and has finished his doctoral dissertation on ‘The Value of Pleasure in Plato’s Philebus and Aristotle’s Ethics’ in 2011 at the University of St Andrews.

Dr Aufderheide joined King’s in 2011 first as temporary, now as permanent lecturer.

• Pleasure in ancient philosophy (from Plato to the Neoplatonists)
• Aristotle’s moral philosophy
• Ancient value theory (from Plato to the Hellenistic Schools)
• Epistemology: the distinction between philosophers and non-philosophers in Plato, Aristotle, and the Hellenistic Schools

Dr Aufderheide’s research focuses on value and pleasure in ancient philosophy, especially Plato and Aristotle. He is in the process of working part of his PhD thesis (‘The Value of Pleasure in Plato’s Philebus and Aristotle’s Ethics’) into published articles. He is currently co-editing a book on the highest good in Aristotle and Kant to which he contributes a piece on Aristotle. This paper is the starting point of a large-scale project whose aim is to understand the connection between the highest good, the good person, the good life, and other goods in Plato, Aristotle, and the Hellenistic Schools. He has also started work on a paper on Plato concerning the methodological and epistemological difficulties in moving from not knowing the forms to knowing them. His research interests are not limited to ancient philosophy: he is working on a paper comparing Mill’s, Plato’s and Aristotle’s approach to higher and lower pleasures.

Reviews

• (2008) Review of S. Delcomminette, Le Philèbe de Platon: introduction à l'agathologie platonicienne, Leiden/Boston:  Brill, 2006. Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2008.10.38 (http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2008/2008-10-38.html).
• (2012) Review of M. Weinman, Pleasure in Aristotle’s Ethics, The Classical Review, 62.1, pp. 82-83.

In preparation

• Edited volume, The Highest Good in Aristotle and Kant, with contributions by J. Aufderheide (King’s College London), R. Bader (Oxford), R. Barney (Toronto), D. Charles (Oxford), S. Engstrom (Pittsburgh), D. Frede (Berkeley), R. Louden (Maine), C. Shields (Oxford), D. Sussman (Urbana-Champaign), J. Timmermann (St Andrews).

Dr Aufderheide teaches on the following modules:

Undergraduate modules:

• 4AANA001 Greek Philosophy I
• 5AANA001 Greek Philosophy II : Plato
• 6AAN4053 Facts and Values in Historical Context

Postgraduate modules:

• 7AAN2026 Greek Philosophy I: Plato

Dr Aufderheide is happy to supervise or co-supervise pretty much any topic in ancient philosophy. He is, however, most enthusiatic about topics that relate in some way or other to his own research interestes (i.e. moral psychology, value theory, epistemology).

Dr Aufderheide was co-president of the British Postgraduate Philosophy Association and, in this role, member of the advisory board for Philosophical and Thelogical Studies (part of the Higher Education Academy). The attempt to improve conditions for teachers and students at British higher education institutions was not wholly successful, as the centre closed 2011.