Abstract: This conference marks the conclusion of Lucerne SNSF research project Senses of Being, exploring the semantics and the senses of being across ancient and medieval traditions. It examines the multiple logical and metaphysical senses of being—from predicative uses ("S is P") to questions of existence (Socrates est, in the sense of exists) —and investigates how these relate to modal and epistemic operators. Central to the inquiry is the debate between one-sense and several-senses theories of being, with contemporary positions traced back to Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas. By analyzing historical perspectives and their impact on modern discussions, the conference bridges logic, metaphysics, and philology. Emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches, it draws from Greek, Arabic, Latin, and other linguistic traditions, and engages with theological, philosophical, and textual studies. The event aims to foster dialogue between historical sources and current debates, creating a platform for future research and establishing a new international network on the semantics and senses of being.

Contact and Registration (Zoom link): david.anzalone@unilu.ch

Program

Thursday 4th September 
Chair: Davide Falessi (Lucerne)

09:00-09: 30 Welcome

09:30-10:30 Silvia Donati (Köln) , The discussion on the unity of being in an anonymous late-13th century English commentary on the Physics

10:30-11:00 Coffee Break

11:00-12:00 Marta Borgo (Lucerne), Richard of Clive's Interpretation of Metaphysics V 7

Chair: Mostafa Najafi (Lucerne)

14:30-15:30 Yehuda Halper (Bar-Illan), Dialectic in Averroes’s Commentaries on the Metaphysics

15:30-16:30 Coffee Break

16:00-17:00 Iacopo Costa (Lucerne),  Contingency and possibility in John Buridan’s commentaries on Metaphysics VI

17:00-18:00 Kristell Trego (Fribourg), To be True?

Friday, 5th September
Chair: David Anzalone (Lucerne)

09:30-10:30 Gregory Doolan (Washington), From Logical Intentions to Real Being: Aquinas and the Modus Logicus as Demonstrative Method in Metaphysics

10:30-11:00 Coffee Break

11:00-12:00 Gyula Klima (New York), Ens multipliciter dicitur: the semantics and metaphysics of being in St. Thomas Aquinas

12:00-12:45 Davide Falessi (Lucerne), The Antinomy of Being Per Se

Chair: Ali Taghavinasab (Lucerne)

14:30-15:30 Francesco O. Zamboni (Tübingen) The Semantics of Existence before Avicenna. A Look into the Muʿtazilite Definitions of mawjūd 

15:30-16:00 Coffee Break

16:00-17:00 Mostafa Najafi (Lucerne), Bahmanyār’s Revision of the Senses of Being between al-Fārābī and Ibn Sīnā

17:00-18:00 Zack Candy (Munich/Lucerne), The Distinction between Existence as Anitas and Existence as Present Actuality in Postclassical Islamic Philosophy: Is There One?

Saturday, September 6th

Chair: Dario Affronti (Lucerne)

09:30-10:30 Fabrizio Amerini (Parma), Thomas Aquinas on the Meaning of Being

10:30-11:00 Coffee Break

11:00-12:00 Giovanni Ventimiglia (Lucerne), Being as second act?

12:00-12:45 Conclusions

Organised by David Anzalone, Marta Borgo and Davide Falessi, with the collaboration of Tanja Hirschmüller

Scientific Committee:

Giovanni Ventimiglia
Marta Borgo
Iacopo Costa
Davide Falessi
Mostafa Najafi

With the Support of the University of Lucerne's Research Committee and the Swiss National Science Foundation.