Dr. R.M. (Bert) van den Berg

Position:
  • Lecturer
Expertise:
  • Classical languages and cultures
  • Neoplatonism
  • Proclus
  • Plato


Telephone number: +31 (0)71 527 2680
E-Mail: r.m.van.den.berg@hum.leidenuniv.nl
Faculty / Department: Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen, Institute for Cultural Disciplines, Latijnse T&C
Office Address: Johan Huizingagebouw
Doelensteeg 16
2311 VL Leiden
Room number 1.16b

Research

My research concerns the Platonic tradition with a special focus on Plato and later Neoplatonism, in particular Proclus. So far, I have concentrated on two topics especially, (Neo-)Platonic religious thought and practice and Platonic ideas about language and its relation to philosophy. The former topic comes to the fore in my study of Proclus’ hymns, which, I argue, should be understood within the context both of his Neoplatonic philosophy and of theurgy, the ritual art adopted by the Neoplatonists in order to obtain mystical experiences. More recently, I have published a monograph on the ancient interpretations of Plato’s Cratylus, his dialogue about language, in which I pay close attention to Proclus’ Commentary on the Cratylus. In this book I argue that, as Proclus understood correctly, Platonic metaphysics requires a Platonic theory of language. At present, I participate in a project headed by Prof. I. Sluiter which is expected to result in a multi-disciplinary commentary on the Cratylus.

Curriculum Vitae

Robbert (Bert) M. van den Berg (Amsterdam, 1970) studied Classics at Leiden University (MA August 1995). After qualifying as a secondary school teacher in Classics, he took up a position of junior research fellow at the Faculty of Philosophy of Leiden University from 1996 to 2000, working on his PhD on Proclus’ Hymns under the direction of Prof. D. Runia. In the meantime he visited King’s College London (September-December 1994), Leuven University (January-March 1998) and UPR 76 of the CNRS, Paris (February-April 1999). After a brief spell as a research associate to Richard Sorabji’s Ancient Commentators Project at King’s College, London (August-October 2000), he took up a position of postdoctoral fellow of the Mediterranean Near-Eastern Studies programme at Trinity College, Dublin (November 2000-September 2001). Between 2001 and 2005, he worked as a post-doctoral researcher of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), working on a project concerning the ancient reception of Plato's Cratylus. Since October 2001 he has been teaching ancient philosophy at the department of Classics at Leiden University.

Teaching activities

I teach introductory courses on ancient philosophy (from Thales to Damascius), as well as seminars for advanced BA and MA students, currently (spring 2008) on Plato’s Cratylus (BA) en the Derveni-papyrus (MA).

Publications

R.M. van den Berg, Proclus’ Hymns.Essays, Translations, Commentary (Philosophia Antiqua 90), Brill (Leiden-Boston-Köln) 2001. 

R.M. van den Berg, Proclus’ Commentary on the Cratylus in Context: Ancient Theories of Language and Naming (Philosophia Antiqua 112), Brill (Leiden-Boston) 2008.

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Last Modified: 19-10-2009