Lucas Álvarez-Maldonado, M.A.

PhD project

I hold a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy (2019, UESD Madrid) and a Master's degree in Ancient Philosophy (2022, LMU Munich). Since October 2022, I have been pursuing my PhD under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Christof Rapp (Chair of Ancient Philosophy) as part of the Munich School of Ancient Philosophy (MUSAΦ).

In my dissertation, I explore a largely neglected aspect of Aristotelian philosophy: his conception of plant life. While his zoological views have received considerable scholarly attention in recent years, his reflections on the plant world have often been overlooked—typically due to the assumption that he had little philosophical interest in plants. My research challenges this assumption. Through a close reading of the Corpus Aristotelicum, I demonstrate that Aristotle developed an original and coherent theory of plant physiology. This theory draws on earlier botanical ideas—such as those of the Presocratics, Hippocratic medicine, and Plato—yet departs from them in significant ways. Notably, Aristotle's account also differs in key respects from that of his student Theophrastus, with whom he is often (and mistakenly) conflated in this context. With my project, I aim to provide a more comprehensive picture of Aristotle’s biology and to shed light on selected aspects of his "psychology" and metaphysics.

I have a strong interest in the history of philosophy and science in antiquity, as well as in ancient and modern metaphysics, psychology, and action theory.