The staff of the Chair specialize in Aristotle and Hellenistic philosophy. A common research focus is Aristotelian metaphysics in a broader sense. The Chair is also known for its research on Aristotelian argumentation theory and rhetoric. Another focus is the study of ancient moral psychology, from Socrates, through Plato and Aristotle, to the Stoics and Epicureans.
At the chair, commentaries and translations are being developed on specific questions of Aristotelian metaphysics, i.e., on Aristotle’s work Metaphysics as well as other works by Aristotle with metaphysical themes in a broader sense (e.g., Categories, De Anima, Physics). Currently, the chair is leading a cooperative commentary on the middle books of Aristotle's Metaphysics.
The following research focuses are particularly emphasized:
In the field of Aristotelian natural philosophy, central concepts such as change, mixture, composition, and elements are explored. In the field of Stoic natural philosophy, substance, causality, mixture, and corporeality are examined, among other things. A question of particular interest is how the materialist Stoics aimed to solve problems that Aristotle and Plato addressed with immaterial forms and ideas.
Ancient ethics is fundamentally based on an engagement with the capacities and states of the human soul (such as emotions, desires, character traits, cognitive abilities) and the question of under what conditions the soul is well and people are consequently happy. This impetus of ancient philosophy has been further developed by modern fields such as moral psychology and so-called "virtue ethics".
Translations, commentaries, and essays on Aristotle's Topics, Sophistical Refutations, and Rhetoric – as well as works on Neo-Aristotelian argumentation theory.