Scope

We understand the Presocratics to be the figures whose fragments and testimonies are collected in Hermann Diels' Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, edited by Walther Kranz. These figures include cosmologists, anti-cosmologists, sophists, philosophical poets, Pythagoreans, and other intellectuals dedicated to an explanation of the world and human affairs, from Thales down to the time of Socrates (and shortly thereafter, according to Diels' non-chronological understanding of 'Presocratic'). We recognize the need for philosophical, philological, textual, doxographical, historical, literary, and religious studies, as well as studies of the reception of Presocratic thought, to illuminate early Greek philosophy.

Purpose

Because Presocratic Philosophy is rather a rare specialty these days, we have felt a need for an organization dedicated to this field, with open membership and an international domain. At this time no membership or registration fees will be required. Please notify us, however, if you wish to be included in our electronic mailings.