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MICHAEL J. SIEBERT – CURRICULUM VITAE
Michael J. Siebert
Department of Philosophy
170 St. George St.
Toronto, ON M5R 2M8 Canada
416-220-0180
m.siebert@utoronto.ca
Citizenship: Canadian
Teaching and Research Interests
AOS
AOC
Medieval Philosophy
Ancient Philosophy, Early Modern Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
Research Languages
English (mother tongue), Classical Greek, Classical Latin, French, German
Education
2005-2014
PhD, Philosophy, University of Toronto
Dissertation: Platonic Recollection and Illumination in Augustine’s Early Writings
Committee: Dr. Peter King (supervisor), Dr. Lloyd Gerson, Dr. John Magee
2003-05
MA, Early Christian Studies, University of Notre Dame
MA Project: “Augustine, Human Happiness, and Cicero’s Tusculan Disputations”
Supervisor: Dr. Sabine MacCormack
1996-03
BA Honours, Philosophy, University of Winnipeg
1996-00
BChurch Music, Choral Conducting, Concord College
Academic Work Experience
1. Instructorships (Sessional)
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
2014 Summer
2009 Winter
17th and 18th Cent. Philosophy (PHL210Y1Y S-Term only)
Topics in Medieval Philosophy (PHL307H5S)
2. Teaching Assistantships (Tutorial Leader)
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
2013-14 Year
17th and 18th Cent. Philosophy, M. Morrison (PHL210Y)
2012-13 Year
Introduction to Philosophy, J. Nagel (PHL105Y)
2011-12 Year
17th and 18th Cent. Philosophy, M. Pickavé & A. Gombay (PHL210Y)
2010-11 Year
17th and 18th Cent. Philosophy, M. Morrison (PHL210Y)
2009-10 Year
Ancient Philosophy, L. Gerson (PHL 200Y)
2007-09 Year (2x) Introduction to Philosophy, J. Brunning (PHL105Y)
2006-07 Year
Ancient Philosophy, L. Gerson (PHL 200Y)
3. Teaching Assistantships (Grader)
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
2014 Winter
2007 Summer
2006 Summer
Introduction to Philosophy, R. de Sousa (PHL 201S)
Business Ethics, D. Waterfall (PHL 295S)
Plato, L. Gerson (PHL303F)
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MICHAEL J. SIEBERT – CURRICULUM VITAE
2005-2006 Year
2005 Fall
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Ancient Philosophy, T. Mathien (PHL200Y)
Early Medieval Philosophy, P. King (PHL205F)
4. Research Assistantships
2009-2011 With B. Inwood, University of Toronto
Proofread for three issues of Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy
2010 Fall With B. Inwood, University of Toronto
Proofread for Interdisciplinary Science Reviews: History and Human Nature 35.3-4 (2010)
2009 Fall With L. Gerson, University of Toronto
Compiled Index Locorum for Cambridge History of Philosophy in Late Antiquity
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010)
2003-2004 With G. Reydams-Schils, University of Notre Dame
Proofread and checked references for The Roman Stoics: Self, Responsibility, and
Affection (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005)
Works in Progress Intended for Publication
“Augustine’s Confessions 10.20.29 and Platonic Recollection”
“Ciceronian Insights into Hume’s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion”
Presentations
1. Refereed Conference Presentations
“Augustine’s Confessions and Platonic Recollection,” American Philosophical Association Central
Division, New Orleans, February 20-23, 2013.
“The Status of Recollection in Augustine’s Soliloquies,” Canadian Philosophical Association,
Carleton University, May 25-28, 2009.
“The Status of Recollection in Augustine’s Soliloquies,” Panel Presentation: Patristics, Medieval,
and Renaissance Conference. Villanova University, October 10-12, 2008
“Philosophy, Religion, and Politics in Cicero’s On the Nature of the Gods,” Atlantic Regional
Philosophical Association. St. Mary’s University, Halifax, October 26-27, 2007
“The Changing Educational Role of Philosophy and the Liberal Arts in Augustine’s De Ordine
and De Doctrina Christiana,” Patristics, Medieval, and Renaissance Conference. Villanova
University, October 19-21, 2007.
2. Invited Lectures, Presentations, and Commentaries
“Platonic Recollection and Illumination in Augustine’s Early Writings,” Dissertation
Presentation, Collaborative Program in Ancient and Medieval Philosophy Proseminar,
University of Toronto, October 28, 2013.
Commentary on Tyler Huismann, “Two Senses of Freedom in Augustine,” Freedom & Freedoms:
Uniting State, Responsibility, and Will, University of Toronto, April 15-16, 2011.
Three Informal Lectures on Athanasius of Alexandria’s On the Incarnation. St. Thomas’s
Anglican Church, Toronto, November 26, December 3, 10, 2008.
Commentary on Noah Levin, “A Defense of Protagorean Relativism Against Claims of SelfRefutation in Plato’s Theaetetus: A Plausible Explanation of Truth from Experience,”
Experience and Truth: Eighth Annual International Graduate Conference in Philosophy.
University of Toronto, May 9-10, 2008.
Three Informal Lectures on Augustine’s Confessions. St. Thomas’s Anglican Church, Toronto,
February 13, 27, March 5, 2008.
MICHAEL J. SIEBERT – CURRICULUM VITAE
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Commentary on Hugo Meyell, Redirecting Philosophy: Reflections on the Nature of Knowledge from
Plato to Lonergan (Toronto, 1998): Canadian Society of Christian Philosophers. University of
Saskatchewan, May 30, 2007.
Awards
2010-11
2010
2009
2006-09
2006-09
2007-08
2005
2003-05
2002
2000
2000
1998
1998
1996
Doctoral Award, University of Toronto (Tuition+$10,000)
Michael J. Herman Graduate Fellowship in Philosophy, University of Toronto
Shortlisted for the Martha Lile Love Teaching Award
George Paxton Young Memorial Prizes In Philosophy (1 per year), University of Toronto
Gordon Cheesborough Travel Awards (1 per year), University of Toronto
Ontario Government Scholarship
University of Toronto 5-year Funding Package
University of Notre Dame Tuition Scholarship and Stipend (1 per year)
Victor Y. Shimizu Kant Prize, University of Winnipeg
Chancellor's Gold Medal for the Highest Standing in Arts (4-year course), University of
Winnipeg
University Gold Medal in Music (4-year course), University of Winnipeg
R. Fletcher Argue Scholarship, University of Winnipeg
Sigrid Redekopp Memorial Scholarship in Music, Concord College
Alumni Entrance Scholarship for Leadership, Concord College
Service to Department
2007-2008 Chair, Graduate Conference Committee, Experience and Truth: Eighth Annual
International Graduate Conference in Philosophy, University of Toronto, May 9-10, 2008
2006-2007 Philosophy Colloquium Student Representative, Graduate Philosophy Students Union.
University of Toronto
Memberships
2011-present Member, American Philosophical Association
2009-present Member, Canadian Philosophical Association
References
1. Research
Peter King, Professor of Philosophy and Medieval Studies, University of Toronto
Department of Philosophy, 170 St. George St., Toronto, ON M5R 2M8
peter.king@utoronto.ca
Lloyd Gerson, Professor of Philosophy, University of Toronto
Department of Philosophy, 170 St. George St., Toronto, ON M5R 2M8
lloyd.gerson@utoronto.ca
John Magee, Professor of Classics and Medieval Studies, University of Toronto
Centre for Medieval Studies, 125 Queen's Park, Toronto, ON M5S 2C7
john.magee@utoronto.ca (for a reference letter, please email mf.ellison@utoronto.ca)
2. Teaching
Martin Pickavé, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Medieval Studies, University of Toronto
Department of Philosophy, 170 St. George St., Toronto, ON M5R 2M8
martin.pickave@utoronto.ca
MICHAEL J. SIEBERT – CURRICULUM VITAE
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Appendix A: Dissertation Abstract
Platonic Recollection and Illumination in Augustine’s Early Writings
Will any longest possible straight line inside of a circle have to pass through the center?
Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430 CE) certainly thought so and he thought that others would too.
The experience of learning such “intelligible things” (intellegibilia), as he called them, fascinated
him, and unlike most contemporary philosophers, thought the experience was loaded with
epistemological and metaphysical implications. The implication for which he is particularly
famous is his contention that the experience requires an “illumination” from the divine. There
are disputes about what this contention means precisely, but it begins from the claim that there
is an analogy between seeing visible things and knowing intelligible things. Just as seeing
visible things happens by means of the illumination of the sun, so also “seeing” intelligible
things happens by means of an illumination from God. Without this divine illumination,
intelligible things would not truly be “intelligible,” i.e. knowable.
This illumination theory of learning is typically interpreted as an alternative to a
Platonic recollection theory, since it seems not to require innate knowledge and the soul’s
preexistence. The Augustine scholar Gerard O’Daly, for example, says that from start to finish,
Augustine’s theory of illumination was an “explicit and unequivocal” alternative to Platonic
recollection. My contention in this dissertation is that this was not always the case. I argue that
at least in his pre-baptismal (and post-conversion) writings (386-7), Augustine not only
entertained but also accepted Platonic recollection as a complement to illumination. In making
my case, I provide original insight into interpreting Augustine’s Soliloquies and his obscure On
the Immortality of the Soul. This insight reveals his attempted reconciliation of these theories and
some underlying philosophical motivations. I also argue that Augustine’s preferred way of
reconciling the theories in these works was highly unorthodox, entailing, among other things,
that the soul was uncreated and consubstantial with God. These rarely defended claims indicate
that the nature of Augustine’s conversion to Christianity is commonly misunderstand and
suggest avenues for re-examining Augustine’s later writings and legacy.
MICHAEL J. SIEBERT – CURRICULUM VITAE
Appendix B: Graduate Courses Taken for Credit
University of Notre Dame (2003-5)
LANGUAGE
Greek: Age of Herodotus
Greek: Early Greek Poetry
Latin: Introduction to Christian Latin
Latin: Roman Comedy
ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY AND POLITICAL THEORY
Cicero and Roman Political Traditions (CLAS 598)
Plato’s Trilogy (POLS 571)
EARLY CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHY AND THEOLOGY
Augustine and Anselm (THEO 623)
Early Christianity Seminar: Augustine (THEO 621)
Topics in Early Christianity: Christianity and Empire (THEO 525)
Early Christianity: Introduction (THEO 521)
Patristic Exegesis (THEO 525)
University of Toronto (2005-7)
LANGUAGE
Greek: Plato II (complete reading of Plato’s Phaedo) (GRK440) (undergraduate course)
ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
Topics in Ancient Philosophy: Ancient Epistemology (PHL 2009)
Topics in Ancient Philosophy: Seminar on the Self (PHL 2009)
MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY
Medieval Ethical Theory (MST 3325)
Maimonides (RLG 3622)
EARLY MODERN PHILOSOPHY
Kant’s Ethics (PHL 2063)
CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHY
Seminar in 19th C. Continental Philosophy (PHL 2084)
Philosophy of Language (Zuidervaart) (PHL 2190)
Horizons of Political Reflection (POL 2040)
ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHY
Proseminar in Philosophy: Ethics (PHL 1111)
Philosophy of Language (Kremer & Dickie) (PHL 2190)
Epistemology (PHL 2110)
Philosophy of Science (JPH 2192)
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