A native of Detmold, Germany, Dr. Vorwerk’s academic expertise is in ancient philosophy,
the works of Plato and Plotinus, and the philosophy of human nature. In 1998, he received
his Ph.D. from the University of Münster after completion of a dissertation on the
Neoplatonic philosopher Plotinus. He then received a fellowship of the Alexander von
Humboldt Foundation to complete post-doctoral work at University College Dublin and
Trinity College Dublin. He joined the faculty of the Catholic University of America
in 2003 as an assistant professor of philosophy, and in 2011 was appointed as associate
dean of the School of Philosophy. In this capacity, he oversaw the extensive undergraduate
operations of the school, including the formation of college seminarians, and served
as inaugural co-chair of Catholic University’s General Education Curriculum Committee,
which developed a new liberal arts curriculum that was successfully implemented in
2018.
Dr. Vorwerk has written or co-authored four books in German on Plotinus and the history
of Platonism, published numerous articles and papers for academic publications and
conferences, and is a member of the Board of Directors of American Friends of the
Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation. He is married with three children and an active
member of the German-speaking Catholic Mission, Washington, D.C.
Ancient Philosophy
Philosophy of Human Nature
Ph.D., Greek and Latin Philology and Philosophy, University of Münster, 1998
B.A., Greek and Latin Philology (“Staatsexamen”), University of Münster, 1994
Plotins Schrift ‘Über den Geist, die Ideen und das Seiende (Enneade V 9 [5]). Text, translation, commentary. Beiträge zur Altertumskunde 145.
Munich – Leipzig: Saur, 2001.
In Pursuit of “Wissenschaft.” Festschrift in Honor of William M. Calder III, On the
Occasion of his 75th Birthday. Edited by St. Heilen, R. Kirstein, R. Scott Smith, St. Trzaskoma, R. van der Wal,
and M. Vorwerk. Hildesheim, Zurich, and New York: Olms, 2008.
Baltes, M. DIANOHMATA. Kleine Schriften zu Platon und zum Platonismus. Edited by A. Hüffmeier, M.-L. Lakmann, and M. Vorwerk. Beiträge zur Altertumskunde
123. Stuttgart and Leipzig: Teubner, 1999.
Der Platonismus in der Antike. Grundlagen – System – Entwicklung. Index zu den Bänden
1–4. Compiled by M. Baltes in collaboration with A. Hüffmeier, M.-L. Lakmann und M. Vorwerk.
Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt: Frommann-Holzboog, 1997.
“Plotinus and the Parmenides: Problems of Interpretation.” In Plato's Parmenides and
Its Heritage. Vol. 2, Its Reception in Neoplatonic, Jewish, and Christian Texts, edited
by K. Corrigan and J. Turner, 23-33. Atlanta: Society for Biblical Literature, 2010.
“Maker or Father? The Demiurge from Plutarch to Plotinus.” In One Book, The Whole
Universe: Plato’s Timaeus Today, edited by R. Mohr, 79-100. Las Vegas, Zurich, and
Athens: Parmenides
Publishing, 2010.
“Der Arzt, der Koch und die Kinder: Rhetorik und Philosophie im Wettstreit.“ In Gorgias
-- Menon. Selected Papers from the Seventh Symposium Platonicum, edited by M. Erler
and L. Brisson. International Plato Studies 25, 297-302. St. Augustin: Academia Verlag,
2007.
“Citizenship of the Heavenly Fatherland: A Platonist Alternative to the Stoic Concept
of Cosmopolitanism.” In Polis and Cosmopolis: Problems of a Global Era. Vol. 2, edited
by K. Boudouris, 230-40. Athens: Ionia Publications, 2003.
“Zauber oder Argument? Die epoidoi muthoi in Platon, Nomoi X (903 A 10–905 D 1).”
In Plato’s Laws: From Theory into Practice. Proceedings of the VI Symposium Platonicum.
Selected papers,
edited by S. Scolnicov and L. Brisson. International Plato Studies 15, 81-86. St.
Augustin: Academia, 2003.
“Mythos und Kosmos. Zur Topographie des Jenseits im Er–Mythos des Platonischen Staates.”
Philologus 146 (2002): 46-64.
“Plato on Virtue: Definitions of sophrosyne in Plato’s Charmides and in Plotinus,
Enneads 1.2 (19).” American Journal of Philology 122 (2001): 29-47.
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