About
Ermioni Prokopaki, PhD
Ancient Greek Philosophy & Philosophy of Mind
Ermioni Prokopaki is a philosopher working on ancient Greek philosophy and the philosophy of mind. Her work is focused on the role that truth plays in human epistemic psychology, and specifically on the Platonic claim that our epistemic psychology is teleologically organized towards the truth.
She received her PhD in August 2023 from the Department of Philosophy at the University of Chicago, in the Joint Program in Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy, with a dissertation on the threat of relativism in Plato’s Theaetetus. From 2023 to 2025 she was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the University of Chicago’s Humanities Teaching Fellowship, teaching in the Humanities Core curriculum and leading seminars of her own design on mathematics in Plato, Plato’s Republic, and the philosophy of mind. In 2025–26 she was an Early Career Fellow in Hellenic Studies at Harvard University’s Center for Hellenic Studies in Greece, where her research topic was “The Teleological Structure of the Human Intellect.”
She is currently pursuing questions about how our capacity for perception relates to our capacity for judgment in Plato and Aristotle, and about what the very task of aiming at the truth consists in.
Research
Publications
Understanding why the Dream Theory (Theaetetus 201d–202c) is Objectionable
Apeiron: A Journal for Ancient Philosophy and Science, published online June 4, 2026
Argues that Socrates’ refutation of the Dream Theory amounts to an accusation of Protagoreanism, and defends the aptness of that refutation.
Dissertation
Understanding the Threat of Relativism in the Theaetetus of Plato
PhD dissertation, Department of Philosophy, University of Chicago, August 2023
Argues that the threat of relativism pervades the Theaetetus, and that Plato’s answer is to remind us that it is up to us to stand up for the value of truth.
Under review
“Understanding the Puzzle of False Judgment in the Theaetetus (187c–200d)”
Selected talks
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“The Discussion of Falsehood in the Theaetetus: What Is It About and Why Does It Go Wrong?”
- Plato on Truth, Falsehood and Deception, University of Crete, Athens · 2026
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“Plato’s Theaetetus and the Early Wittgenstein on Falsehood”
- Conference on Wittgenstein’s Tractatus and its Legacy, Université de Strasbourg · 2025
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“Understanding the Puzzle of False Judgment Presented in the Theaetetus (187c–200d)”
- XIV Symposium Platonicum, International Plato Society · 2025
- Research Center for Greek Philosophy, Academy of Athens · 2024
- 47th Annual Ancient Philosophy Workshop, University of Oklahoma · 2024
- 5th Canadian Colloquium for Ancient Philosophy, Toronto Metropolitan University · 2024
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“Understanding Why the Dream Theory (Theaetetus 201d–202c) is Objectionable”
- 46th Annual Ancient Philosophy Workshop, University of Texas at Austin · 2023
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“Smoke & Mirrors: The Dream Theory in Plato’s Theaetetus”
- University of Illinois Chicago · 2022
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“Commensuration and Dialectic in the Divided Line”
- Minorities and Philosophy Conference, University of Chicago · 2022
- Poetry, Philosophy, and Mathematics in Ancient Greek Cultural Practices, University of South Florida · 2020
- Conference on Lehman and Weinman’s The Parthenon and Liberal Education, University of Chicago · 2019
Teaching
At the University of Chicago, as a Humanities Teaching Fellow (2023–25) and as a graduate instructor and teaching assistant (2018–22).
Courses of her own design
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Mathematics in Plato · Spring 2024
How far philosophical practice resembles mathematical practice for Plato, with a special focus on incommensurability, commensuration, and the use of models. Readings from the Meno, Republic V–VII, Statesman, Theaetetus, Timaeus, and Sophist.
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Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind · Winter 2025
The field’s traditional questions and debates, read with an eye toward AI and the future: from Descartes to Ryle, Anscombe, Nagel, Searle, Churchland, and McDowell.
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The Republic of Plato · Spring 2025
A seminar on the Republic and its secondary literature, aimed at clarifying the unity of the dialogue’s political and epistemological goals.
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Plato’s Theaetetus · Winter 2021
A seminar for advanced philosophy majors, pairing a close reading of the dialogue with the Dreyfus–McDowell debate on perception and Russell’s logical atomism.
She also supervised an undergraduate thesis on Aristotle’s mathematics (2024–25).
Humanities Core
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Greece & Rome: Texts, Traditions, Transformations I & II · 2023–25
The College’s core sequence on epic (Homer, Vergil, Walcott, Marlowe) and tragedy (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Seneca, Shakespeare, Césaire).
As teaching assistant
Mind, Brain, and Meaning; Introduction to Ethics; History of Philosophy I: Ancient Philosophy; History of Analytic Philosophy; End of Life.