Elizabeth Asmis

Elizabeth Asmis is a Professor of Classics in the College at the University of Chicago, specializing in ancient Greek and Roman philosophy. Her research spans from pre-Socratics to Neoplatonists, with a focus on Epicureanism, Stoicism, and the adaptation of earlier philosophical thought.

• Research Interests: Philosophical methodology, aesthetics, social reform (justice, pity, parental love)
• Teaching: Greek and Roman philosophy, literary criticism

Recent work examines Hellenistic poetics, Cicero’s political philosophy, and Lucretius’ De Rerum Natura as a conversion narrative. She has also explored connections between Epicureanism and Marx’s philosophical framework.

Her publications include studies on Philodemus’ papyrological fragments and the empirical methods of Epicurus. Key contributions address the foundations of a science of aesthetics across Platonic, Aristotelian, and Hellenistic traditions.