Richard McKirahan

Richard McKirahan is a Visiting Professor of Philosophy at Pomona College, specializing in Ancient Philosophy, Science, and Greek Intellectual History. His work focuses on Presocratic thinkers, Aristotelian logic, and the intersection of ancient philosophy with scientific inquiry.

Education: PhD from Harvard University, M.A. and B.A. from University of Oxford, and B.A. from University of California, Berkeley.

Research interests include the foundations of ancient science, particularly Aristotle’s theories of demonstration and logic, as well as the cosmological and mathematical ideas of early Greek philosophers like Parmenides, Zeno, Anaximander, and Philolaus. He has extensively studied ancient commentaries on Aristotle, including works by Simplicius and Philoponus.

Publications span from foundational texts like Principles and Proofs: Aristotle's Theory of Demonstrative Science (1992) to commentaries on Presocratic fragments and ancient scientific treatises. His work often bridges textual analysis with historical contextualization, examining how ancient thinkers conceptualized knowledge, nature, and cosmology.

Notable contributions include analyses of the Derveni Papyrus, Pythagorean numerology, and the philosophical implications of Parmenides' fragments.