Mary Katrina Krizan, 2019–2020

Mary Krizan is associate professor of philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Her research is focused on questions at the intersection of Aristotle’s metaphysics and natural philosophy that pertain to his theory of matter and the material elements. Specifically, she is interested in developing a comprehensive account of Aristotle’s material elements—the simplest and most basic bodies in his natural science and philosophy—in order to determine the implications that Aristotle’s understanding of basic physical structures has for his more complete account of complex materials and living things.

Dr. Krizan’s research has appeared in Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, Journal of the History of Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy, and History of Philosophy Quarterly. During the 2019–20 academic year, Dr. Krizan will complete a monograph, titled Aristotle’s Material Elements, which will provide a detailed interpretation of Aristotle’s simple bodies and resolve questions related to the most basic matter in Aristotle’s metaphysics and the interactions of material elements with one another and the universe as a whole.

Selected Publications

• Krizan, Mary. “Mixture and the Formation of Homoeomers in On Generation and Corruption 2.7.” In Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, vol. 54, edited by Victor Caston, 187–226. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018.
• Krizan, Mary. “Primary Qualities and Aristotle’s Elements.” Ancient Philosophy 38, no. 1 (2018): 91–112.
• Krizan, Mary. “Prime Matter Without Extension.” Journal of the History of Philosophy 54, no. 4 (2016): 523–46.
• Krizan, Mary. “Elemental Structure and the Transformation of the Elements in On Generation and Corruption 2.4.” In Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, vol. 45, edited by Brad Inwood, 195–224. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013.
• Krizan, Mary. “Substantial Change and the Limiting Case of Aristotelian Matter.” History of Philosophy Quarterly 30, no. 4 (2013): 293–310.