The ISSS is rooted in a series of academic conferences that preceded its formal foundation. Following the Socratica conferences held in Senigallia (2005), Naples (2008), and Trento (2012), and the respective proceedings published in 2008, 2010, and 2013, the international community of scholars had already established a solid tradition of gathering around Socratic studies.
The three earlier Socratica conferences were held in Italy and their proceedings were published respectively as: Socratica 2005: Studi sulla letteratura socratica antica (Rossetti & Stavru, eds., Levante, Bari, 2008); Socratica 2008: Studies in Ancient Socratic Literature (Rossetti & Stavru, eds., Levante, Bari, 2010); and Socratica III: Studies on Socrates, the Socratics, and the Ancient Socratic Literature (de Luise & Stavru, eds., Academia Verlag, 2013).
The ISSS was established at Socratica IV, a conference held in Buenos Aires in 2018. The Society was formed in November of that year, on the occasion of that conference, and its founding President was Claudia Mársico. The Society is similar in structure to the International Plato Society and the International Association for Presocratic Studies. It sponsors a major triennial conference every three years, supports regional conferences in between, and promotes publications and other forms of collaboration among scholars worldwide.
The founding President is Claudia Mársico (University of Buenos Aires, Argentina). Donald Morrison (Rice University, USA) served as President in the subsequent term. The Honorary President is Livio Rossetti (University of Perugia, Italy).
The Socratica Conferences
The triennial conference series is the central axis of the Society’s academic life:
- Socratica I (Senigallia, Italy, 2005)
- Socratica II (Naples, Italy, 2008)
- Socratica III (Trento, Italy, 2012)
- Socratica IV (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2018) — founding conference of the ISSS
- Socratica V (Rice University, Houston, Texas, July 11–14, 2022)
- Socratica VI (Rethymno, Crete, October 19–23, 2025)
The Virtual Socrates Colloquium (VSC)
Since 2020, the ISSS has hosted the ongoing Virtual Socrates Colloquium (VSC), a regular cycle of online lectures that has brought together specialists from around the world on an accessible, open platform — extending the Society’s international reach well beyond its major triennial congresses.
Publications
The ISSS actively promotes research publications in the field. Among its most recent institutional outputs, the Proceedings in honour of Honorary President Livio Rossetti have been published by Brill