“Tracing Genealogy” — Warwick Continental Philosophy Conference 2026

Within Continental philosophy, genealogy is most associated with Nietzsche’s critical historicisations and/or psychologisations of our moral practices and beliefs—and with Foucault’s subsequent ‘histories of the present’ investigations into the contingent development of contemporary institutions and the discourses surrounding them. However, the notion of genealogy is not confined to the Nietzschean tradition. David Hume’s ‘experimental’ enquiries into the origins of our religious and causal beliefs—offering more traditional debunking arguments—are also increasingly considered to come under its methodological umbrella.

Conversely, Bernard Williams, drawing on Locke and Hobbes, develops a vindicatory form of genealogy that seeks to legitimate our existing ethical virtues by uncovering the genuine moral and political needs they address. More recently, Julian Ratcliffe has labelled a strand of contemporary Anglophone work—associated with figures such as Brandom, Dutilh Novaes, and Queloz—rationalising genealogy. This approach seeks to uncover normative commitments latent within existing conceptual resources, thereby connecting genealogy to themes of Hegelian reconciliation and Carnapian conceptual engineering.

The conference aims to bring together work that examines genealogical approaches and the fundamental questions they raise about critique, normativity, historical explanation, and philosophical method, highlighting their continuing importance across Continental and Anglophone philosophy.

For detailed information and further instruction, please visit: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/philosophy/research/activities/postkantian/events/wcpc/

For any enquiries, please contact: [email protected].

The WCPC is an annual event within The Centre for Research in Post-Kantian European Philosophy (University of Warwick). The conference complies with the BPA/SWIP guidelines for accessible conferences, the BPA/SWIP good practice scheme for gender equality, and the BPA environmental travel scheme (ETS).