The Natural and the Beautiful: Women Philosophers on Nature, Beauty, and Art

The Natural and the Beautiful: Women Philosophers on Nature, Beauty, and Art

An International Conference at the University of Sydney

A collaboration between "Extending New Narratives" SSHRC (Canada) major award and “Women Philosophers on the Natural and the Human" ARC Future Fellowship (Dalia Nassar)

Organisers: Dalia Nassar and Campbell Rider

25th–27th of November, 2026

10:00 – 5:00 pm

In-person only at the University of Sydney

Vere Gordon Childe Centre, Room 495, Madsen Building F09

Overview:

This conference proposes that women philosophers made important and distinctive contributions to thinking about both the natural and the beautiful – and their relation – and aims to uncover these contributions and their continuing significance.

Women were often identified with ‘nature’ and the ’natural’, and they had to negotiate their status as both natural and human. How did they do this? And in what ways and to what extent did their status as both ’natural’ and ‘human’ influence their thinking about nature and the place of the human within it?

In turn, when women turned to writing philosophy, they often berated their male colleagues for failing to grapple with and locate philosophical questions in lived experience. In contrast, they sought to give philosophy a more concrete, more ‘lived’ character. They often did this through aesthetics, understood both in the general sense, as the study of perception, and in a more limited sense, as the study of the experiences of beauty. How did their interest in aesthetics support their aims of grounding philosophy in lived experience? And in what ways were their philosophies of art and beauty connected to their philosophies of the natural and the human? This conference invites speakers to consider some or any of these questions.


Call for papers:

The conference is open for abstract submissions from anyone working on the fields of history of women philosophers; philosophy of nature; environmental aesthetics or ethics; or philosophy of art or beauty. Abstracts can be submitted at the registration link below by 1st of October 2026:

Early Career Researcher Workshop:

There is a separate workshop for early-career researchers to present their work, taking place one day before the beginning of the conference. The event is entitled: "Reading Philosophies of Nature and Beauty: Close Reading as Method in the History of Philosophy".

This event is also open for abstracts and papers. For more information and to apply, email [email protected]. 

Registration:

Space is limited, so please register to attend at the link: "Women Philosophers on Beauty, Nature, and Art" – Fill in form