In Conversation: Exploring the Philosophy of Money and Finance
2024-10-01 12:00 - 2026-10-26 17:00 (Europe/London)
In Conversation: Exploring the Philosophy of Money and Finance – Series III

A series of interviews with contributors to The Philosophy of Money and Finance (Hardcover, OUP 2024; Paperback, fall 2025)

Schedule

"Bitcoins Left and Right: A Normative Assessment of a Digital Currency"
Authors: Lars Lindblom and Joakim Sandberg
Interviewer: Violet Victoria
Date and Time: October 6, 2026, 18:00 CET

[Thi is the final interview in the series. Recordings of prior interviews can be found on Phinance.]

DFT-CELFIS research seminar, University of Bucharest
2025-10-28 09:00 - 2026-09-30 17:00 (Europe/Bucharest) | Splaiul Independenţei nr. 204, Bucharest, Romania, 060024
We're delighted to invite you to the research seminar of the Department of Theoretical Philosophy at the University of Bucharest. These are organized in partnership with CELFIS, the Center for Logic, Philosophy and History of Science at UB. Here are talks scheduled so far:

Fall 2025:

October 28, 5pm: Alexandru Dragomir & Andrei Mărăşoiu (University of Bucharest, f2f), "The Inconstant Moral Expert: the case of LLMs"

November 25, 4pm: Nicholas Rimell (Chinese University of Hong Kong, hybrid via Zoom), "A Metaphysics of Despair"

November 28, 2pm: Micah Thomas Pimaro, Jr. (University of Calabar, f2f), "Placide Tempels’s Metaphysics: A challenge or a trap for African philosophy?"

December 2, 3pm: Nora Grigore (Romanian Academy, Institute of Philosophy and Psychology, f2f), "Worthiness and Expediency: a Distinction without a Difference?"

December 19, 2pm: Alin Olteanu (Shanghai International Studies University, ICUB, f2f), "Iconic Imagination in Modeling: A Semiotic Approach to Scientific Inquiry"

January 16, 2pm: Marco Facchin (University of Antwerp, hybrid via Zoom), "Is mental content an illusion?"

January 22, 12pm: Sandra Brânzaru (University of Bucharest, CELFIS, FPSE, f2f), "Conceptualising Empathy"

February 10, 4pm: Marian Călborean (OPTI Software & University of Bucharest, f2f), "The minimal ontology of time"

Spring 2026:

March 27, 2pm: Erik Myin (University of Antwerp, hybrid via Zoom), “Of a Different Mind”

March 30: Mariona Eiren Miyata-Sturm (University of Oxford, f2f), “The metacognitive account of aesthetics in science”

April 3: René van Woudenberg (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, hybrid via Zoom), "Are LLMs Authors?"

May 11, 12pm: Gheorge Ştefanov (U. Bucharest, f2f); "Ce nu pot vedea neuroștiințele? — Gramatica libertății: Wittgenstein, Anscombe și critica determinismului tare"

May 13, 3pm: Andrei Moldovan (U. Salamanca, f2f), “Between Independence and Guidance: A Dilemma for Intellectual Autonomy”

May 19, 10am: Daian Bica (Heinrich Heine University, hybrid via Zoom), ''How to Tame ‘Abundance’? Roman Frigg’s User Manual''

June 5, 2pm: Paula Tomi (National University of Science and Technology 'Politehnica' Bucharest, f2f), “LLMs and truth pluralism”

June 15, 6.45pm: Ioan Muntean (UT Rio Grande Valley, UI Urbana, f2f), "Reflective equilibrium and scientific progress"

Previous events in the series are available at:

2021-22: https://philevents.org/event/show/93365

2022-23: https://philevents.org/event/show/105249

https://filosofie.unibuc.ro/category/seminar-cercetare-dft/

https://icub.unibuc.ro/2022/06/14/workshop-semantic-cognition-and-truth/

For those of you who would like to join some of the meetings but have overlapping commitments, we will do our best to record the meetings whenever everyone in attendance consents to it, and to then upload the recordings on the Department's YouTube channel. Previous talks are available here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOgUq3dN8CXI4L6DhZT1f_Q

Reconstructing Carnap Webinar Series 2026
2026-02-18 09:00 - 2026-12-09 17:00 (Europe/London)
I am excited to share that the Reconstructing Carnap Webinar Series will resume in February 2026! Please find the official flyer attached. All talks will take place from 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM CET (10:30 AM–12:30 PM EST).
The webinar can be accessed via the following link: https://meet.google.com/uaq-jqpf-mwr
Schedule of speakers:

- Gila Sher — February 18, 2026
Carnap’s and Quine’s Models of Knowledge: A Critical Reconstruction

- Matti Eklund — March 25, 2026
Carnap, Metaontology and the Aufbau

- Huw Price — May 13, 2026
From Non-cognitivism to Global Expressivism: Carnap’s Unfinished Journey?

- Pierre Wagner — June 3, 2026
Carnap on Definition

- Hannes Leitgeb — October 7, 2026
Reviving Logical Empiricism

- Thomas Hofweber — November 11, 2026
Carnap on Internal and External Questions

- Amie Thomasson — December 9, 2026
Title TBA

The series is organized in collaboration with Carnap in Context IV (ÖAW, FWF Grant PAT7905424) and Rudolf Carnap Digital (MCMP, LMU Munich).

Wittgenstein's Lecture on Ethics: Online Lecture Series
2026-03-17 17:00 - 2026-11-17 17:00 (Europe/London)
- 17/3/2026 17:00 CET Reshef Agam-Segal (VMI): How to Be Morally Resolute: Diamond vs. Conant

- 28/4/2026 17:00 CEST Samuel Pedziwiatr (Hagen): Echoes of Euthyphro. Wittgenstein and Schlick on the (Im-)possibility of Scientific Ethics

- 18/6/2026 17:00 CEST Duncan Richter (VMI): Ethics and the Supernatural

- 17/11/2026 17:00 CET Maria Balaska (Åbo): Wittgenstein (and Heidegger) on the Wonder at Being

-
Please note the lectures start at 5pm CET (Central European Time).

Η ΜΕΤΑ - ΦΙΛΟΣΟΦΙΚΗ ΣΚΕΨΗ - ΑΛΕΞΗΣ ΚΑΡΠΟΥΖΟΣ
2026-04-04 18:00 - 2026-12-19 17:00 (Europe/Athens) | PLAKA 23, Athens, Greece
Η μετα-φιλοσοφική σκέψη, όπως αναδύεται στο στοχασμό του Αλέξη Καρπούζου, δεν αποτελεί απλώς μια νέα θεωρητική πρόταση αλλά μια ριζική μετατόπιση του ίδιου του νοήματος της φιλοσοφίας, μια κίνηση από τη φιλοσοφία ως σύστημα προς τη φιλοσοφία ως ανοιχτή εμπειρία του Είναι, όπου η σκέψη δεν περιορίζεται στη λογική αναπαράσταση αλλά μεταμορφώνεται σε τρόπο ύπαρξης και συμμετοχής στην πραγματικότητα. Στον πυρήνα αυτής της προοπτικής βρίσκεται η έννοια της Ανοιχτής Ολότητας, μιας δυναμικής και μη-κλειστής ενότητας μέσα στην οποία ο άνθρωπος και ο κόσμος συν-συγκροτούνται χωρίς να ταυτίζονται, συγκροτώντας αυτό που ο Καρπούζος ονομάζει Μη-Ταυτολογική Ταυτότητα, δηλαδή μια σχέση όπου το ένα δεν απορροφά το άλλο αλλά ούτε και παραμένει απολύτως διαχωρισμένο, μια ενότητα σε διαρκή μεταμόρφωση μέσα στον χρόνο. Η πραγματικότητα, σε αυτή τη μετα-φιλοσοφική σύλληψη, δεν είναι στατική ουσία αλλά διαδικασία Σχεσιακής Συν-Γένεσης, ένα πλέγμα ζωντανών σχέσεων όπου κάθε μορφή ύπαρξης αναδύεται μέσα από την αλληλεπίδραση και την αμοιβαία συγκρότηση, γεγονός που συντονίζεται με την ηρακλείτεια ενότητα των αντιθέτων, την εκπόρευση του Ενός στον Πλωτίνο, τη μονιστική οντολογία του Σπινόζα, τη διαλεκτική κίνηση του Χέγκελ, τη συν-ανήκειν ανθρώπου και Είναι στον Χάιντεγκερ, τη «σάρκα του κόσμου» στον Merleau-Ponty και τη διαδικασιακή οντολογία του Whitehead.

Στο κέντρο αυτής της σκέψης αναπτύσσεται η Οντολογία Μεταμόρφωσης, σύμφωνα με την οποία το Είναι δεν είναι δεδομένο αλλά γεννάται και μετασχηματίζεται διαρκώς, και εδώ αναδύεται η Ποιητικότητα του Κόσμου ως Κοσμική Ποίηση, δηλαδή ως η ίδια η δημιουργική πράξη με την οποία η πραγματικότητα μορφοποιείται και αυτο-εκδηλώνεται. Η ποιητικότητα αυτή πηγάζει από τη δυναμική σχέση της Αβύσσου, του Μηδενός και του Παντός, καθώς και του Χάους και της Τάξης, όπου το Μηδέν δεν σημαίνει ανυπαρξία αλλά δημιουργική δυνατότητα, ένα προ-οντολογικό βάθος από το οποίο αναδύεται το Πάν ως συνεχής φανέρωση του Είναι, ενώ το Χάος δεν είναι απλή αταξία αλλά πεδίο Δημιουργικής Αβεβαιότητας, η ανοιχτή μήτρα των μορφών, από την οποία αναδύεται η Τάξη ως προσωρινή μορφοποίηση, για να επιστρέψει και πάλι στο Χάος μέσα σε έναν ρυθμικό και αυτο-υπερβατικό κύκλο μεταμόρφωσης, γεγονός που συναντά την ηρακλείτεια αρμονία των αντιθέτων, το δημιουργικό χάος του Νίτσε, τη ζωτική ορμή του Μπεργκσόν, την πολλαπλότητα του Ντελέζ και τη σύγχρονη επιστημονική κατανόηση της αυτο-οργάνωσης στον Πρίγκοζιν.

Μέσα σε αυτή τη διαδικασία, ο Κόσμος δεν είναι μηχανιστικό σύστημα αλλά αυτο-ποιητική δημιουργία, μια ζωντανή ροή όπου το άμορφο γίνεται μορφή και η μορφή επιστρέφει στο άμορφο, και έτσι η ύπαρξη εμφανίζεται ως γενετική, σχεσιακή και ποιητική. Η μετα-φιλοσοφική στάση μετατοπίζει το κέντρο από τη γνώση προς τη Βιωματική Σοφία, όπου η αλήθεια δεν είναι απλώς εννοιολογική αλλά εμπειρική και συμμετοχική, μια κατάσταση συντονισμού με τον ρυθμό του κόσμου, και εδώ εμφανίζεται η Υπέρβαση της Γλώσσας, καθώς η αλήθεια δεν μπορεί να περιοριστεί σε ορισμούς και δόγματα αλλά βιώνεται ως άμεση παρουσία, όπως διαφαίνεται στον Σωκράτη και τη φιλοσοφία ως τρόπο ζωής, στους Στωικούς και την τέχνη του βίου, στον Ζεν και τη μη-εννοιολογική επίγνωση, στον Wittgenstein και τα όρια της γλώσσας, και στον Heidegger όπου η σκέψη πλησιάζει τη σιωπή του Είναι. Η μετα-φιλοσοφία, επομένως, δεν συγκροτεί κλειστό σύστημα αλλά έναν Ανοιχτό Ορίζοντα, μια διαρκή κίνηση προς το Άπειρο όπου η ενότητα δεν είναι ομοιομορφία αλλά Καθολική Ενότητα/Πολλαπλότητα, δηλαδή μια ενότητα που εκδηλώνεται μέσα από τη διαφοροποίηση και την πολλαπλότητα, γεγονός που συνδέεται με τη σύμπτωση των αντιθέτων στον Νικόλαο Κουζανό, την εξελικτική ενότητα του Teilhard de Chardin, την πολύπλοκη σκέψη του Morin, τη δημιουργική φαντασιακή θέσμιση του Castoriadis και τη φιλοσοφία της πολλαπλότητας στον Deleuze.

Στο βαθύτερο επίπεδο, η μετα-φιλοσοφία οδηγεί στη Σιωπηλή Επίγνωση, όπου η γνώση δεν είναι πλέον αναλυτική αλλά στοχαστική παρουσία μέσα στο Μυστήριο του Είναι, και εδώ η φιλοσοφία μετατρέπεται σε στάση δέους απέναντι στο άρρητο, όπως στον Pascal και τους λόγους της καρδιάς, στον Meister Eckhart και την εσωτερική σιωπή, στον Levinas και το άπειρο του Άλλου, και στον Blanchot και το όριο της γλώσσας. Έτσι, η μετα-φιλοσοφική σκέψη του Καρπούζου αναδύεται ως οντολογία δημιουργικής μεταμόρφωσης και ταυτόχρονα ως υπαρξιακός τρόπος ζωής, όπου η πραγματικότητα είναι ανοιχτή, σχεσιακή και ποιητική, η γνώση μεταμορφώνεται σε σοφία, η ενότητα φανερώνεται ως πολλαπλότητα, και ο άνθρωπος καλείται να μετέχει συνειδητά στην κοσμική διαδικασία της δημιουργίας, βιώνοντας την Ανοιχτή Ολότητα ως αδιάκοπη κίνηση του Είναι μέσα στο άπειρο μυστήριο της ύπαρξης.

Séminaire Arendt 2026
2026-04-29 21:00 - 2026-11-26 17:00 (Europe/London)
Le Réseau Arendtien Francophone, créé en 2024, vise à favoriser une synergie entre celles et ceux qui, des amateurs aux chercheuses, fréquentent la pensée de Hannah Arendt. Dans cette optique, nous cherchons à mettre en place un rendez-vous régulier pour en discuter les différents interprétations et aspects.

Du fait de l’étendue de la francophonie, ces séminaires auront lieu en ligne. Leur principe sera le suivant : les participant-e-s auront tous et toutes préalablement lu un article ou un chapitre récent, lequel sera présenté très rapidement par souci de prioriser les échanges (10 minutes) par son autrice ou auteur. À partir de celui-ci, un-e membre du réseau ouvrira (5 min) à un débat plus large afin de discuter, outre l’article, les différents interprétations et aspects de l’œuvre d’Arendt (1h30).

Programme 2026

En 2026, nous proposons quatre séances ordinaires du séminaire et une séance spéciale : « Arendt et la science économique », « Arendt et le travail », « Liberté, volonté, politique », « Arendt et la violence », « Philosophie, éducation et politique ».

- Le mercredi 29 avril 2026 (21h, heure de Paris), nous discuterons du thème « Arendt et la science économique » à partir de Pouchol Marlyse, « Arendt ou les limites des lois économiques » dans Y a-t-il des lois en économie ? , Berthoud Arnaud (dir.), Delmas Bernard (dir.), Demals Thierry (dir.), Éditions du Septentrion, 2007, p. 623-644. La séance sera ouverte par Nicole Dewandre.
Lien de connexion : https://univ-antilles-fr.zoom.us/j/97775876163?pwd=[REDACTED]

- Le mardi 26 mai 2026 (15h, heure de Paris), nous discuterons du thème « Arendt et le travail » à partir de Genel Katia, « Une ambiguïté au cœur du diagnostic d'Arendt » dans L'oubli du labeur : Arendt et les théories féministes du travail, Klincksieck, 2025, p. 57-85. La séance sera ouverte par Martine Leibovici.
Lien de connexion : https://univ-antilles-fr.zoom.us/j/96401223281?pwd=[REDACTED]

- Le jeudi 18 juin 2026 (21h, heure de Paris), nous discuterons du thème « Liberté, volonté, politique » à partir de Mréjen Aurore, Introduction à Hannah Arendt, La Découverte, 2025, p. 61-72 et 102-109, https://shs.cairn.info/introduction-a-hannah-arendt--9782348080685. La séance sera ouverte par Emma Augris.
Lien de connexion : https://univ-antilles-fr.zoom.us/j/98195228664?pwd=[REDACTED]

- Le mardi 22 septembre 2026 (14h-17h, heure de Paris) aura lieu une séance spéciale lors de laquelle nous discuterons du thème « Arendt et la violence» à partir de trois textes et autrices/auteurs :

- Augris Emma, « Distinguer le pouvoir politique et la domination coercitive avec Hannah Arendt » dans L'Enseignement philosophique, 2025/1, p. 57-66, https://shs.cairn.info/revue-l-enseignement-philosophique-2025-1-page-57 ;

- Buntzly Marie-Véronique, « Peut-on comprendre la violence ? Une lecture de l’essai "sur la violence" de Hannah Arendt » dans L'Enseignement philosophique, 2025/1, p. 67-77, https://shs.cairn.info/revue-l-enseignement-philosophique-2025-1-page-67 ;

- Zanni Rémi, « À partir d’Hannah Arendt : pouvoir, violence et fondation politiques », L. Raymond & M. Kurdyka (dir.), Presses Universitaires Savoie Mont Blanc, à paraître.

La séance sera ouverte et animée par Carole Widmaier.
Lien de connexion : https://univ-antilles-fr.zoom.us/j/92107481423?pwd=[REDACTED]

- Le jeudi 26 novembre 2026 (21h, heure de Paris), nous discuterons du thème « Philosophie, éducation et politique » à partir de Lara Pierquin-Rifflet, « Penser les ambitions singulière et plurielle dans un atelier de philosophie. L’amor mundi d’Arendt » dans Éducation et socialisation, n°73, 2024, https://doi.org/10.4000/12del. La séance sera ouverte par Rémi Zanni.
Lien de connexion : https://univ-antilles-fr.zoom.us/j/98781188106?pwd=[REDACTED]

Le séminaire est ouvert à toutes et tous sans inscription préalable ; n’hésitez pas à venir y assister et y participer. Les articles et textes discutés sont disponibles sur le site du RAF (https://www.reseau-arendt.fr/calendrier/details/17). N’hésitez pas non plus à nous contacter pour toute demande d’information complémentaire.

Le RAF ?

Le Réseau Arendtien Francophone (RAF) se veut un espace divers et pluriel, rassemblant une communauté de doctorant-e-s, enseignant-e-s, chercheurs/ses, intellectuel-le-s et toute personne intéressée ou engagée dans l'étude et la diffusion de la pensée d'Hannah Arendt en France et le monde francophone. À travers cette plateforme, nous souhaitons favoriser les échanges intellectuels, offrir une visibilité accrue aux travaux de recherche et créer des liens solides entre francophones s'intéressant à et puisant dans l'œuvre de cette autrice majeure du XXe siècle.

Outre l’organisation de ce séminaire et d'évènements académiques liés à la pensée d'Arendt, le réseau actualise continuellement un site web (https://www.reseau-arendt.fr/) qui met à disposition : une bibliographie (https://www.reseau-arendt.fr/bibliographie/) des textes de langue française consacrés à Arendt ou la mobilisant, un annuaire (https://www.reseau-arendt.fr/annuaire/) des membres du réseau, un agenda (https://www.reseau-arendt.fr/calendrier/) des activités francophones qui lui sont dédiées et une lettre d'information mensuelle.

N'hésitez pas à rejoindre le réseau (https://www.reseau-arendt.fr/membre/se-connecter/) ou à nous contacter pour rejoindre l’équipe d’animation !

Inner Speech Colloquium
2026-05-28 16:30 - 2026-09-24 17:00 (Europe/London)
We are happy to announce another season of the online Inner Speech colloquium starting next month, with a new list of speakers:

- May 28th - Gary Lupyan (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

- June 25th - Kasia Jaszczolt (University of Cambridge)

- July 16th - Romain Bourdoncle (Collège de France) & Axel Baptista (Institut Jean Nicod)

- August 20th - Aleksandr Fadeev (University of Leuven)

- September 24th - Keith Frankish (University of Sheffield)

Times are all 16:30 CEST

More info about the first talk coming soon. We hope to see many of you there next month! For more information or to subscribe to the mailing list, contact: jonida.kodra@uni-osnabrueck.de

Best regards,

Jonida Kodra, Daniel Müller and Mathijs Geurts (University of Osnabrück and University of Salzburg)

Algorithmic Randomness and Quantum Mechanics
2026-08-31 09:00 - 2026-09-01 17:00 (Europe/Warsaw) | Grodzka 52, Kraków, Poland
The term “randomness” often appears in the context of Quantum Mechanics. The behaviour of quantum systems is said to be random, the outcomes of quantum mechanical experiments are said to be random, certain devices based on quantum processes are said to operate in a random way… However, the concept of randomness is rarely made precise in these contexts. Meanwhile, in another branch of science – computability theory, also called recursion theory – a fully precise concept of randomness has been developed, termed “algorithmic randomness”. How are these two uses of the term “randomness” related? Is the concept of algorithmic randomness relevant to Quantum Mechanics? The aim of this workshop is to address various facets of this question in an interdisciplinary gathering. The event will take place at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków on August 31st and September 1st, 2026. The format of the workshop will be hybrid: it is possible to participate either in person or online (but the organizers strongly encourage in-person participation).

Our keynote speakers are:

- Jeffrey Barrett (UC Irvine)

- Eddy Keming Chen (UCSD)

- Nino Dekkers (Technical University Eindhoven)

- Carl Hoefer (University of Barcelona)

- Klaas Landsman (Radboud University)

- Karl Svozil (TU Wien)

In addition to talks by our invited speakers, we plan a few contributed talks. We invite submissions concerning any aspect of the relationship between algorithmic randomness and Quantum Mechanics, including (but not limited to) the following questions and topics:

- Does Quantum Mechanics involve algorithmic randomness?

- Does the answer to this question depend on the choice of interpretation of Quantum Mechanics? In particular, can deterministic interpretations of Quantum Mechanics be reconciled with quantum events/measurement outcomes being random?

- Does discussion of the relationship between algorithmic randomness and Quantum Mechanics shed light on other issues in the philosophy of science, such as laws of nature, interpretations of probability etc.?

- Algorithmic randomness in quantum experiments and technology, including random number generators

- Algorithmic randomness vs. other senses of randomness in physics

- Generalisations of the standard concept of algorithmic randomness and their relevance for physics

Abstracts of about 500 words should be sent to joanna.luc@uj.edu.pl by 10.07.2026.

To participate without giving a talk (either in person or online), please register by sending an e-mail to joanna.luc@uj.edu.pl.

Doing Right by the Digital Dead - Day 1
2026-08-31 18:00 - 2026-09-04 17:00 (Europe/London)
Doing Right by the Digital Dead - Day 1

What do we owe the dead when digital technologies can preserve their traces, reproduce their likenesses, and make them appear to speak again?

The Doing Right by the Digital Dead is a two-day workshop which examines the ethical significance of digital representations of the deceased. The central questions are not merely about what technology permits, but about what it is permissible for us to do with the traces of those who are no longer here to answer for themselves. What becomes of consent after death? What is the relation between a deceased person and the digital representation constructed from their remains? And when an AI system appears to restore a dead person’s voice, personality, or agency, what exactly has been restored?

The first day brings together four papers addressing these questions from different directions. The discussion ranges from interactive AI and simulated memory to consent, identity, representation, and the norms governing our treatment of the dead.

Monday, 31 August 2026
6:00–9:00 pm Melbourne (AEST)
4:00–7:00 pm Singapore & Taipei (SGT/CST)

10:00 am–1:00 pm Netherlands (CEST)

Monday, 31 August 2026

6:00-6:45 pm Melbourne (AEST): Vipra Chopra - Raised by Ghosts: Interactive AI and the Simulated Phantom Memory Field

6:45-7:30 pm Melbourne (AEST): Alexandre Erler - Reanimating the Dead: Consent, Identity, and Digital Spokespersons

7:30-8:15 pm Melbourne (AEST): Adam Buben - Don’t Fuck with the Dead: Prostitution Regulation as a Model for Protecting the Digital Deceased

8:15-9:00 pm Melbourne (AEST): Lucy Osler - Fantasies of the Dead

Each presentation will run for up to 30 minutes, followed by at least 15 minutes of questions and discussion.

Day 2 of the workshop will take place on Friday, 4 September 2026 (https://philevents.org/event/show/152817)

Fourth Austrian Summer School in Phenomenology
2026-09-01 09:00 - 2026-09-03 17:00 (Europe/London)
The Austrian Society for Phenomenology launches its fouth international summer school. Our objective is to promote the research of young scholars (bachelor, master, and doctoral students) that sheds new phenomenological light on current debates in epistemology, metaethics, and metaphysics. The descriptive analysis of lived experience, the eidetic study of the various modes of intentionality, and the epistemic role and normative dimensions ascribed to experience constitute the cornerstones of phenomenological research. In particular, Husserl’s conceptions of originary givenness, evaluative experience, and eidetic intuition are among the various seminal contributions we find in the phenomenological tradition. Currently, promising research is done that utilizes such conceptions in order to develop phenomenological perspectives on experiential justification, the debate between epistemic internalism and externalism, the theory of value, (moral) emotions, moral epistemology, issues surrounding metaphysical realism and anti-realism, as well as the epistemology and metaphysics of essence, modality, and metaphysical dependence relations. We would like to encourage students to develop phenomenological insights and teachings systematically and in view of contemporary debates in philosophy. Our ambition is to promote such phenomenological research by providing a platform to connect with, discuss with, and receive feedback from peers and experts. Each conference day is devoted to one of the subtopics of the event.

The conference will be an online event. If you wish to participate in the summer school but not to give a talk, please provide a short statement of motivation (not more than 150 words) and specify your name, affiliation, and research interests.

Call for Papers

If you wish to participate in the summer school and give a talk, please apply with an (extended) abstract of the paper you wish to present. Submissions should not exceed 500 words, must be written in English (conference language), and should be prepared for blind review.

The submission deadline is July 15, 2026.

Please send your applications/submissions and general inquiries to: laurentia[dot]adam[at]uni-graz[dot]at

Women and members of other traditionally underrepresented groups are especially encouraged to apply.

Preliminary schedule

September 1

Phenomenological Approaches to Metaethics

Nicolas de Warren (Penn State University): TBA

3 student presentations commented on by Sonja Rinofner-Kreidl (University of Graz)

September 2

Phenomenological Approaches to Epistemology

Mirja Hartimo (University of Helsinki): TBA

3 student presentations commented on by Philipp Berghofer (University of Graz)

September 3

Phenomenological Approaches to Metaphysics

Kit Fine (New York University): TBA

3 student presentations commented on by Michael Wallner (University of Graz)

Inquiry Network WIP Talks
2026-09-01 09:00 - 2026-12-15 17:00 (Europe/London)
The Inquiry Network WIP Talks feature presentations of work in progress related to inquiry, broadly understood. For example, presentations might discuss (but are not limited to): the epistemology of inquiry, the metaphysics of inquiry, ethical norms of inquiry, historical perspectives on inquiry, or the structure of scientific inquiry.

We aim to foster the sharing of ideas in an inclusive, welcoming and low-pressure environment. Papers that are already accepted for publication will not be accepted. We aim to be sensitive to the needs of early-career scholars.

The group meets biweekly on Zoom during each of the Fall and Spring semesters. Meeting times are determined shortly before the beginning of each semester with the goal of finding a time that works for as many members as possible. Special consideration is given to finding a meeting time that works for presenters of accepted papers.

Foundations and Frontiers of Analytical Sociology (5 ECTS)
2026-09-01 09:00 - 2026-12-20 17:00 (Europe/London)
Applications are open for Foundations and Frontiers of Analytical Sociology, a doctoral-level course hosted by Institute for Analytical Sociology, Linköping University. The course is organized around an international lecture series featuring many of the scholars who have shaped analytical sociology and continue to define its contemporary development.

Confirmed speakers include:

Peter Bearman, Delia Baldassarri, Elizabeth Bruch, Damon Centola, Diego Gambetta, Peter Hedström, Gianluca Manzo, Michael Macy, Arnout van de Rijt, Duncan Watts, and Petri Ylikoski.

The course explores central questions concerning social mechanisms, explanation, social interaction, networks, diffusion, collective action, computational social science, and the relationship between theory and empirical research. Particular attention is devoted to the role of mechanism-based explanations in the social sciences and to philosophical questions concerning explanation, causation, and social scientific inquiry.

The lecture series is accompanied by readings and highly participatory seminars in which participants critically discuss the lectures, the assigned literature, and connections to their own research. The course culminates in an individual paper in which participants develop an independent analysis of a research question using the theories, concepts, and explanatory models discussed throughout the course. Participants are encouraged to connect this assignment directly to their doctoral projects.

The course is open to doctoral students and researchers from sociology, philosophy, political science, economics, computational social science, and related disciplines.

For more information, contact the course organizer and seminar leader Josef Ginnerskov at josef.ginnerskov(at)liu.se

Syllabus:
https://forskarstudier.liu.se/en/kurs/7FIEI26/2026V/1624499#syllabus

Registration:
https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/eFsbLUXnfk

"The Perceived Role Of Consciousness In Moral Status Attributions"
2026-09-01 11:00 - 12:30 (Europe/London)
Season 4 of the "value of consciousness" zoom series starts Tuesday. The first talk by Rony Hirshhorn, Nicoolò Negro, and Liad Mudrik on "The Perceived Role Of Consciousness In Moral Status Attributions"; more info below. Everybody's welcome.

************
When: Tuesday, Sept. 1st, 11am in Houston/19.00 in Tel Aviv

Where: https://riceuniversity.zoom.us/j/95097231463?pwd=[REDACTED]

Who: Rony Hirshhorn, Nicoolò Negro, and Liad Mudrik

What: "The Perceived Role Of Consciousness In Moral Status Attributions"

Abstract. Determining which entities deserve moral consideration is crucial to policy debates about animal welfare and artificial intelligence regulation. A common assumption is that consciousness is a key criterion for moral status, often considered to be necessary or sufficient for it. However, it is unclear whether public attitudes share this assumption. In a large, preregistered study (N=1493), we tested the perceived relationship between consciousness and moral status by triangulating direct questions, moral dilemmas, and attribution questions across diverse entities. Although consciousness was strongly associated with moral status, it was neither perceived as necessary nor sufficient: participants attributed moral status without consciousness, and denied moral status despite its presence. Moreover, respondents clustered into distinct decision profiles, which were predicted by their individual backgrounds. Therefore, moral decisions did not depend solely on the properties of the target entity, but also on those of the person making the judgment. These results have implications for how ethical and policy decisions are framed.

Schedule for the rest of the year:

Oct. 6: Juliette Vazard, "Daydreaming your Future"

Nov. 10: Jacopo Pallagrosi, “Introspective Acquaintance and Cognitive Achievement”

Dec. 1: Marybel Menzies, “Phenomenal Perfection”

Jan. 5 Andreas Mogensen, “Might it not matter whether software can be sentient?"

Feb. 2 Julien Bugnon and Martine Nida-Rümelin, “Conscious Beings as Centers of Value”

Mar. 2 Tricia Magalotti, “The Value of Emotional Experience”

Apr. 6 Luke Roelofs, “Pluribus and the ethics of hiveminds”

May 4 Robbie Kubala, “Consciousness Aesthetics without Aesthetic Properties”

X Congreso Internacional de Doctorandos en Filosofía.
2026-09-02 09:00 - 2026-09-03 17:00 (America/Santiago) | Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile - Campus San Joaquín - Avda. Libertador Bernardo O’Higgins 340, Santiago, Macul, Región Metropolitana, Macul, Chile
X Congreso Internacional de Doctorandos en Filosofía

Programa de Doctorado en Filosofía
Facultad de Filosofía
Pontificia Universidad Católica
2-3 de septiembre de 2026

Los estudiantes de doctorado del Instituto de Filosofía de la Pontificia Universidad Católica invitan a sus compañeras/os de programas similares al X Congreso Internacional de Doctorandos en Filosofía.

El evento se realizará los días 2 y 3 de septiembre de 2026 en la Facultad de Filosofía de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, en formato presencial, pero, con la posibilidad de participación virtual para ponentes que se encuentren fuera de Chile. La lengua oficial del congreso es el español, pero también se aceptarán ponencias en inglés.

El tema del congreso es abierto y esperamos hospedar un evento diverso. El único requisito para participar es estar inscrito en un programa de Doctorado en Filosofía, o en alguna otra disciplina afín de ciencias sociales o humanidades. La siguiente es una lista de las líneas temáticas posibles que el congreso espera albergar:

1. Filosofía Antigua
2. Filosofía Medieval y Filosofía de la Religión
3. Filosofía Moderna
4. Estética y Filosofía del Arte
5. Ética y Filosofía Política
6. Fenomenología y Hermenéutica
7. Filosofía de la Mente, Filosofía del Lenguaje y Ciencias Cognitivas
8. Filosofía de la Ciencia, Teoría del Conocimiento y Epistemología
9. Filosofía de la Tecnología, Filosofía de la Técnica
10. Estudios de género y filosofía escrita por mujeres
11. Metafísica
12. Lógica e historia y filosofía de la lógica
13. Problemas Filosóficos Contemporáneos
14. Filosofía post-continental
15. Filosofía social y teoría crítica
16. Pensamiento latinoamericano y filosofía en Chile

A partir de las ponencias seleccionadas, el comité organizador articulará las mesas de diálogo según las líneas temáticas que se presenten, considerando también la posibilidad de conformar mesas con temáticas heterogéneas.

Quienes estén interesados en participar del congreso deberán llenar, a más tardar el miércoles 12 de agosto de 2026 (23.59 hrs., hora de Chile continental), un formulario de Google (link disponible abajo), incluyendo un resumen de la ponencia (entre 400 y 500 palabras) y un resumen de los datos académicos (en unas 50 palabras) como archivos adjuntos (Word o PDF).

Los documentos deberán utilizar tipografía Times New Roman o similar, tamaño 12, interlineado simple y el documento con el resumen deberá incluir la siguiente información:

· Título de la ponencia

· Línea temática a la que pertenece (entre las 16 arriba enumeradas)

· Resumen de la ponencia (entre 400 y 500 palabras)

· Al menos tres de las referencias bibliográficas más importantes a discutir

Se solicita encarecidamente incluir todos estos ítems en el documento adjunto al formulario de Google. Los resúmenes serán evaluados por equipos de doctorandos de la PUC con afinidad temática. Los principales criterios por considerar para la evaluación de la propuesta serán la pertinencia temática, claridad de la tesis presentada, coherencia global del argumento y relevancia de la bibliografía sugerida.

Las ponencias seleccionadas y el cronograma del congreso serán anunciados el lunes 17 de agosto de 2026, a través de un correo electrónico enviado al expositor. Los expositores dispondrán de 20 minutos de exposición. Huelga decir que esta exposición deberá ser sincrónica, es decir, la exposición no puede consistir en la reproducción de una ponencia ya grabada. Al finalizar las exposiciones, existirá un espacio para preguntas y comentarios de máximo 30 minutos adicionales. Con el propósito de respetar los tiempos establecidos por el congreso se recomienda a los/las expositores/as diseñar su presentación con textos de apoyo y/o diapositivas de no más de 8 páginas. Asimismo, se recomienda verificar con anterioridad la duración de la exposición.

Para consultas relativas a la organización del congreso, por favor escribir a:congresodoctoradofilosofiauc@gmail.com

Link del formulario de Google: https://forms.gle/V1Q398EdB7Ndv7Bh9

Emotion and Society Lab's Works-In-Progress Series (2026-27)
2026-09-04 05:00 (Europe/London)
Another year of the Emotion and Society Lab'sWorks In Progress series is around the corner. It begins on the first Tuesday of October 2026 from 11-12pm Pacific. It’s a virtual nine-month philosophy series with no meetings in January, August, and September.

We have some workshop slots available and would love for you to discuss your work on emotions, moods, attitudes, etc.

This year we are taking both read-ahead papers AND 30 minute Works-In-Progress Talks (with powerpoint/Keynote, etc.)

If you want your work workshopped this year, please email an abstract to emotionandsocietylab@gmail.com.

Write “WIP Abstract” as the subject and indicate if it will be the Full Paper or a Presentation in the email.

Though we can’t accept every abstract, we hope you will submit yours for consideration.

Graduate Students, Post-docs, and Faculty are welcome to submit.

For the sake of building community, those who are accepted are expected to participate in other sessions other than their own in the semester they present.

If you have any questions, please email the above address.

Deadline: September 4, 2026 by 5pm Pacific.

Doing Right by the Digital Dead - Day 2
2026-09-04 09:00 - 17:00 (Europe/London)
Doing Right by the Digital Dead - Day 2

What do we owe the dead when digital technologies can preserve their traces, reproduce their likenesses, and make them appear to speak again?

Doing Right by the Digital Dead is a two-day workshop examining the ethical significance of digital representations of the deceased. The central questions are not merely about what technology permits, but about what it is permissible for us to do with the traces of those who are no longer here to answer for themselves. What becomes of consent after death? What is the relation between a deceased person and the digital representation constructed from their remains? And when an AI system appears to restore a dead person’s voice, personality, or agency, what exactly has been restored?

The second day brings together four papers addressing these questions from different directions. The discussion ranges from philosophical critiques of digital reanimation and rituals surrounding AI representations of the dead to griefbots, post-mortem obligations, consent, and the representation of historical figures.

Friday, 4 September 2026

9:00 am–12:00 pm Melbourne (AEST)

7:00–10:00 pm Eastern Time (North America) (Thursday 3 September)

Programme

9:00–9:45 am Melbourne (AEST): Kiki Berk - A Sartrean Critique of Digital Reanimation

9:45–10:30 am Melbourne (AEST): Pengbo Liu - Rituals, Ancestors, and Chatbots of the Dead

10:30–11:15 am Melbourne (AEST): Hugo Cossette-Lefebvre - Relational Egalitarianism, Griefbots, and Post-Mortem Obligations

11:15 am–12:00 pm Melbourne (AEST): Patrick Stokes - Consent and Misrepresentation: AI Remediation of the Long Dead

Each presentation will run for up to 30 minutes, followed by at least 15 minutes of questions and discussion.

Day 1 of the workshop will take place on Monday, 31 August 2026.

( https://philevents.org/event/show/152813 )

The Seven Cs
2026-09-05 09:00 - 2026-09-06 17:00 (Europe/London)
We are proud to announce the very first meeting of the “Sailing the The Seven Cs” Conference!
The Seven Cs:

Chaff: Philosophy of the Body, Medicine, and Biology.

Chuff: Philosophy of Emotions & Political Rage.

Chud: Political Philosophy.

Chad: Philosophy of Gender & Sexuality.

Chopped: Philosophy of Fashion and Food.

Chess: Philosophy of Games & Mathematics

Chocolate: Philosophy of Economics & Global Exploitation

We are currently accepting abstracts on any of the above topics, and while not preferred, we also accept talks relating to Cartography, broadly construed. Submissions must not exceed 1000 words, and can be emailed to alec@philosophyforthedemos.com. Deadline of 08/15.

This is a real and light-hearted but philosophically rich conference. Website is currently under-construction.

Aesthetic Encounters with the Uncanny: Towards a Minimal Pneumatology
2026-09-06 14:00 - 17:00 (Europe/London)
SEMINAR DESCRIPTION

The Spirit, then?

Yes and no—no and yes.

Not Spirit as substance, nor Spirit as subject. Not even, perhaps, Spirit as such. Let us attend instead to what the word leaves behind in its wake: spiritus, “breath.” A trace of air, an opening, a passage.

Nothing more. Yet, perhaps, nothing less.

Hence the proposal of a minimal pneumatology.

But what does it mean to breathe? What does it mean to leave room—for ourselves, for others, for things themselves—to breathe? And what kind of question is this, once it has been separated from the familiar vocabularies of self-help, self-optimization, or popular psychology?

If a minimal pneumatology is neither a theology nor—at least in the Hegelian sense—a phenomenology, it cannot simply become a psychology by default. Shall we turn, then, toward hermeticism? I feel here too we would be choosing perhaps the wrong door. For behind it we often find a room crowded with damasks and pleated velvets, where Spirit, overburdened by symbols and correspondences, survives only as a captive creature, adorned and enchained at once.

Let us begin elsewhere.

Breathing as a minimal gesture—or rather as a constellation of minimal gestures: to open, to make space, to give time, to set aside, to choose, to move beyond, to challenge, to hollow out, to celebrate… Gestures so slight that they often escape notice, and yet it may be through them that Spirit passes.

A pragmatics of Spirit, then?

Fine. Yet I would prefer to speak of an aesthetics.

For what is at stake here is, before all else, a restoration of perception to its primary dignity. Not perception as mastery, nor as the reduction of things to what can be identified and possessed, but perception as hospitality: a way of receiving what appears without exhausting it.

Accordingly, throughout this session we will linger with a series of images and related materials. Together we shall attempt to discover—with attentiveness, patience, sensitivity, and generosity, not least towards one another—the ways in which Spirit, rather than being summoned through prescribed practices, and rather than becoming the object of our conceptual constructions, quietly makes its way through the penumbra of what we see and do not see.

Emerging in its simplicity, it appears uncannily before us, reminding us that it had been there all along: near yet elusive, intimate yet withdrawn, concealed within what we habitually overlook or, conversely, feel compelled to overinterpret. It inhabits neither the obvious nor the occult, but the interval between them—the delicate space where attention hesitates and meaning has not yet closed upon itself.

This session is therefore intended for all those drawn to the adventures of art and aesthetics across the centuries; to philosophy and mythology; to poetry and poetics; to symbolism, surrealism, and the life of images; and, more generally, to those strange and beautiful encounters in which imagination comes into contact with what is too readily called ineffable, though it may be asking for something else entirely: not to be named, mastered, or decoded, but simply sheltered in its fragility.

The Spirit, then?

Indeed.

More than what you see. Less than you might interpret. Yet more than you could ever imagine.

CONTENTS

- Towards a Minimal Pneumatology

- The Spirit’s Difference • Rothko’s Blue, Green, Blue (1969)

- The Spirit’s Threshold • Fra Angelico’s Annunciation (1440s)

- The Spirit’s (Un)timeliness • Titian’s Sisyphus (1548–1549)

- The Spirit’s Off-Screen • Caravaggio’s Salome (c. 1609)

- The Spirit’s Choice • Rubens’s Judgement of Paris (1639–1639)

- The Spirit’s Insight • La Tour’s Saint Sebastian (1644)

- The Spirit’s Vision • Redon’s Beatrice (1890)

- The Spirit’s Interpellation • Velázquez’s Three Musicians (1616)

- The Spirit’s Gain • Balthus’s Street (1935)

- The Spirit’s Loss • Balthus’s Room (c. 1953)

- The Spirit’s Audacity • Mallarmé’s Sonnet in -yx (1887)

- The Spirit’s Domain • Brancusi’s Sleeping Muse (1910)

TIME

Sunday, September 6, 2026
10:00–13:00 Eastern US Time • 16:00–19:00 Central European Time.

FACILITATOR

Carlos A. Segovia (PhD) is an independent British-born, Spanish philosopher and writer, working on contemporary philosophy at the crossroads of the philosophy of mythology and the philosophy of art; and author of fifteen books.

Among his publications, Dionysus and Apollo after Nihilism: Rethinking the Earth–World Divide (with Sofya Shaikut; Brill, 2023), Guattari Beyond Deleuze: Ontology and Modal Philosophy in Guattari’s Major Writings (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024), Félix Guattari and the Ancients: Theatrical Dialogues in Early Philosophy (with Gary Genosko; Bloomsbury, 2025), Nietzsche’s Pre-Dionysian Apollo and the Limits of Contemporary Thought (Peter Lang, 2026), and Poetry and Philosophy after Zambrano and Blanchot: Between Word and World (forthcoming with Palgrave Macmillan in 2028).

He has been associate professor of philosophy and religious studies at St Louis University Missouri (Madrid Campus), visiting professor at the University of Aarhus and the Free University of Brussels, and guest lecturer at the European Research Council, the Collège International de Philosophie, the École Normale Supérieure, University College London, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan, the European University at St Petersburg, Waseda University in Tokyo, Ryukoku University in Kyoto, and the University of Lilongwe.

Convinced, though, that higher education within mainstream academia is undergoing a form of intellectual exhaustion—brought about by academic standardization, epistemological bureaucratization, and the compartmentalization, ideologization, and commodification of knowledge, alongside the cultivation of middlebrow mediocrity and the reduction of learning to a consumer experience—he has turned to other scholarly venues in which thinking may still be pursued for what it truly is: a way of confronting the unknown—the as-yet unthought but thinkable—with renewed awe and in the spirit of an art rather than a science.

He collaborates regularly with Incite Seminars, where he has facilitated courses like “Anarchia and Archai: Re-Imagining the Pre-Socratics” (with Hannes Schumacher), “Life as an Untotalizable Enigma: The Lame Ontology of Greek Mythology,” “Plato Inside Out – or: as You Never Imagined It,” “Between Death and Beauty: Diving into René Char’s Post-Nihilist Poetics,” Foucault’s Greeks as Savages? A Cross-cultural Approach to the Aesthetics of Existence (with Camilo Rios), and “Chaosmic Landscapes in Guattari’s Latest Works” and where he will be facilitating other like “Untimely Blanchot” (with Philippe Lynes, Alex Obrigewitsch, and Kim Schoof) and “Fractured Ontologies in Music” (with Andrea de Donato and Gorica Orsholits) this very year.

He is currently based in Berlin with his life partner, Sofya Shaikut, a performance artist and butō dancer, with whom he is also engaged in ongoing joint work.

INCITE SEMINARS

We are a mix of rogue scholars, disgruntled academics, disenchanted buddhists, enchantment-hungry anarchists, radical therapists, and general weirdos looking to create autonomous and accessible forms of “higher education.”

We offer online seminars and reading groups to incite personal exploration and inspire community action. Incite Seminars offers an educational experience. We do so by gathering an engaged group of participants for a dynamic exchange of ideas, led by skilled facilitators. All of our facilitators have a deep relationship to a subject or topic through intensive study or practice.

Incite Seminars is a 100% member-supported learning community. We depend on member contributions to continue holding space for radical study and practice groups, putting on rigorous seminars and courses, and providing our facilitators and organizers with fair compensation. If you are unable to pay the full amount for a session or membership at this time, we invite you to join us at reduced or no cost with our Solidarity option.

More info & registration:

2026 Youth Symposium: Youth Agency and Activism in an Age of Precarity
2026-09-07 09:00 - 2026-09-08 17:00 (Asia/Tokyo) | 3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro, Japan, 1538902
The Symposium invites scholars, researchers, students, practitioners, and young professionals to explore the diverse roles of youth in contemporary society, politics, law, technology, culture, and global governance. Through interdisciplinary dialogue, the Symposium aims to create a space for critical reflection on youth as citizens, political agents, legal subjects, cultural actors, and contributors to social transformation.

We welcome submissions from a wide range of disciplinary and methodological perspectives.

Themes of the Symposium

Themes of the Symposium include, but are not limited to:

Youth, Citizenship, and Participation

Democracy, Authoritarianism, and Resistance

Diaspora, Migration, and Transnational Politics

Juvenile Jurisdiction, AI, and Technology

Youth Identity, Culture, and Society

Youth’s Role in Governance and Global Change

Special Topics

Philosophical Perspectives on Youth and Society

“Youth Are Political Agents! Except They Are ‘Too Young’.” Age, Behaviour, and the Psychological Development of Youth

Civically Engaged Research

We welcome three types of submissions:

Individual Submissions: Abstract

Individual Submissions: Essay

Panel Proposal

For More Information

Please refer to the following pages for further details:

Concept Note: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JKRF4Iy9QexGcv__mE7zIZFk8grFvD4D/view?usp=drive_link

Symposium Homepage: https://eaysa.org/2026-youth-symposium-concept-note/

Submission Guidelines: https://eaysa.org/youth-symposium-2026-submission-guidelines/

FAQ: https://eaysa.org/youth-symposium-2026-frequently-asked-questions/

Contact Details

If you have any questions about the Symposium, please stay tuned to this website for updates or contact us at:

youthsym.ircy.info@gmail.com

We look forward to receiving your submissions and to welcoming diverse contributions to the 2026 Youth Symposium.

Indigenous Values and Social Change: 2nd Annual IGVI Conference
2026-09-07 09:00 - 2026-09-09 17:00 (Africa/Abidjan) | Wa, Ghana
From September 7th-9th, 2026, the Institute of Global Value Inquiry will hold its second annual conference in Wa, Ghana; the theme is Indigenous Values and Social Change. Over forty leading scholars from various countries and disciplines will gather to discuss how indigenous values and philosophies can endure as a transformative force, despite being undermined by rapid globalization and the afterlife of colonialism. The panels and presentations will address the effects of technological, environmental, political, and other changes on indigenous values and practices in the Global South, and the latter’s capacity to drive social development in a positive direction. Specific attention will focus on how African feminist thought and activism might draw on indigeneity as a means of contesting patriarchal domination. The keynote speakers include Prof. Oyèrónké Oyěwùmí, Prof. Sylvia Bawa, and Prof. David Millar.

You can find more information on the conference, as well as a registration link and a copy of the program, here:

https://igvi.org/?news-posts=second-annual-igvi-conference-in-ghana

Inference and Object
2026-09-07 16:00 - 18:00 (Europe/London)
We are pleased to announce our monthly online talk series on "Inferences & Capacities."

Our next speaker is:

Ulf Hlobil (Concordia University)
Inference and Object

Sep 7: 11am (Buenos Aires), 10am (New York), 4pm (Berlin).

Abstract: I present an account of names and predicates in terms of assertoric sentences and their inferential roles. The account can be translated into an account of objects and properties in terms of worldly propositions (which are things that are made true or false by states) and the alethic modal relations among them. The account exploits symmetries of modal structures. In a slogan: properties are what is common among symmetric points in modal space; objects are what differs among symmetric points in modal space.

How to participate: Please, send an email to Alfredo Vernazzani at:

alfredo-vernazzani AT protonmail.com

_______

- About Inferences & Capacities:

The series brings together work on inferential capacities, rationality, normativity, and cognition — across both human and non-human animals — with the aim of fostering discussion on the nature and limits of the cognitive sphere.

2026 line-up:

April 27: Angelica Kaufmann (University of Milan): "Mind Blanking as Mental Imagery."

May 18: Federico Burdman (Universidad Alberto Hurtado) "Constrained choices: addiction, attention, and reasons-responsiveness."

June 22: Susanna Schellenberg (Rutgers): "Reflection and Self-Governance in Human and Machine Intelligence"

July 20: Cameron Buckner (University of Florida): "Chains-of-Thought, Inner Speech, and Artificial Epistemic Agency."

September 7: Ulf Hlobil (Concordia University): "Inference and Object"

October 19: Eva Schmidt (TU Dortmund): TBA

November 16: Hans-Johann Glock (University of Zürich): "Is Ascribing Inferences to Brains or Non-human Animals a Fallacy?"

December 14: Emma Borg (SAS, University of London): "Twitches, Fidgets, Habits, Skills: The Scope of Common-Sense Psychology."

Each talk lasts c. 40 minutes followed by 40 minutes open Q&A.

The series is co-organized by:

Mariela Aguilera (University of Córdoba)

Matías Osta-Vélez (Universidad de la República)

Alfredo Vernazzani (TU Dortmund; University of Pittsburgh).

Visit our website:

A Century of Foucault - Deakin University Graduate Symposium
2026-09-08 10:30 - 17:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | Tower 2 level 12/727 Collins St, Melbourne, Australia, 3008
This year marks the centenary of the birth of Historian/Philosopher Michel Foucault (1926 – 1984) and the 50th anniversary of the French publication of Histoire de la sexualité: La volonté de savoir. A giant of French poststructuralist thought, Foucault can be seen as the progenitor of contemporary queer theory and the field of biopolitics. Foucault remains a stalwart of the humanities and his influence extends far beyond the bounds of traditional philosophical discourse to areas such as sociology, criminology, and politics.

At Deakin Downtown on September 8, 2026 at 10:30 AM (AEST) this event will bring together current Australian graduate students to reflect on the legacy and continued influence of Foucault's work.

All are welcome, we hope you will join us for this exciting and thought provoking day!

This is a hybrid event supported by zoom. Zoom attendance does not require an RSVP with eventbrite.

Zoom link: https://deakin.zoom.us/j/82961833454?pwd=[REDACTED]

Meeting ID: 829 6183 3454 // Password: [REDACTED]

*Lunch catering will be provided for in person attendance, please be sure to RSVP on the eventbrite page

**We also would like to thank the incredible generosity of the Australasian Society for Continental Philosophy (ASCP) and Deakin University's Philosophy and Religious Studies research group (PHIRES) for their support and funding for the event.

For any queries please email lauren.p@deakin.edu.au

Francis Bacon and the veil of Isis: Between Promethean and Orphic approaches to nature
2026-09-08 15:30 - 17:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | 250 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne, Australia
Abstract: This paper starts (part 1) from Pierre Hadot’s image of Bacon inVeil of Isis as an arch-Promethean figure, advocating for the violent extraction of nature’s secrets by experimental “torture”. Part 2 shows that Bacon has been admired by poets and was lauded upon his death as an Apolline or Orphic, suggesting the need to reconsider the later modern interpretation. Part 3 shows that Bacon does not speak of torture, but ofvexationes artium (vexations of art), and this only depicts one part (natural history of things “wrought and altered”) of his natural philosophy. He also uses many divergent metaphors for the action of this philosophy which the Bacon-as-Promethean interpretations pass over, including sacred marriage, building a temple, finding a way in a forest or labyrinth, and contemplative reading. Part 4 shows that in Bacon’s readings of Orpheus and Prometheus inWisdom of the Ancients, he compares natural philosophy to Orpheus’s music; and if anything, that Bacon more closely identifies with Orpheus or “universal philosophy” than Prometheus. In Part 5, we test our Orphic (as well as Promethean) reading of Bacon, by looking at his readings of the myths of Pan and Cupid, noting that in his reading of these myths, nature is not presented as a wholly hostile reality, but one of plenitude, shaped by a universal “love” (force of attraction) operating at the elemental level. Part 6 finally shows that Isis symbolism pervades Bacon’s “Feast of the Family” inNew Atlantis, which is a ritual of reverence to the fecundity of nature, opposing critics’ images of Baconian naturalists torturing a hostile nature.

Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Linguistic Justice
2026-09-08 09:00 - 17:00 (Europe/Rome) | Cagliari, Italy
The 6th European Experimental Philosophy Conference will take place at the University of Cagliari from September 8th to 11th, 2026. It will consist of the Linguistic Justice Society Satellite Workshop “Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Linguistic Justice” on September 8th, followed by the main Conference on September 9th–11th.

The event is generously supported by Gian Pietro Storari Funds, Dipartimento di Pedagogia, Psicologia, Filosofia, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Fondazione di Sardegna, Esperantic Studies Foundation, Regione Autonoma Sardegna. The programme of the entire event is available on the conference website:

https://sites.unica.it/6euroxphi/

The event will be open also to non-presenters. The Satellite Workshop on Linguistic Justice can be attended either online or in person, while the main Conference can be attended only in person. No registration fee is required for either event.

If you plan to attend the Satellite Workshop and/or the main Conference as a non-presenter, please send us an email by July 31st to:

6EuroXPhi@gmail.com

In the email, please specify whether you plan to attend the Satellite Workshop, the main Conference, or both. If you plan to attend the Satellite Workshop, please also let us know whether you will attend online or in person.

Bodies in Digital Transition: Mapping a topology of digital bodies
2026-09-08 09:00 - 2026-09-09 17:00 (Europe/London) | Strand Building, Strand, London, United Kingdom, WC2R 2LS
Machines glow, pulse, perform and think through metal, light, code, and living matter. The second Bodies in Digital Transition (BDT) edition traverses the materiality of the mechanical body itself: what embodied gestures and rhythms animate its operations? What moves beneath its surface? What kind of being emerges in the loops of its code? From the lures of the aesthetic surface to the recursive depths of its algorithmic core, this year BTD aims to dissect the machine’s anatomy across several strata that form a speculative topology of the machinic body; a descent through appearance, mechanism, and ontology toward the thresholds where technology ceases to represent and begins to be. In mapping out the systems of embodiment inhabited by digital beings, we also open up inquiry into how human agents author, come into contact with, and transform machine bodies. There is neither “the technology itself” nor “the aesthetics itself” but rather a method of design in which the two are mutually implicated. To resist interior–exterior divides open inquiries of how human agents encounter and transform machinic bodies through the intra-active practice of design.

Digital bodies condition human expression and are conditioned by cultural inflections at each strata. The plural and distributed materialities of digital systems span beyond physical objects, but encompass code, electromagnetic waves, and sensory outputs in complex and multiple communicating layers. How does the agency act as this morphing web?

Following a post-human stance, neither digital nor human cognition is assumed to be contained within an algorithmic nucleus. Instead, it is conceived as emerging through relations across each stratum, whose analytical isolation is not intended to fix ontologies, but to map a topology of multiple, non-linear processes through which agencies coalesce.

To move beyond the limits of this configuration and to encourage crossing of boundaries, we invite trans-disciplinary experimental and highly speculative inquiry and action into the machinic as event, intra-action, and formation of being.

Book Launch: Expressive Action: A Philosophical Exploration by Christopher Bennett
2026-09-08 16:00 - 17:00 (Europe/London)
Join us at https://meet.google.com/muk-tofn-ftj

Bennett's Expressive Action: A Philosophical Theory is the first volume in the new Oxford University Press book series on positive moral philosophy. Cheshire Calhoun will provide a brief introduction to positive moral philosophy followed by Chris Bennett's precis of his book. We'll then have an open discussion.

ICSD 2026 : 14th International Conference on Sustainable Development, 09 - 10 September Rome, Italy
2026-09-09 09:00 - 2026-09-10 17:00 (Europe/Rome) | Pontifical Gregorian University of Rome , Roma, Italy
European Center of Sustainable Development in collaboration with Canadian Institute of Technology will organize the 14th ICSD 2026 International Conference on Sustainable Development, with particular focus on Environmental, Economic and Socio-Cultural Sustainability.

The Conference theme : Creating a unified foundation for the Sustainable Development: Research, Practice and Education.

The 14th ICSD 2026 (https://ecsdev.org/conference/14th-icsd-2026) will be an excellent opportunity to share your ideas and research findings relevant to the Sustainability Science, through the European network of academics.

Papers will be published in Open Access EJSD Journal (Web of Science) and Proceedings.

This ambition will proceed in a multidisciplinary way across the various fields and perspectives, through which we can address the fundamental and related questions of Sustainable Development.

Conference Venue
We are pleased to welcome you to ICSD 2025, held in the very heart of historic Rome.
The venue, Roma Eventi, located within the premises of the Pontifical Gregorian University, at Piazza della Pilotta 4, Rome, Italy, lies just steps from the iconic Trevi Fountain, and within walking distance of the Spanish Steps, Piazza Venezia, the Pantheon, the Roman Forum, Piazza Navona, and the Colosseum.

It is a setting of enduring inspiration where timeless cultural heritage meets academic thought an ideal place for global dialogue on sustainable development.

Read more: https://ecsdev.org/conference/14th-icsd-2026

The Good Life: Well-Being and Meaningfulness
2026-09-10 09:00 - 17:00 (Europe/London) | Southampton, United Kingdom
Workshop “The Good Life: Well-being and Meaningfulness”

Most people want their lives to go well. They also want their lives to be meaningful. While well-being and meaningfulness have both received extensive attention in the philosophical literature, the relationship between them remains underexplored. This workshop will explore the concepts of well-being, meaningfulness, and their relationship, discussing questions such as: Is a meaningful life always high in well-being, and vice versa? Does the nature of meaningfulness depend on the nature of well-being? And does a good life require both well-being and meaningfulness?

Speakers:

Antti Kauppinen, University of Helsinki

Matthew Hammerton, Singapore Management University

Charlotte Unruh, University of Southampton

Michael Hauskeller, University of Liverpool

Willem van der Deijl-Kloeg, Tilburg University

Registration: The workshop is free to attend, but spaces are limited and registration is required. To register, please email the organiser, stating whether you wish to attend in person or online.

We gratefully acknowledge funding from the Leverhulme Trust (SRG2425\251003).

A Novel "Third Way:" Synthesizing Autonomy and New Mechanism
2026-09-11 09:00 - 2026-09-13 17:00 (Europe/Berlin) | Oslo, Norway
“. . . [A} great deal of the conceptual history of biology may be read as a struggle between two philosophical positions: reductionism and holism” (Piggliuci 2014). This enduring tension has fueled deep disagreement about the nature and study of life. In twentieth-century biology, the organicist tradition sought to resolve this tension by seeking a “third-way” that rejects the reductionist assumption that life can be analyzed exhaustively in physico-chemical terms while, at the same time, rejecting dubious appeals to immaterial vital forces to explain the behavior of whole living systems.

In contemporary philosophy of biology, a prominent manifestation of the holist tradition is the Theory of Biological Autonomy (TBA) which explains the causal structure of a whole living organism in terms of constraints and energetic processes. A prominent manifestation of the reductionist tradition, on the other hand, is New Mechanism (NM) which, traditionally, analyzes the causal structure of biological mechanisms in terms of entities, activities, and organization.

Recently, however, a number of philosophers have been developing an updated New Mechanist analysis of biological mechanisms that construes them as consisting of constraints and energetic processes . As philosophers have pointed out, this conceptual overlap between the ToBA and NM offers opportunities for theoretical synthesis and, more ambitiously, the possibility of establishing a novel “third way” to resolve the conflicting holist and reductionist tendencies running through the history of biology.

The goal of this workshop is to bring together an interdisciplinary group of philosophers, biologists, and historians to foster dialogue across theoretical traditions to develop the ToBA-NM synthesis and critically assess it from historical and social scientific perspectives on the wider interacting histories of reductionism and holism in biology.

Thus, while the proposed synthesis of ToBA and NM will thematize discussion, the workshop hopes to encourage wider interdisciplinary reflection on historical and contemporary theoretical and empirical practice in the life sciences. We aim to: 1) Clarify the conceptual and methodological relationship between ToBA and the updated NM framework. 2) consider a) their theoretical and historical relationship to other forms of reductionism and holism and b) evaluate the prospects for the synthesis of TBA and NM succeeding as a “third way” by the lights of the wider organicist tradition. 3) Draw upon insights derived from recent inter-disciplinary efforts between philosophers in the autonomy tradition and various scientists seeking to apply the theory of autonomy in empirical investigation of biological systems at different levels of organization (e.g. ecosystems, eusocial insects, organismal, neuro, biophysical, physico-chemical). 4) Reflect on the broader implications of the proposed synthesis for ongoing debates about explanation and organization in the life sciences.

A small amount of money will be available to off-set student travel costs.

We aim for the workshop to be a "works in progress" event, giving early career scholars and scientists the opportunity to share their developing ideas in small informal "break out" groups to get feedback. We ask potential attendees to submit a short 500-750 word abstract to Andrew Bollhagen (aabollhagen@ucdavis.edu) and Sebastian Sander Oest (s.s.oest@ifikk.uio.no).

TransCare 2nd Edition
2026-09-11 09:00 (Europe/Dublin) | Cork, Ireland
Healthcare education and research continue to grapple with the limits of inherited epistemologies: frameworks that have long marginalised, pathologised, or erased trans, gender-diverse, and intersex lives. Scholarship on epistemic injustice (Hall 2017; Wesp et al. 2019) and situated knowledges (Haraway 1988) shows how these exclusions are embedded in the very processes through which knowledge is produced and legitimised. Insights from gender/sex pluralism (Monro 2005; 2019; Preciado 2013) further highlight how institutional systems struggle to accommodate the complexity of lived identities within and beyond binary frameworks. Transformative inclusion within healthcare settings therefore requires more than updated curricula or revised clinical guidelines: it calls for new methodological imagination (see e.g. Pendleton & Pezaro 2025).

This year’s TransCare conference invites scholars, practitioners, educators, and community researchers to explore how creative, interdisciplinary, and humanities‑driven methodologies can reshape the production of knowledge in healthcare. Building on the 2024 edition’s focus on educational tools, TransCare turns its attention to the research practices that make such tools possible. We ask how arts‑based, participatory, speculative, and community‑led approaches can open pedagogical and methodological pathways that affirm gender diversity, challenge normative assumptions, and cultivate critical and trans‑affirming pedagogies and research.

To do so, we aim to foreground methodology not as a technical procedure but as a site where knowledge, care, and power intersect. Approaches that centre lived experience, relationality, and reflexivity can unsettle dominant epistemic frames and generate new possibilities for teaching and practice. Attending to the affective and embodied dimensions of research and care (Malatino 2020; 2022) further highlights the need for methodologies that recognise and value ways of knowing and dealing with trans and intersex communities, particularly in challenging social and political settings.

The 2026 edition continues TransCare’s commitment to interdisciplinary exchange by emphasising methodology as a site of care, ethics, and transformation (Puig de la Bellacasa 2017). We welcome contributions that rethink how education and research are designed, conducted, interpreted, and taught, and that imagine new infrastructures for trans, gender-diverse, and intersex–inclusive healthcare education.

Scope of Contributions

We welcome contributions from across disciplines, sectors, and methodological traditions. Submissions may address, but are not limited to, the following areas:

- Creative, arts‑based, and practice‑led research methods in healthcare research and education (including performance, visual methods, creative writing, speculative and design‑based approaches)

- Participatory, community‑led, and co‑produced research
(with trans, gender‑diverse, and intersex communities; peer‑research models; activist scholarship)

- Methodological innovation in healthcare education
(curriculum design, pedagogical tools, simulation, experiential learning, digital and hybrid teaching)

- Ethics, care, and relational methodologies (care ethics, feminist and queer methodologies, embodied and affective approaches)

- Interdisciplinary and humanities‑driven approaches to healthcare research
(critical theory, philosophy of science, STS, medical humanities, sociology, anthropology)

- Research addressing institutional, structural, and epistemic barriers in the inclusion of trans, gender-diverse, intersex and non-binary people (epistemic injustice, gender/sex pluralism, policy analysis, organisational change)

- Methodologies for working in challenging social and political contexts (hostile policy environments, safeguarding, trauma‑informed and resilience‑oriented approaches)

- Innovative approaches to data, evidence, and evaluation (qualitative, mixed‑methods, narrative, autoethnographic, and community‑validated forms of evidence)

We particularly encourage submissions that experiment with form, challenge disciplinary boundaries, or propose new infrastructures for trans, gender‑diverse, and intersex–inclusive healthcare research and education. However, please do not be intimidated: all approaches and levels of experimentation are welcome.

Publication Opportunity

We are also collecting expressions of interest for a collected volume on creative, interdisciplinary, and humanities‑driven methodologies for trans, gender‑diverse, and intersex–inclusive healthcare research and education.

If you wish to be considered for inclusion in this edited collection, please indicate this when submitting your abstract by ticking the box in the form.

List of References

Hall, K. Q. (2017). Queer epistemology and epistemic injustice. In I. J. Kidd, J. Medina, & G. Pohlhaus Jr. (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of epistemic injustice (pp. 158–166). Routledge.

Haraway, D. (1988). Situated knowledges: The science question in feminism and the privilege of partial perspective. Feminist Studies, 14(3), 575–599.

Malatino, H. (2020). Trans care. University of Minnesota Press.
Malatino, H. (2022). Side affects: On being trans and feeling bad. University of Minnesota Press.

Monro, S. (2005). Gender politics: Activism, citizenship and sexual diversity. Pluto Press.

Monro, S. (2019). Non-binary and genderqueer: An overview of the field. International Journal of Transgenderism, 20(2–3), 126–131.

Pendleton, J., & Pezaro, S. (2025). From midwife to lead perinatal practitioner: A utopian vision. Birth, 52(3), 511–516.

Preciado, B. P. (2013). Testo Junkie: Sex, drugs, and biopolitics in the pharmacopornographic era. The Feminist Press.

Puig de la Bellacasa, M. (2017). Matters of care: Speculative ethics in more than human worlds. University of Minnesota Press.

TransCare 2nd Edition
2026-09-11 10:00 - 2026-09-12 17:00 (Europe/Dublin) | Cork, Ireland
Creative Practices for Trans, Gender‑Diverse and Intersex Inclusive Healthcare Research and Education 11–12 September 2026 | University College Cork

TransCare began in 2024 with funding from Research Ireland’s New Foundations scheme to discuss the needs and concerns of intersex, trans and gender‑diverse people in health settings and envision gender‑affirmative education for healthcare professionals. The first edition was hosted in collaboration with Society for Women In Philosophy Ireland and marked the launch of PATHI, the Professional Association for Trans Health Ireland, which works to advance trans‑affirming, evidence‑based healthcare and support practitioners across the island.

Thanks to the Health Research Board’s CES Scheme 2025, TransCare returns in 2026 with a renewed focus on creative and interdisciplinary methodologies for trans, gender‑diverse, and intersex–inclusive healthcare research and education.

The conference is organised by Dr Valeria Venditti (they/them; she/her), College Lecturer in Healthcare at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, University College Cork. The 2026 scientific committee includes people with lived experience, Dr Valeria Venditti (College Lecturer in Healthcare Ethics), Mx Ryan Biskupović-Goulding (College Lecturer in Mental Health Nursing, SONM, UCC), and Dr Meg Ryan (Assistant Professor in Psychology and Director of the MSc in Global Mental Health, Trinity College Dublin)

The CFP is open!

Foundations in Science and Religion: Boundaries of Theory & Practice
2026-09-11 09:00 - 2026-09-12 17:00 (Europe/London)
Dates TBC; CFP open

The "Foundations" Conference is The Forum's dedicated space for early‑career researchers exploring the rich, complex intersections between scientific inquiry and religious thought. This event provides an intellectually supportive environment where emerging scholars can develop foundational skills, exchange ideas, and engage critically with the theoretical and practical dimensions of the field. This conference explores the dynamic and sometimes contested borders between scientific understanding and religious interpretation, asking how these two influential domains shape— and are shaped by— one another in contemporary thought and practice.

As scientific knowledge expands and religious traditions continue to evolve, questions emerge about where boundaries should be drawn, how they shift, and what happens when they overlap. This conference examines these issues through interdisciplinary lenses, bringing together voices from theology, philosophy, history, the natural and social sciences, and professional practice. By focusing on the boundaries of theory and practice, this event aims not only to map the current landscape of science and religion studies but also to empower the next generation of scholars to shape its future.

Approximate running times BST (tbc):

Day 1: 10am-4pm

Day 2: 10am-4pm

Understanding Current Approaches to the Theory and Philosophy of History
2026-09-11 23:00 (Europe/London)
“Theory and philosophy of history” is a contested label for a loosely connected set of research agendas about history (in the sense of our more or less systematic ways of studying the human past). It has been said that theorists tend to focus on history as a cultural product – one among many other ways in which people in the present relate to the past, both theirs and of others –, while philosophers tend to focus on the epistemology of what historians (actually or should) do; or that theorists tend to be closer to “continental” philosophy, social theory, and literary theory, while philosophers tend to be closer mainstream “analytic” philosophy. However, these distinctions themselves are also quite contested. In fact, there is little agreement on what “theory of history” and “philosophy of history” individually are, how they differ, and how they relate to one another.

Despite these problems with definitions, researchers who share an interest in the theoretical problems that our relations to the human past entail have managed to gather around certain journals, conferences, and networks, suggesting that some sort of connection may be found. Thus, the argument appeared that “theory and philosophy of history” is more like an interdisciplinary space where scholars from different fields can discuss a common set of objects from their respective perspectives. However, the details of what perspectives are those and what methodological or conceptual commitments they carry remain unknown. It is also not entirely clear what exactly the connecting thread is that makes such interdisciplinary dialogue possible.

This virtual workshop aims to discuss the methodological challenges and metaphilosophical commitments of different approaches to the theory and philosophy of history as currently (and broadly) envisioned. As such, we invite proposals for papers that clarify what these approaches consider to be the field’s proper objects, aims, and methods, as well as the basic presuppositions that make such considerations possible. Accordingly, proposals may deal with questions that include, among others, the following:

- What exactly is “theoretical” or “philosophical” about the theory and philosophy of history? What do “theory” and “philosophy” mean in this expression? Is “theory of history” different from “philosophy of history”? How so?

- What is the object of the theory and philosophy of history: texts, arguments, concepts, practices?

- What are the aims of the theory and philosophy of history? Are they descriptive, normative, or both?

- What is the role of case studies, conceptual analysis, and other methods in the theory and philosophy of history?

- How does our descriptive knowledge of historiography (acquired via history, sociology, or anthropology of historiography) relate to conceptual or normative problems in the theory and philosophy of history?

- What are the costs and benefits from the current heterogeneity of approaches in the theory and philosophy of history? Should we aim at integration or further dispersion?

Invited speakers: Herman Paul (Leiden University); María Inés La Greca (National University of Tres de Febrero/CONICET); Jouni-Matti Kuukkanen (University of Oulu).

Submission guidelines: Please submit an abstract (maximum 500 words) and a short biographical note by 11 September 2026. Acceptance letters will be sent by 25 September 2026.

Submissions and inquiries should be sent to João Ohara, ohara@usp.br.

Workshop format: 3 days (27-29 October 2026), with 2 sessions each (keynotes in the morning, papers in the afternoon, in Brasília Time, UTC−03:00)

Presentations will be 15 minutes long, followed by more time for discussion/Q&A.

This workshop is supported by a grant from the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) – process 25/09351-8.

The Concept of Chaos: Nietzsche contra Heidegger on Early Greek Philosophy
2026-09-12 09:00 - 2026-10-10 17:00 (Europe/London)
SEMINAR DESCRIPTION

Anaximander’s fragment has been interpreted in various different ways. The young Nietzsche reads in it a “pessimism” comparable to that of Schopenhauer, whereas Heidegger, in his 1946 lecture series “The Anaximander Fragment,” criticizes Nietzsche for projecting a moralistic sentiment onto the early Pre-Socratic. Anaximander’s fragment, argues Heidegger, is “neither pessimistic nor nihilistic; nor is it optimistic. It is tragic.”

Although Heidegger’s critique is probably correct, it is symptomatic of a more general critique against Nietzsche. In the chapter “The Concept of ‘Chaos’” in his great book on Nietzsche, Heidegger asserts that Nietzsche’s conception of chaos is far off from the “original Greek meaning” of a yawning abyss as found in Hesiod. Nietzsche, however, seems way more interested in the pluralistic “Anaxagorian chaos,” which he contrasts with the apeiron of Anaximander. Not to mention their shared interest in Heraclitus—could not Heidegger’s defense of Anaximander in the first place be a hint at his perennial critique of Nietzsche’s “modern” thinking? And could not Nietzsche’s preference for Anaxagoras point at a wholly different picture, where chaos can be freed of its “original Greek meaning”—quite ironically, already in the Pre-Socratics?

In this seminar, we turn to the Greek origins of the term ‘chaos,’ contrasting an “abyssal” with a more creative reading. No prior knowledge is required. All key texts will be provided on registration.

TIME

5 SATURDAYS, weekly, beginning September 12, 2026.
1-3 PM Eastern US Time.

SESSIONS

1) The Concept of Chaos: Heidegger contra Nietzsche
2) Nietzsche and the early Pre-Socratics
3) Anaximander’s Fragment
4) Anaxagoras’ Fragments
5) Anaxagorian Chaos: Nietzsche contra Heidegger

FACILITATOR

Having lived and studied all around the world, Hannes Schumacher works at the threshold between philosophy and art. He has carried out intensive research on Hegel and Deleuze, and he has also published widely on Nishida, Nāgārjuna, chaos theory, global mysticism, and contemporary art. Hannes is the founder of the Berlin-based publisher Freigeist Verlag, co-founder of the grassroots art space Chaosmos ∞ in Athens, Greece, and he collaborates extensively with the literary translator Peter Constantine and World Poetry Books, New York. He has facilitated the following courses and groups at Incite Seminars: “Nishida Kitarō: The Logic of Place and the Religious Worldview”; “Who’s Afraid of Hegel: Introduction to G. W. F. Hegel’s Science of Logic”; “Chaos Research Group”; “Reading After Finitude by Quentin Meillassoux”; “Deleuze & Guattari: What is Philosophy?”; “Plato’s chôra through the lens of Derrida”; “Anarchia and Archai: Reimagining the Pre-Socratics” (with Carlos A. Segovia); “Reading Nietzsche’s Zarathustra” (current); “Liana of the Resurrected”; “The Body without Organs”; and “Introduction to Chaos Theory.”

INCITE SEMINARS

We are a mix of rogue scholars, disgruntled academics, disenchanted buddhists, enchantment-hungry anarchists, radical therapists, and general weirdos looking to create autonomous and accessible forms of “higher education.”

We offer online seminars and reading groups to incite personal exploration and inspire community action. Incite Seminars offers an educational experience. We do so by gathering an engaged group of participants for a dynamic exchange of ideas, led by skilled facilitators. All of our facilitators have a deep relationship to a subject or topic through intensive study or practice.

Incite Seminars is a 100% member-supported learning community. We depend on member contributions to continue holding space for radical study and practice groups, putting on rigorous seminars and courses, and providing our facilitators and organizers with fair compensation. If you are unable to pay the full amount for a session or membership at this time, we invite you to join us at reduced or no cost with our Solidarity option.

New Directions in Law-Based Explanations in the Sciences
2026-09-14 10:00 - 2026-09-15 17:00 (Europe/London) | Lakatos Building, London, United Kingdom
When we look at current research across the natural and social sciences dealing with explanations of phenomena in their respective fields, the word ‘explanation’ is often modified with an adjective: causal, non-causal, mechanistic, nomological/law-based, topological, mathematical, and narrative are some of the non-mutually-exclusive modifiers that one may encounter. It is generally accepted that fields such as physics rely more on laws for their explanatory practices than disciplines such as cell biology, which are, for the most part, concerned with mechanistic explanations, for example. In the philosophy of science, particularly since the advent of the New Mechanism literature in the 1990s, barring some exceptions, there has been relatively little sustained work on the pragmatic side of law-based explanations as opposed to other explanatory modalities, and the interest that law-based explanations have garnered has mostly focused on the metaphysics of laws. This workshop aims to bring the philosophy of law-based explanations, with particular attention to their pragmatic dimensions, back into focus. Moreover, while being historically informed, the hope is to discuss new directions within this strand of the philosophy of explanation. Some questions for consideration could include (in no particular order):

- In the sciences that have traditionally relied more on law-based explanations, are there any law-discovery programmes, or has the pool of available laws reached a plateau in most law-heavy disciplines? How can one begin such a programme in a law-light field?

- Has the strict law vs. ceteris-paribus law distinction, or the terminological variety of law-talk such as ‘nomological’, ‘nomothetic’, ‘lawlike’, ‘generalisation’, ‘principle’, and so on, been conducive to, or has it hindered, law-based explanations?

- How does a law-based explanation in physics or chemistry compare to a law-based explanation in, say, linguistics (notwithstanding superficial differences in subject matter)? Relatedly, do laws that could be said to straddle autonomous fields, e.g., thermodynamic laws in physics and chemistry, perform the same explanatory roles in both disciplines?

- How can laws and mechanisms gain traction in a combined nomological–mechanistic explanation? Moreover, how can an ‘understanding’ of a given phenomenon based on a law-based explanation differ from an ‘understanding’ based on a mechanistic explanation of the same phenomenon?

- How can metaphysical claims and arguments about laws of science translate into claims about the pragmatic role of laws in explanations?

- There have been successful modelling attempts using allometric scaling laws in biology. But are laws, especially newly posited laws, more refractory to modelling than, say, mechanisms? Relatedly, could laws be integrated into existing models of a given mechanism?

- What lessons could be drawn from the philosophy of law (i.e. legal philosophy) for law-based explanations in the sciences?

Confirmed Speakers:

- Sepehr Ehsani (LSE): can modelling the content of laws aid in their explanatory use?

- Amir Feizi (Gero AI): laws of ageing and longevity

- Alexander Gebharter (Marche Polytechnic University): preconditions for causal inference and non-causal laws

- José Antonio Pérez Escobar (Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia): mathematical explanations in the sciences: principles, laws, or rules?

- Bryan Roberts (LSE): do laws of symmetry explain or ground the dynamical laws?

- Deniz Sarikaya (Vrije Universiteit Brussel & Universität zu Lübeck): laws and theories in precision medicine

- Hamed Tabatabaei Ghomi (King's College London): laws in medicine and psychology

- Philip H Thonemann (LSE): pedagogical aspects of laws in physics explanations

- Jidong Wang (Fudan University & LSE): laws in linguistics

13th International Philosophy of Medicine Roundtable Conference
2026-09-14 09:00 - 2026-09-18 17:00 (Europe/London)
Call for Abstracts

13th International Philosophy of Medicine Roundtable Conference

September 14-18, 2026

Virtual

Hosted by the University of Pittsburgh

Conference Dates

September 14: Pre-conference workshop on the philosophy of diagnosis

September 14: Keynote talks

September 15-18: Selected Talks

Venue

The 13th International Philosophy of Medicine Roundtable will be held online, hosted by the University of Pittsburgh Department of History and Philosophy of Science.

Keynote speakers

Lisa Sanders (Yale School of Medicine)

Gurpreet Dhaliwal (University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine)

Call for Abstracts: Main Conference Program

We welcome philosophical talks on all aspects of health and medicine, broadly construed.

Please submit a 500-word abstract tohttps://forms.gle/fenNHJ982oNzKW42Aby March 15, 2026. Abstracts will undergo blinded review by the scientific committee. Accepted papers will be allocated a 30 min speaking slot (including Q&A).

An individual may be listed as an author on more than one abstract. However, they may only submit one abstract on which they are listed as a presenter (and may only present once in the main program).

Special issue

Presenters at the Roundtable will be invited to submit a paper version of their talk to a special section of the journal Philosophy of Medicine (https://philmed.pitt.edu). Details will be provided to presenters.

Important dates

Submission deadline: March 15, 2026

Notification of acceptance: by the end of April 2026

Conference dates: September 14-18, 2026

Contacts

Questions regarding submissions or the Roundtable conference generally should be directed to pmr2026@pitt.edu.

Local Organizers

Jonathan Fuller, Raphael Scholl, Laura Matthews, Sloane Wesloh, Rose Gatfield-Jeffries (University of Pittsburgh, Department of History and Philosophy of Science)

Scientific Committee

Atocha Aliseda, Rachel Ankeny, Robyn Bluhm, Giovanni Boniolo, Kirstin Borgerson (Chair), Raffalla Campaner, Jonathan Fuller, Elselijn Kingma, Maël Lemoine, Benjamin Smart (Secretary)

The Philosophy of Diagnosis
2026-09-14 09:00 - 17:00 (Europe/London)
Workshop: The Philosophy of Diagnosis

September 14, 2026 9a-5p (EDT = UTC-4)

Virtual (on Zoom)

Hosted by the University of Pittsburgh

Diagnosis is central to the practice of medicine, yet it raises questions that medicine alone cannot answer. What is a diagnosis? What and who is it for? How do we deal with uncertainty about diagnosis and responsibility for it? As artificial intelligence reshapes how diagnoses are reached and what clinical reasoning is, these questions have become increasingly urgent. This virtual workshop brings together philosophers, clinicians, and researchers to examine diagnosis in a series of talks, starting with core questions about what diagnosis is and should be and what technological developments mean for its future.

Register to attend for free on Zoom:

https://pitt.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_w5szPTBcQXSoJI3sDVIHBw#/registration

Keynotes

“Why Every Diagnosis Needs a Critic: Argument, Objection, and Clinical Reasoning”
Gurpreet Dhaliwal, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine

Title TBD
Lisa Sanders, Yale School of Medicine and NYT Columnist (“Diagnosis”)

Invited Speakers

“Diagnosis, Risk, and Responsibility in the Age of AI”
Daniele Chiffi, Politecnico di Milano

“What is diagnosis and what is it for?”
Jonathan Fuller, University of Pittsburgh

“Putting a Name to It: Diagnosis in Contemporary Society”
Annemarie Jutel, Victoria University of Wellington

“Diagnosis without Disorder”
Hane Maung, Lancaster University

“The Clinical Reasoning Ourobouros: Cognitive Psychology, Cybernetics, Artificial Intelligence, and the Future of the Clinical Mind”
Adam Rodman, Harvard University

“From Bytes to Bed: Diagnostic reasoning in the time of AI”
Laura Zwaan, Institute of Medical Education Research Rotterdam, Erasmus MC

For any questions about the week’s events, email the organizing team at:PMR2026@pitt.edu.

This workshop is hosted by the Department of History and Philosophy of Science, Center for Philosophy of Science, and Institute for Bioethics at the University of Pittsburgh.

Organizers

Jonathan Fuller and Sloane Wesloh (University of Pittsburgh, Department of History and Philosophy of Science)

JIS Symposium 2026: The Future of Democracy: Renewing Ordered Liberty
2026-09-15 09:00 (Europe/London)
CALL FOR PAPERS JIS SYMPOSIUM 2026 THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY: RENEWING ORDERED LIBERTY PASADENA, CALIFORNIA, USA, 17 October 2026 (Online: Zoom) HOSTED BY OMEGA GRADUATE SCHOOL Suggested Themes: By its 250th anniversary, American democracy is at a crossroads. The American experiment in self-government faces a triple challenge. In The Fragility of Order, George Weigel recounts America’s major twentieth-century challenges whose successes have come into question. Weigel argues that order is a “fragile thing,” and needs continual renewal, specially in a postmodern cultural context unsure about the truth of anything. Order rapidly unraveled in the United States on three levels: moral, cultural, and political. Skepticism and relativism of the moral order found expression in nihilism and subjectivism in both popular and high culture, which translated also into increased partisanship in the political order. The question arises how to restore the American Founders’ ideal of a government that invoked “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” that set up a constitutional framework with checks and balances to circumscribe the exercise of political power, and secure “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” If this “One nation under God, with liberty and justice for all” is to endure, then its Judeo-Christian cultural roots need to be rediscovered to nurture individuals, families, and communities, reaffirming America’s promise of equality of opportunity, in contrast to quasi-Marxist “equity” as leveling egalitarianism or “equal outcomes,” a democratic temptation that Alexis de Tocqueville warned against in his Democracy in America. The neo-Freudian obsession with sex and its perversions needs to yield to the imago Dei vision of human dignity (Gen 1:27); the un-American emphasis on race and gender in education and public policy (affirmative action/DEI) replaced by merit as the best criterion for gauging individual effort; while politics need the leaven of respect for all. In brief, can America find its soul and redeem the American Dream? JIS Symposium 2026 endeavors to bring together scholars from a wide range of disciplines and denominations for an exciting international conference which takes both scholarship and faith seriously. Keynote: Dawn Lewis Sutherland (Liberty University): "Democracy After Datafication: Personhood and the Renewal of Ordered Liberty." JIS Symposium 2026: The Future of Democracy: Renewing Ordered Liberty (Online via Zoom) is co-sponsored by IIR-ICSA-JIS. All conference participants must pre-register. Abstracts (250 words) due: September 15, 2026: c/o Dr. O. Gruenwald, JIS Editor, 1065 Pine Bluff Dr., Pasadena, CA 91107, USA, per e-mail (no attachments) to: info@jis3.org. Include: Paper Title, First & Last Name, department, institution, mailing address, telephone & e-mail. Fully-developed papers will be considered for publication in the refereed Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies XXXIX 2027. Website: https://www.jis3.org/symposium2026.

David Wallace - A Gravitomagnetic Bootstrap: localizing rotational and conformal structure in Newtonian gravity as a path to general relativity
2026-09-15 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York) | University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, United States, 15260
The Center for Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh invites you to join us for our Lunch Time Talk. Attend in person at 1117 Cathedral of Learning or visit our live stream on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrRp47ZMXD7NXO3a9Gyh2sg.

LTT: David Wallace

Tuesday, September 15th @ 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm EST

Title: A Gravitomagnetic Bootstrap: localizing rotational and conformal structure in Newtonian gravity as a path to general relativity

Abstract:

Historically Newtonian gravity was understood in terms of long-range forces imposed on an absolute spacetime background, we now know it can be better understood as a localization of inertial structure - or at least of that part which distinguishes inertial motion from rectilinear acceleration. That perspective suggests a natural generalization: what if we also localize other aspects of inertial structure, like rotation and scale, and make them depend on matter dynamically? The resultant theory is uniquely determined up to an overall constant with the dimensions of velocity. It fails to be Galilean covariant; investigating this failure allows one to 'bootstrap' up to (local) Lorentz covariance in a manner closely analogous to the bootstrap from magnetostatics to Maxwell's theory and special relativity. The resultant theory is equivalent to the first post-Newtonian approximation to general relativity.

This talk will also be available live streamed on:

Zoom at https://pitt.zoom.us/j/97060068493

YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrRp47ZMXD7NXO3a9Gyh2sg.

Radical Scepticism, Intellectual Courage, and Conspiracy Theory
2026-09-16 10:00 - 2026-09-17 17:00 (Europe/London) | Avenue Campus, Southampton, United Kingdom
This two-day conference, hosted by the Ethics of Doubt project, aims to bring together leading scholars from around the world to discuss radical scepticsm, the virtue of intellectual courage, and their relationship to conspiracy theories and conspiracy theorising.

For more information about the conference and the project more generally, please visit our website: https://www.ethicsofdoubt.org/

Jeremy Butterfield's The Multiverse: Book launch
2026-09-16 16:00 - 17:30 (Europe/London)
Jeremy Butterfield’s The Multiverse is an introduction to the idea that our universe is just one of many universes. He presents and assesses three versions of the idea of the multiverse: one from philosophy and two from physics. He explores: the ideas of logically possible worlds, the branches of the quantum state (in the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics), and the bubbles of inflationary cosmology. For each idea, he selects one philosophical question to explore in depth. They are, respectively: what is a possible world, what is chance, and what is explanation?

On Sep 16 2026, 18.00 CEST, we'll host a virtual book launch in which Jeremy Butterfield will present his book in conversation with Al Wilson (Leeds) and Richard Dawid (Stockholm). The event will be chaired by Helen Beebee (Leeds) and David Teira (Madrid), from BSPS Open, the diamond open access collection publishing the book in partnership with Calgary UP.

The book can be freely downloaded here:

https://ucalgary.scholaris.ca/items/fd41bdc8-3ef9-4225-9aa5-32fe70f8fece

Or you can buy a printed copy: https://press.ucalgary.ca/books/9781773856964/

The Inaugural International Society for Moral Psychology Conference
2026-09-17 09:00 - 2026-09-19 17:00 (America/New_York) | 616 Thurston Avenue, Ithaca, United States, 14853
We welcome submissions from various disciplines including but not limited to philosophy, psychology, linguistics, neuroscience, cognitive science, medicine, religion, and law. Submissions will be refereed for quality and relevance to ISMP, which aims to promote broader impacts of and participation in moral psychology around the world. We are especially interested in submissions of research on cross-cultural moral psychology and reports on cross-cultural moral psychology research collaborations.

Iowa Law Review 2026 Symposium: Philosophy at Trial
2026-09-17 09:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago) | College of Law, Iowa City, United States
Iowa Law Review 2026 Symposium

Philosophy At Trial

September 17th, 2026

Law and Philosophy at Iowa and the Iowa Law Review are delighted to open registration for "Philosophy at Trial," a symposium focusing on philosophical issues in recent Supreme Court jurisprudence. The symposium will take place September 17, with topical panels and a keynote address by Lawrence Solum (Texas A&M and Legal Theory Blog).

In-person and remote attendance is available. For more information and registration, please visit the symposium website:ilr.law.uiowa.edu/symposium-2026.

Keynote:

Lawrence Solum (Texas A&M)

Speakers:

Emad Atiq (Cornell)

Brian Bix (Minnesota)

Michael Cecil (Gonzaga)

Claire Finkelstein (Penn)

Stephen Galoob (Tulsa)

Heidi Hurd (Illinois)

John Kang (New Mexico)

Michael Moore (Illinois)

Susan Provenzano (Georgia State)

Connie Rosati (Texas)

Kevin Tobia (Georgetown)

Bill Watson (Illinois)

Benjamin Zipursky (Fordham)

Moderators:

Amin Ebrahimi Afrouzi (UCLA)

Samantha Godwin (Yale)

Mohammad Khalilzadeh (Illinois)

Event Sponsors: University of Iowa College of Law, Department of Philosophy, and the Office of Vice President of Research

Robust Strength of Will
2026-09-17 18:00 - 19:30 (Europe/London)
BSP Research Seminar 2026

Session 2

Denis Džanić

Online | 17 September | Free

The 2026 season of the BSP Research Seminar runs for five months from August to December, with one session every month featuring a speaker from the world of phenomenology.

Denis Džanić

Robust Strength of Will

Date and time: Thursday 17 September 2026, 18:00–19:30 UK/Ireland time

Weakness of will, understood as free and intentional action against one’s best judgment or resolution, is typically taken to be a paradigm example of irrational behavior. There is widespread agreement that strength of will, in contrast, is a desirable, normatively binding feature of our agency. But what exactly is strength of will? How does it work, and why should we exercise it? In this talk, I provide a phenomenological account of strength of will. I first briefly outline one popular and attractive theory; despite its plausibility, I argue, it delivers an insufficiently precise account of the normative pressures associated with strength of will. I then leverage two Husserl-inspired notions — ‘position-taking’ and the ‘I can’ — and flesh out a phenomenologically more faithful account which, I suggest, captures the normative mechanisms underwriting strength of will.

Find out more about session 2 - including free online joining instructions - and the remaining sessions of the BSP Research Seminar 2026 at BSP Online.

El pansiquismo de Margaret Cavendish contra el antropocentrismo epistémico
2026-09-18 10:00 - 17:00 (Europe/London)
Registro:

https://forms.gle/6fCPT4byFDyRPnNy9

Book Symposium: The New Modern Medicine
2026-09-18 13:30 - 16:30 (America/New_York) | University of Pittsburgh, 4200 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, United States, 15260
Book Symposium: The New Modern Medicine

September 18 @ 1:30 pm - 4:00 pm EDT

In The New Modern Medicine: Disease, Evidence, and Epidemiological Medicine (OUP, 2025), Jonathan Fuller examines contemporary scientific medicine and its distinctive philosophical problems, particularly problems brought about by the integration of modern epidemiology into medicine. In this book symposium, Christopher Phillips and Benjamin Chin-Yee will respond to the book from philosophical, historical, and clinical perspectives. The audience will then be invited into the conversation.

The New Modern Medicine is available to download open access:

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-new-modern-medicine-9780190066147?cc=us&lang=en&# (https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/)

Jonathan Fuller (https://www.hps.pitt.edu/people/jonathan-fuller) MD PhD

Associate Professor, Department of History and Philosophy of Science

University of Pittsburgh

Christopher Phillips (https://www.cmu.edu/dietrich/history/people/faculty/phillips.html) PhD

Professor and Department Head, Department of History

Carnegie Mellon University

Benjamin Chin-Yee (https://www.schulich.uwo.ca/pathol//people/faculty/chin-yee_benjamin.html) MD PhD

Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy

Western University

Schedule:

1:30–1:35 Introduction by Center Director

1:35–1:50 Introduction to the book by Jonathan Fuller

1:50–2:20 Response by Christopher Phillips

2:20–2:50 Response by Benjamin Chin-Yee

2:50–3:00 Break

3:00–3:15 Reply by Jonathan Fuller

3:15–4:00 Q&A

Located in-person:

Center for Philosophy of Science, 1117 Cathedral of Learning

Live Streamed:

Zoom Link: https://pitt.zoom.us/j/92326008828

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrRp47ZMXD7NXO3a9Gyh2sg

"Ricœur, Dead or Alive?" Fonds Ricœur Monthly Seminar (ENS, Paris)
2026-09-20 23:00 (Europe/Paris) | École Normale Supérieure, 45 rue d'Ulm, Paris, France, 75005
Presentation of the Seminar

The seminar "Actualités de Ricœur" ("Ricœur Studies Today") aims to offer a space for discussion and development for early-career research on Ricœur. Hosted at the École Normale Supérieure for the 2026–2027 academic year, it welcomes proposals from doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers, and early-career scholars who wish to explore, extend, or put to the test the resources of Paul Ricœur's philosophy.

The first edition of this seminar is entitled "Ricœur, Dead or Alive?" — a deliberately ambiguous formulation, one that invites us to question both the internal vitality of his œuvre and its capacity to nourish the philosophical, ethical, and political debates of today.

Is Ricœur's hermeneutic phenomenology not defined, in essence, by its defense of — and, as it were, its "vow" (vœu) in favor of — life, the living, and the lively? But is he still a living interlocutor, or has his thought sedimented into heritage?

The seminar will follow this format: two speakers per two-hour session, with 30 minutes of presentation and 30 minutes of discussion for each speaker.

For paper proposals, we welcome submissions engaging with three thematic axes.

Axis I. Life as Resistance – Language, Time, and Action

How does life affirm, narrate, and configure itself in the face of what negates it? Ricœur's hermeneutic phenomenology is traversed by a fundamental tension between the power to act and the multiple forms of its hindrance. Confronted with evil, forgetting, or indeed death, Ricœur explores the diverse forms of resistance at work within life — metaphors, narratives, memories, history. These resistances, as actions, possess an intrinsic logic and continue to create the meaning of life.

Suggested Lines of Approach

1. Language as resistance: How does the "living metaphor" (The Rule of Metaphor, 1975) constitute a form of resistance to the "entropy of language," which freezes meaning? In what sense is semantic innovation a vital act, a "revival"?

2. Narrative as resistance: In Time and Narrative (1983–1985), emplotment is presented as a provisional victory over temporal discordance. How are we to think this victory in the face of the radicality of Heideggerian "being-towards-death"?

3. Memory as resistance: Memory, History, Forgetting (2000) distinguishes between forgetting kept in reserve and forgetting through effacement. In what way does this distinction commit us to an ethics of memory as a form of fidelity to life?

Axis II. A Life of One's Own – Selfhood, Vulnerability, Ethicity

How might vulnerability, far from being a limit of subjectivity, be its very condition of ethical possibility? Ricœur's hermeneutics of the self is built upon the recognition of a constitutive fragility: narrative identity is always exposed to rupture, to suffering, to undergoing the action of the other — the other inscribing at the very heart of the self. This axis proposes to deepen reflection on the relation between the self and the other, and to explore the modes by which a "good life" may be accomplished, starting from the concrete ordeals of vulnerability: trauma, the quest for mutual recognition, and the precariousness of existence.

Suggested Lines of Approach

4. The ordeal of narrative identity: Oneself as Another (1990) articulates idem-identity and ipse-identity around the self-constancy under trial. What becomes of this articulation when the trial is that of identity's collapse — serious illness, exile, trauma? Ricœur's hermeneutics of narrative identity also resonates with debates on the performativity of identity and with gender studies (Butler).

5. The reciprocity of recognition: In The Course of Recognition (2004), Ricœur moves from self-recognition to mutual recognition. How might this course enter into dialogue with contemporary theories of vulnerability (Weil, Levinas) or of care?

6. The ethical life: The "ethical aim" defined in the "ethical studies" (Oneself as Another, Studies 5-7) seeks to realize a "good life." Does this notion remain operative in the face of situations of thwarted life, precarity, or desubjectivation?

Axis III. Ricœur’s Survival – Present Legacies

Ricœur maintained a singular relationship with his own era, marked as much by fruitful resonances as by sharp conflicts. This axis seeks to interrogate the philosophical actuality of these past debates: what extensions, what corrections, and what ruptures does Ricœurian thought call for today? Proposals will place Ricœur's texts in critical dialogue with contemporary problematics, without confining themselves to historical reconstruction.

Suggested Lines of Approach

7. Radical alterity in phenomenology: Ricœur engaged in a twofold critical dialogue with Derridean deconstruction and Levinasian ethics — two distinct contestations of the autonomy of the self, the one through the play of language, the other through the ethical injunction of the face. How do these confrontations, taken together, illuminate the limits and the resources of the hermeneutics of the self in the face of the contemporary challenges of hospitality, communication, and responsibility?

8. Philosophical anthropology: Is the human being, understood as the "capable human being" (From Text to Action, 1986), in a position to accommodate new forms of agency — collective, distributed, digital — or do its anthropological presuppositions constrain it? In this regard, Ricœurian philosophy could enter into fruitful dialogue with the theories of Stiegler (tertiary retention) and Arendt (collective action).

9. Justice today: How might Ricœur's reflections on justice, collective memory, and forgiveness (Memory, History, Forgetting, Epilogue) be articulated with the contemporary stakes of memory conflicts, politics of reconciliation, or postcolonial reparations? Ricœur's philosophy is bound up with figures such as Halbwachs, Derrida, and Honneth. His reflection on memory and forgiveness continues to shed lasting light on the practices of transitional justice.

Submission Guidelines

To submit a proposal or for any inquiries, please write to us at the following address: seminaire.actualites.ricoeur@gmail.com. Proposals are welcome from doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers, and early-career scholars of any discipline (philosophy, literary studies, theology, social sciences, law), provided that they are grounded in Ricœur's texts and in contemporary debates for which Ricœurian theory could be fruitfully mobilized. Comparative and transdisciplinary proposals are welcome. We will accept proposals in French and in English.

Organizing Committee

Tristan Barberousse (ENS)

Kexin Hu (ENS)

Martina Lodi (Lumsa-ICP)

Qiyu Chen (Montpellier III)

Practical Information

Submissions: seminaire.actualites.ricoeur@gmail.com

Submission deadline: 20 September 2026

Venue: École Normale Supérieure, 45 rue d'Ulm, Paris (75005)

Frequency: monthly (2026–2027 academic year), normally on the last Tuesday of each month, beginning however on Tuesday 6 October.

Schedule: 6 October; 27 October; 24 November; 15 December (due to the holiday break); 26 January; 23 February; 30 March; 27 April.

Paper proposals must follow these guidelines:

An anonymized abstract of 400 to 600 words in Word format, specifying the title of the paper, the chosen axis, and the thesis defended, accompanied by an indicative bibliography.

A brief bio-bibliographical note (name, affiliation, current position, thesis supervisor where applicable) should be included in the body of the email. To facilitate the archiving and processing of your submission, we kindly ask you to format the subject line of your email as follows: [Seminar Application] Surname – Title of the Paper. Formatting guidelines for the (anonymous) abstract: Times New Roman or Arial, 12-point font, 1.5 line spacing.

We wish for the papers to be delivered in person, in order to facilitate the discussions that lie at the heart of the seminar spirit of this initiative. A link will nevertheless be available for those who wish to follow the event remotely, where applicable.

The seminar has no dedicated budget for the reimbursement of travel and accommodation expenses, and in-person participation is at the speakers' own expense. We therefore encourage them to explore, as a first step, the funding available from their research unit, doctoral school, or home institution.

Selected speakers will be invited to submit a preparatory text (25,000 characters maximum), to be circulated to participants one week before the session, and sent to the contact address (seminaire.actualites.ricoeur@gmail.com).

Constituting Religious Belief in Experiencing Faith. A Husserlian Contribution to Revelation.
2026-09-22 15:30 - 17:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | 250 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne, Australia
Revelation is central to the task of phenomenology in its “bringing to light” phenomena as they appear to us (Gschwandtner 2024). In a phenomenology of religious experience, divine revelation has opened beyond ‘doctrinal content’ toward multiple ways of thinking through experiences of the divine as ‘self-affective’ (Henry), ‘saturated’ (Marion), ‘dialogic’ and as ‘event’ (Horner 2022).

Constitution deals with the presentation of ordinary objects in perception. It is a key, all-pervading conceptual device for Husserl in his seeking clarity to understand the world through phenomenological analyses (Sokolowski 1970). There is a deep methodological divide between revelation and constitution. One reason is because constitution cannot account for divine phenomena since they do not appear to us in ordinary perception.

A consequence has been to dismiss ‘phenomenologies of constitution’ in the religious context on two fronts. First, in its inability to describe divine phenomena, resulting in a widening and/or redefining of Husserlian concepts and method (Dika and Hackett 2016); and secondly, in prohibiting phenomenological method from analysing religious questions best left to theology (Janicaud 2000).

Elsewhere, I have argued that an intentional analysis of faith and doubt is possible if one’s regard is directed toward the noetic-noematic structures of believing: the object of belief is a belief as such, supervened within a community of believers. Drawing on the eidetic laws within Husserl’s series of belief modalities, I further analysed these movements of believing as faith formation through an interrelated frame of epistemic, imagistic and aesthetic-kinetic constitutions (Husserl 1983; McNeilly 2015).

In this paper, I propose that phenomenologies of constitution offer a robust and revelatory approach to religious experience. I argue that coming back to the constitution of an object that fully presents, illuminates rather than excludes an account of these experiences. Furthermore, I argue that God or divine entities, while appearing to be limits to phenomenological method, are no less elusive, or absent as objects in the mind than how they figure in rational, cataphatic, mystical, and apophatic arguments for existence. I will attempt to show how an intentional analysis of constitution reveals something missing in revelation, by way of a more stable object: the belief of a belief itself. Rather than seeing constitution as a rival approach to revelation, I ask: how can the limits of both bring out the richness of experience for the other?

Overall, the paper aims to bring us back to Husserl in a phenomenology of religious experience, where phenomenologies of constitution have been downplayed if not outright dismissed at the peril of losing something profound in understanding one’s faith

Cailin O’Connor - Closing the Loop on Social Influence in Science
2026-09-22 12:00 - 13:30 (Europe/London)
The Center for Philosophy of Science invites you to our Featured Former Fellow online lecture presented by:

Featured Former Fellow: Cailin O’Connor

Tuesday, September 22nd @ 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm EST

Title: Closing the Loop on Social Influence in Science

Abstract:

The prevalence of social influence in science is widely documented. But this influence is not one-sided. Social beliefs and values shape science, and at the same time are shaped by scientific findings. This mutual influence raises the possibility of dynamical interplay between science and society. But while this possibility has been mentioned numerous times in the literature, there is relatively little work attempting to analyze and outline how this mutual influence might work. This talk argues that two-way influence between science and society is promiscuous, occurring via a wide range of mechanisms that start with both values and related cultural background beliefs, and influence both values and related cultural background beliefs. I’ll discuss three sorts of general patterns at play—positive feedback, polarizing feedback, and amplification.

This talk will be available online only:

Zoom: https://pitt.zoom.us/j/91092965122

YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrRp47ZMXD7NXO3a9Gyh2sg.

The 2027 Annual Meeting of the American Comparative Literature Association
2026-09-22 09:00 (America/Chicago) | 4302 University Dr, Houston, United States, 77004
https://www.acla.org/seminar/875d9da0-735b-4676-ab1f-fff5c023f669
View Seminar
A Pedagogy Seminar and raw notes

STATUS: STATUS WILL BE AVAILABLE AFTER DECEMBER 1, 2026
Abstract

Synopsis of the trends: For the discipline of literature in East Asian Languages + Cultures there were a growing trend to incorporate active learning and digital humanities as pedagogy tools. This encourages students to write research journals along with the pace of the course and allow more flexibility in terms of developing research interests. The outcome of the course can be more than final assignments. It can also be a collaborative project for publish use —a website/a curatorial project/or a published work with collaborative efforts. Digital humanities are more effective in recent research and the teaching of premodern literature. UCLA launched a mobile app of digital dictionary KuLA that transcribes premodern cursive Japanese handwriting into legible characters. The research tool—geographic information systems—is also adopted by many literary scholars to collaborate with city planners/geographers/cartographers or to adopt an interdisciplinary approach of spatial analysis in literary work. Some co-teaching or co-authorship are done this way. Instructors who are interested in ethics in pedagogy are also learning from scholarship on disability studies.

Keywords

pedagogy literary pedagogy comparative pedagogy land-based pedagogy premodern
