The Tulane German Philosophy Workshop is based out of Tulane University&rsquo\;s Philosophy department. It is aimed at promoting the discussion of scholarship about the German philosophical tradition and the establishment of relations between philosophers and departments that focus on the German philosophical tradition. It welcomes scholars interested in the many ways to engage with this rich tradition and the specific projects and concerns of its many representatives&mdash\;from Leibniz to Wittgenstein\, Kant to Gadamer\, Hegel to Habermas&mdash\;as well as the reception of this tradition.
ORGANIZER;CN=Jeffrey Patrick Colgan;CN=Nicolas Day: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260915T033021Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260915T090000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260915T090000 SUMMARY: La naissance de Michel Foucault | Frontier Ethics: A Journal of Critical Humanities UID:20260915T033022Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@fe80:0:0:0:dcf7:d8ff:fe11:7ebf%3 TZID:Europe/London DESCRIPTION:Frontier Ethics: A Journal of Critical Humanities \;is a new multilingual\, peer-reviewed\, open-access journal dedicated to critical inquiry at the intersections of philosophy\, history\, science and technology studies\, and the politics of life. We publish original research in English\, Japanese\, Chinese\, and Korean.
\nFE takes as its starting point the conviction that the most urgent questions of our time &mdash\; about bodies\, borders\, medicine\, reproduction\, race\, coloniality\, and the governance of life &mdash\; demand forms of thinking that move across disciplinary and linguistic boundaries. We welcome work that is theoretically ambitious\, historically grounded\, and politically engaged.
\nScope
\nWe invite submissions on topics including\, but not limited to:
\nInaugural Special Issue: \;La naissance de Michel Foucault \;&mdash\; Foucault at 100
\nTo mark the centenary of Michel Foucault's birth\, FE's inaugural issue will be a special themed collection exploring the afterlives\, receptions\, and continuing provocations of Foucault's thought across Asia and the world. We particularly welcome contributions that engage Foucault's work from non-European contexts\, address the late lectures and unpublished seminars\, or develop new genealogical approaches to contemporary problems.
ORGANIZER: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260915T033021Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Berlin:20260924T100000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Berlin:20260925T170000 SUMMARY:Reason after Critique: The Positive Function of Reason in Kant UID:20260915T033023Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@fe80:0:0:0:dcf7:d8ff:fe11:7ebf%3 TZID:Europe/Berlin LOCATION:Trier\, Germany DESCRIPTION:What remains of reason after critique? Kant famously restricts the epistemic ambitions of reason\, yet he also insists on its indispensability\, not only in the practical domain but also in the theoretical one. This workshop investigates the positive function of reason in Kant&rsquo\;s system: its role in structuring metaphysical questions\, guiding theoretical inquiry\, and orienting scientific practice. Kant frequently characterizes this function as &ldquo\;regulative&rdquo\;\, but it is far from clear what precisely this status amounts to\, whether it actually exhausts reason&rsquo\;s positive function\, and what its broader presuppositions and concrete applications are. The workshop addresses questions such as: Is there a unified framework underlying the positive function of reason in Kant? How does this function relate to reason as a capacity? What is the status of the ideas of reason: are they metaphysical\, epistemic\, normative\, or some combination of these? How does reason guide inquiry by setting goals\, maxims\, and conditions of explanation? What is the relation between reason and epistemic normativity? And what notion of scientific practice emerges from reason&rsquo\;s guiding role? The aim of the workshop is to clarify whether\, and if so\, how reason\, after critique\, remains a central capacity in Kant&rsquo\;s philosophy\, and to assess the philosophical significance of its positive function for understanding metaphysics\, inquiry\, and science.
ORGANIZER;CN=Lorenzo Spagnesi: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260915T033021Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260924T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260925T170000 SUMMARY:The Foucault Century UID:20260915T033024Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@fe80:0:0:0:dcf7:d8ff:fe11:7ebf%3 TZID:America/New_York LOCATION:Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center\, Philadelphia\, United States DESCRIPTION:Michel Foucault&rsquo\;s influence on contemporary thought is unmatched by any other twentieth-century intellectual. Reputed to be the most widely cited scholar in history\, his work has provided a foundational vocabulary in a variety of disciplines across the humanities and social sciences. He remains one of the most widely taught figures in institutions of higher education worldwide. Even where Foucault&rsquo\;s name is no longer invoked\, the shaping influence of his corpus has been transformative&mdash\;even revolutionary.
\n2026 marks the centennial of Foucault&rsquo\;s birth and the 50-year anniversary of the publication of his landmark \;History of Sexuality\, Vol. 1. \;The Foucault Century\, a symposium at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia (September 24&ndash\;25\, 2026)\, offers a renewed assessment of Foucault&rsquo\;s thought. \;
\nForty years after his death\, our understanding of Foucault&rsquo\;s scholarship has been enriched and transformed by a wealth of groundbreaking posthumous publications. These include Foucault&rsquo\;s thirteen courses at the Collè\;ge de France\, lectures and seminars at other institutions around the world from the 1960s to the 1980s\, and the fourth volume of \;History of Sexuality&mdash\;Confessions of the Flesh. More material is coming out all the time\, with Foucault&rsquo\;s 1966&ndash\;1967 public lectures at the University of Tunis now in press.
\nThe Foucault Century \;considers the manifold implications of this expanding corpus. And it takes as its premise that the Foucault we already know&mdash\;or think we know&mdash\;may need to be reconsidered. What has sometimes been called the &ldquo\;textbook image of Foucault&rdquo\; has become an obstacle to fully grasping the depth\, complexity\, and tensions of his thought. \;
\nThe Foucault Century \;will bring together an international group of Foucault specialists to consider a range of problems in the contemporary assessment of Foucault: What questions are being left unasked in the default interpretation of Foucault that has been passed down? What controversies remain unresolved? Which of Foucault&rsquo\;s many voices and guises can be brought into productive conversation with our contemporary intellectual\, political\, and cultural controversies? And which need to be criticized or dismantled? Which Foucaults have been remembered? And which have been forgotten and may need to be brought to light again?
ORGANIZER;CN=Daniele Lorenzini;CN=Donovan Schaefer: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260915T033021Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Madrid:20261001T090000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Madrid:20261002T170000 SUMMARY:Continental Philosophy of Action UID:20260915T033025Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@fe80:0:0:0:dcf7:d8ff:fe11:7ebf%3 TZID:Europe/Madrid LOCATION:Faculty of Philology\, University City\, Pl. Menéndez Pelayo\, s/n\, Moncloa - Aravaca\, Madrid\, Spain\, 28040 DESCRIPTION:The aim of the two-day international conference is to explore\, clarify and apply the resources of Continental thought about action and agency. Philosophy of action in the analytic tradition\, while not immune from internal disagreements\, can be thought of as a more-or-less coherent philosophical subfield. While there are exceptions\, Anglo-American philosophers of action tend to share metaphysical commitments (regarding event-causality\, for example\, or the existence of representational mental states)\, canonical references (Anscombe\, Davidson\, Bratman\, et al.)\, and sets of problems regarding action (eg\, &ldquo\;causal deviance&rdquo\;\, the so-called &ldquo\;disappearing agent&rdquo\; problem\, intentional omissions\, etc.). This situation can be \; \;prima facie \; \;contrasted to the scattered and varied approaches to action and agency one finds in the Continental philosophical tradition. Idealism\, Phenomenology\, hermeneutics\, poststructuralism\, new materialisms\, and critical theory\, to name just a few currents in contemporary Continental thought\, are distinguished from one another by seemingly distinct sets of philosophical concerns and vocabularies\, and by diverse metaphysical and methodological commitments. Given the treatment of action and agency in each of these currents is inseparable from specific sets of philosophical concerns and commitments\, it can seem that Continental philosophers do not share enough common ground to talk together about action and agency without talking past one another. In part\, then\, this conference wishes to clarify the extent to which one could meaningfully speak of &ldquo\;Continental philosophy of action.&rdquo\; But also\, working back down from these high-level\, general concerns\, the conference wishes to focus on specific\, field-defining problems of action and agency\, and the resources that might be drawn from Continental thought to address these problems in novel ways. Possible topics of interest might thus include:
\nFormat: Speakers will have 20 minutes to present their paper\, followed by 10 minutes for questions and discussion. \;Those interested in participating should send a 400-word abstract to cpa@ucm.es by 30 April\, 2026. The conference will be in English and attendance is free. More information can be found at: \; \;https://eventos.ucm.es/go/continentalphilosophyofaction \; \;
\nConference organizers: Emma Ingala\, Gavin Rae (Complutense University of Madrid) and Sean Bowden (Deakin University\, Australia). \;
ORGANIZER;CN=Sean Bowden;CN=Emma Ingala;CN=Gavin Rae: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260915T033021Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261004T090000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261025T170000 SUMMARY:(Un)Timely Blanchot UID:20260915T033026Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@fe80:0:0:0:dcf7:d8ff:fe11:7ebf%3 TZID:Europe/London DESCRIPTION:a 4-session seminar with Philippe Lynes\, Alex Obrigewitsch\, Kim Schoof &\; Carlos A. Segovia
SEMINAR DESCRIPTION
Blanchot&rsquo\;s work delves into how thinking and writing both reflect and un-reflect our relation to life and death\, challenging conventional notions of presence and temporality. By tracing his influence on Derrida and Nancy\, and exploring the simultaneous timeliness and untimeliness of his thought\, we can ask how reading Blanchot today continues to transform our understanding of language\, life\, and being.
Session I (&ldquo\;Blanchot Today?\,&rdquo\; with Alex Obrigewitsch) will explore Blanchot&rsquo\;s considerations of writing and literature in their exposure of alterity\, disturbance of temporality\, and their inscription of the anonymous and impersonal&mdash\;for it is the ineluctable binding of writing and mortality which Blanchot has exposed to us\, suspending &ldquo\;today&rdquo\; in the double exposure of a coming future which intersects with a &ldquo\;terrifyingly ancient&rdquo\; past. The title of this opening session\, expresses the double question of the (un)timeliness of Blanchot&rsquo\;s work. If we agree with Jacques Derrida&rsquo\;s claim that &ldquo\;never as much as today have I imagined him so far ahead of us as today. Awaiting us\, still to come\, to be read\, to be reread by those very same ones that do it ever since they knew how to read and thanks to him\,&rdquo\; then it is from Blanchot &ldquo\;himself&rdquo\; that we might learn the double sense of our titular question. What can Blanchot teach us that bears the mark of today? Blanchot has never been more timely to read and think with than today\, insofar as &ldquo\;today&rdquo\; is only ever the mobile limit inscribed between a future to come and a past never present. There is no &ldquo\;today\,&rdquo\; no &ldquo\;contemporaneity&rdquo\; for literature\, and its very writing alters our relation to life\, suspending it in a void from whence all emerges and in which all must efface itself.
Session II (&ldquo\;Blanchot &\; Derrida\,&rdquo\; with Philippe Lynes) will\, for its part\, trace the history of Blanchot&rsquo\;s influence on Derrida\, as well as instances of a reciprocal influence in Blanchot&rsquo\;s own work. When discussing the &lsquo\;violent&rsquo\; relationship of deconstruction to its three biggest influences&mdash\;Martin Heidegger\, Emmanuel Levinas and Maurice Blanchot&mdash\;Jacques Derrida explains that Blanchot resists this violence best. In the final interview before his death\, Derrida insisted that a notion of &lsquo\;survivance&rsquo\; or &lsquo\;living-on&rsquo\; lay at the heart of his entire philosophical trajectory\, evoking Blanchot&rsquo\;s notion of &ldquo\;a survival which is not one\, a death which does not put an end to anything.&rdquo\; Derrida&rsquo\;s most sustained engagement with Blanchot takes place in the mid 1970s with the publication of &ldquo\;Pas\,&rdquo\; as well as the second year of his just-published La Chose seminar (1975-1977). Blanchot&rsquo\;s thought also features importantly in &ldquo\;Discourses of the End&rdquo\;&mdash\;Derrida&rsquo\;s 1983 conversations on the apocalypse and the disaster with Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe and Jean-Luc Nancy\, as well as his final seminar\, The Beast and the Sovereign (2002-2003).
In turn\, Session III (&ldquo\;Blanchot &\; Nancy\,&rdquo\; with Kim Schoof) will explore how it is possible that such contrasting perspectives on literature and the experience it offers us of being&rsquo\;s origin emanate from one another. It will do so exploring how Blanchot and Nancy write (occasionally in direct response to one another) about literature\, community\, ontology and &ldquo\;the neuter.&rdquo\; For Blanchot\, literature opens us onto the &ldquo\;Outside&rdquo\; where being originates\, where &ldquo\;I am not [&hellip\;]\; no one is there\, but the impersonal is: the outside\, as that which prevents\, precedes\, and dissolves the possibility of any personal relation.&rdquo\; Yet\, it is Blanchot&rsquo\;s perspective on literature that has inspired Jean-Luc Nancy to view literature as an exemplary way of being in the world. In Nancy&rsquo\;s perspective\, literature is the &ldquo\;coming of the world&rdquo\; or\, in the words of Aukje van Rooden\, &ldquo\;the point at which connections are made\, in which (the world) is created as being\, time and again\, a set of relations in which and by which we live.&rdquo\;
Lastly\, Session IV (&ldquo\;Blanchot Unreceived\,&rdquo\; with Carlos A. Segovia) will focus on how Blanchot seems to approach the question of the relation between language and reality à\; rebours of much contemporary thought\, which\, in repudiating their once-assumed transparency\, tends instead to affirm their reciprocal opacity. For Blanchot\, however\, language is neither the thing named nor its mere absence\, but the tentative recovery of its presence through its very loss\; just as in Mallarmé\;&rsquo\;s &ldquo\;Sonnet in -yx\,&rdquo\; for instance\, anguish is neither the one felt in the chest by the poet&mdash\;which lacks a voice and hence proves at once present to him as something real but absent due to its silence&mdash\;nor the one named through the universal notion that would conventionally be assigned to it&mdash\;before whose trivial presence the anguish thus felt would recede into absence: it is rather that thing of hard (whether white or black) &ldquo\;nails&rdquo\; like &ldquo\;onyx&rdquo\; by virtue of which word and world become mutually supplementary and translucent to one another. This will be examined both at the crossroads of today&rsquo\;s thought\, thinkable\, and unthought and along with Blanchot&rsquo\;s re-inscription of being as otherness.
TIME
5 SUNDAYS\, weekly\, beginning October 4\, 2026.
10:00-12:00 Eastern US Time.
SESSIONS
1) Blanchot Today?
The Interminable Default\, Between a Coming Future and a &ldquo\;Terrifyingly Ancient&rdquo\; Past with Alex Obrigewitsch
2) Blanchot &\; Derrida
La Mort La Chose
with Philippe Lynes
3) Blanchot &\; Nancy
Literature: Being (In and) Outside (of the World)
with Kim Schoof
4) Blanchot Unreceived
Transparency\, Opaqueness\, Translucence
with Carlos A. Segovia
ABOUT 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 &ldquo\;higher education.&rdquo\;
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.
This sixth edition of the Existential Philosophy for Times of Change and Crisis series seeks contributions exploring issues surrounding identity and community in times of uncertainty.
\nWriting in the aftermath of the Second World War\, Simone de Beauvoir&rsquo\;s existential ethics centred around the ambiguity of the human condition. Her work critiques traditional ethical frameworks subsuming plurality and ambiguity under the generalisations of normative concepts and practices. Ethics\, she argues\, should enable individuals to assume this ambiguity and plurality\, mindful of the diversity of our human condition. \;Ethics of Ambiguity\, \;notably\, strives to demonstrate how existentialism can be and indeed is inherently moral or social. Beauvoir appeals to us to recognise our freedom and responsibility\, yet at the same time highlights the limits of this freedom in situations of oppression\, and that this freedom is the most precarious in times of &lsquo\;uncertainty&rsquo\;&mdash\;where &lsquo\;crushed by present events\, [one] loses one&rsquo\;s way before the darkness of a future haunted by frightening spectres: war\, illness\, revolution\, fascism.&rsquo\;
\nBeauvoir&rsquo\;s existential ethics sought to respond to the challenges addressed to existentialism\, accused of miserabilism and solipsism. This conference seeks develop on Beauvoir&rsquo\;s works and legacy and those of her contemporaries\, and to explore the resources available within existential philosophy for rethinking the role of identity and community in times of uncertainty and crisis. Does the focus that existential philosophy places on the singular individual impede the construction of community? Does existentialism provide tools for articulating situations of oppression\, and navigating hostile environments? Does it provide guidance for concrete forms of action and activism\, and paths for navigating the uncertainty in the contemporary world?
\nContributions should engage with current issues from the perspectives of thinkers in existential philosophy and phenomenology\, such as Albert Camus\, Theodor Adorno\, Simone Weil\, Emil Cioran\, Simone de Beauvoir\, Jean-Paul Sartre\, Karl Jaspers\, Hannah Arendt\, Martin Heidegger\, and their nineteenth-century predecessors (Kierkegaard\, Nietzsche\, Stirner&hellip\;). \;
\n\;
\nTo propose a talk:
\nScholars interested in presenting should send a 300-word abstract and brief bio-bibliographical information by \;31 August 2026 \;to \;conference.eptcc@gmail.com \;. Notification of acceptance by 15 September 2026. For scholars requiring earlier notification in order to organize travel\, \;early submission \;and acceptance is possible. In that event submissions should be sent by \;1 July 2026 \;for notification by 15 July 2026. Please clearly indicate in the body of the email that you wish to be considered for early acceptance.
\nPresentations should be 25 minutes\, followed by 25 minutes discussion time. \;
\nConference participation open to all and \;free of charge \;for all speakers and participants\, but no funding is available for travel or accommodation.
\nFor specific queries (other than submission of abstracts or registration)\, contact: \;melissa.fox-muraton@clermont-sb.fr \;.
\nRegistration:
\n\;
\nTo participate without presenting a talk\, please register by email to \;conference.eptcc@gmail.com \;by 15 October 2026\, providing your name and institutional affiliation.This sixth edition of the Existential Philosophy for Times of Change and Crisis series seeks contributions exploring issues surrounding identity and community in times of uncertainty.
\nWriting in the aftermath of the Second World War\, Simone de Beauvoir&rsquo\;s existential ethics centred around the ambiguity of the human condition. Her work critiques traditional ethical frameworks subsuming plurality and ambiguity under the generalisations of normative concepts and practices. Ethics\, she argues\, should enable individuals to assume this ambiguity and plurality\, mindful of the diversity of our human condition. \;Ethics of Ambiguity\, \;notably\, strives to demonstrate how existentialism can be and indeed is inherently moral or social. Beauvoir appeals to us to recognise our freedom and responsibility\, yet at the same time highlights the limits of this freedom in situations of oppression\, and that this freedom is the most precarious in times of &lsquo\;uncertainty&rsquo\;&mdash\;where &lsquo\;crushed by present events\, [one] loses one&rsquo\;s way before the darkness of a future haunted by frightening spectres: war\, illness\, revolution\, fascism.&rsquo\;
\nBeauvoir&rsquo\;s existential ethics sought to respond to the challenges addressed to existentialism\, accused of miserabilism and solipsism. This conference seeks develop on Beauvoir&rsquo\;s works and legacy and those of her contemporaries\, and to explore the resources available within existential philosophy for rethinking the role of identity and community in times of uncertainty and crisis. Does the focus that existential philosophy places on the singular individual impede the construction of community? Does existentialism provide tools for articulating situations of oppression\, and navigating hostile environments? Does it provide guidance for concrete forms of action and activism\, and paths for navigating the uncertainty in the contemporary world?
\nContributions should engage with current issues from the perspectives of thinkers in existential philosophy and phenomenology\, such as Albert Camus\, Theodor Adorno\, Simone Weil\, Emil Cioran\, Simone de Beauvoir\, Jean-Paul Sartre\, Karl Jaspers\, Hannah Arendt\, Martin Heidegger\, and their nineteenth-century predecessors (Kierkegaard\, Nietzsche\, Stirner&hellip\;). \;
\n\;
\nTo propose a talk:
\nScholars interested in presenting should send a 300-word abstract and brief bio-bibliographical information by \;31 August 2026 \;to \;conference.eptcc@gmail.com \;. Notification of acceptance by 15 September 2026. For scholars requiring earlier notification in order to organize travel\, \;early submission \;and acceptance is possible. In that event submissions should be sent by \;1 July 2026 \;for notification by 15 July 2026. Please clearly indicate in the body of the email that you wish to be considered for early acceptance.
\nPresentations should be 25 minutes\, followed by 25 minutes discussion time. \;
\nConference participation open to all and \;free of charge \;for all speakers and participants\, but no funding is available for travel or accommodation.
\nFor specific queries (other than submission of abstracts or registration)\, contact: \;melissa.fox-muraton@clermont-sb.fr \;.
\nRegistration:
\n\;
\nTo participate without presenting a talk\, please register by email to \;conference.eptcc@gmail.com \;by 15 October 2026\, providing your name and institutional affiliation.
ORGANIZER;CN="Mélissa Fox-Muraton";CN="Jakub Gomułka";CN="Maciej Kałuża": METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260915T033021Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Warsaw:20261022T090000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Warsaw:20261023T170000 SUMMARY:Identity and Community in Times of Uncertainty UID:20260915T033028Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@fe80:0:0:0:dcf7:d8ff:fe11:7ebf%3 TZID:Europe/Warsaw LOCATION:Czarnowiejska 36\, Kraków \, Poland\, 30-054 DESCRIPTION:This sixth edition of the Existential Philosophy for Times of Change and Crisis series seeks contributions exploring issues surrounding identity and community in times of uncertainty.
\nWriting in the aftermath of the Second World War\, Simone de Beauvoir&rsquo\;s existential ethics centred around the ambiguity of the human condition. Her work critiques traditional ethical frameworks subsuming plurality and ambiguity under the generalisations of normative concepts and practices. Ethics\, she argues\, should enable individuals to assume this ambiguity and plurality\, mindful of the diversity of our human condition. \;Ethics of Ambiguity\, \;notably\, strives to demonstrate how existentialism can be and indeed is inherently moral or social. Beauvoir appeals to us to recognise our freedom and responsibility\, yet at the same time highlights the limits of this freedom in situations of oppression\, and that this freedom is the most precarious in times of &lsquo\;uncertainty&rsquo\;&mdash\;where &lsquo\;crushed by present events\, [one] loses one&rsquo\;s way before the darkness of a future haunted by frightening spectres: war\, illness\, revolution\, fascism.&rsquo\;
\nBeauvoir&rsquo\;s existential ethics sought to respond to the challenges addressed to existentialism\, accused of miserabilism and solipsism. This conference seeks develop on Beauvoir&rsquo\;s works and legacy and those of her contemporaries\, and to explore the resources available within existential philosophy for rethinking the role of identity and community in times of uncertainty and crisis. Does the focus that existential philosophy places on the singular individual impede the construction of community? Does existentialism provide tools for articulating situations of oppression\, and navigating hostile environments? Does it provide guidance for concrete forms of action and activism\, and paths for navigating the uncertainty in the contemporary world?
\nContributions should engage with current issues from the perspectives of thinkers in existential philosophy and phenomenology\, such as Albert Camus\, Theodor Adorno\, Simone Weil\, Emil Cioran\, Simone de Beauvoir\, Jean-Paul Sartre\, Karl Jaspers\, Hannah Arendt\, Martin Heidegger\, and their nineteenth-century predecessors (Kierkegaard\, Nietzsche\, Stirner&hellip\;). \;
\n\;
\nTo propose a talk:
\nScholars interested in presenting should send a 300-word abstract and brief bio-bibliographical information by \;31 August 2026 \;to \;conference.eptcc@gmail.com \;. Notification of acceptance by 15 September 2026. For scholars requiring earlier notification in order to organize travel\, \;early submission \;and acceptance is possible. In that event submissions should be sent by \;1 July 2026 \;for notification by 15 July 2026. Please clearly indicate in the body of the email that you wish to be considered for early acceptance.
\nPresentations should be 25 minutes\, followed by 25 minutes discussion time. \;
\nConference participation open to all and \;free of charge \;for all speakers and participants\, but no funding is available for travel or accommodation.
\nFor specific queries (other than submission of abstracts or registration)\, contact: \;melissa.fox-muraton@clermont-sb.fr \;.
\nRegistration:
\n\;
\nTo participate without presenting a talk\, please register by email to \;conference.eptcc@gmail.com \;by 15 October 2026\, providing your name and institutional affiliation.This sixth edition of the Existential Philosophy for Times of Change and Crisis series seeks contributions exploring issues surrounding identity and community in times of uncertainty.
\nWriting in the aftermath of the Second World War\, Simone de Beauvoir&rsquo\;s existential ethics centred around the ambiguity of the human condition. Her work critiques traditional ethical frameworks subsuming plurality and ambiguity under the generalisations of normative concepts and practices. Ethics\, she argues\, should enable individuals to assume this ambiguity and plurality\, mindful of the diversity of our human condition. \;Ethics of Ambiguity\, \;notably\, strives to demonstrate how existentialism can be and indeed is inherently moral or social. Beauvoir appeals to us to recognise our freedom and responsibility\, yet at the same time highlights the limits of this freedom in situations of oppression\, and that this freedom is the most precarious in times of &lsquo\;uncertainty&rsquo\;&mdash\;where &lsquo\;crushed by present events\, [one] loses one&rsquo\;s way before the darkness of a future haunted by frightening spectres: war\, illness\, revolution\, fascism.&rsquo\;
\nBeauvoir&rsquo\;s existential ethics sought to respond to the challenges addressed to existentialism\, accused of miserabilism and solipsism. This conference seeks develop on Beauvoir&rsquo\;s works and legacy and those of her contemporaries\, and to explore the resources available within existential philosophy for rethinking the role of identity and community in times of uncertainty and crisis. Does the focus that existential philosophy places on the singular individual impede the construction of community? Does existentialism provide tools for articulating situations of oppression\, and navigating hostile environments? Does it provide guidance for concrete forms of action and activism\, and paths for navigating the uncertainty in the contemporary world?
\nContributions should engage with current issues from the perspectives of thinkers in existential philosophy and phenomenology\, such as Albert Camus\, Theodor Adorno\, Simone Weil\, Emil Cioran\, Simone de Beauvoir\, Jean-Paul Sartre\, Karl Jaspers\, Hannah Arendt\, Martin Heidegger\, and their nineteenth-century predecessors (Kierkegaard\, Nietzsche\, Stirner&hellip\;). \;
\n\;
\nTo propose a talk:
\nScholars interested in presenting should send a 300-word abstract and brief bio-bibliographical information by \;31 August 2026 \;to \;conference.eptcc@gmail.com \;. Notification of acceptance by 15 September 2026. For scholars requiring earlier notification in order to organize travel\, \;early submission \;and acceptance is possible. In that event submissions should be sent by \;1 July 2026 \;for notification by 15 July 2026. Please clearly indicate in the body of the email that you wish to be considered for early acceptance.
\nPresentations should be 25 minutes\, followed by 25 minutes discussion time. \;
\nConference participation open to all and \;free of charge \;for all speakers and participants\, but no funding is available for travel or accommodation.
\nFor specific queries (other than submission of abstracts or registration)\, contact: \;melissa.fox-muraton@clermont-sb.fr \;.
\nRegistration:
\n\;
\nTo participate without presenting a talk\, please register by email to \;conference.eptcc@gmail.com \;by 15 October 2026\, providing your name and institutional affiliation.
ORGANIZER;CN="Mélissa Fox-Muraton";CN="Jakub Gomułka";CN="Maciej Kałuża": METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260915T033021Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20261029T090000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20261030T170000 SUMMARY:Melancholic historicity: lost pasts and past losses UID:20260915T033029Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@fe80:0:0:0:dcf7:d8ff:fe11:7ebf%3 TZID:Europe/Brussels LOCATION:Utrecht\, Netherlands DESCRIPTION:Melancholic historicity: lost pasts and past losses
\nOrganizers: Katherina Kinzel and Robert Vinkesteijn
\nUtrecht University\, 29+30 October 2026
\nRecent reconceptualizations of historicity&mdash\;most notably in the work of Walter Benjamin and related thinkers&mdash\;have challenged the modern ideal of progress by foregrounding historical experiences of loss and destruction. These approaches question the assumption that history unfolds as a continuous movement in which past suffering is redeemed by future advancement. Instead of viewing the past as dead or completed\, they envision the past as a site of continuous unease and questioning within the present. Forgotten\, suppressed\, or destroyed pasts unsettle present self-understandings and expose their complicity in the ongoing reproduction of loss. \;
\nThis conference explores the question what a &ldquo\;melancholic&rdquo\; conception of historicity that is oriented around experiences of loss\, destruction and defeat looks like. What does it mean to think historically from a standpoint that refuses to forget or &ldquo\;accept&rdquo\; historical losses\, that interrupts linear temporality and breaks with the perpetuation of historical violence in the present. What is the political valence of different attempts at confronting historical loss? What constitutes a philosophically fruitful attitude to lost pasts (the pasts that have been forgotten or suppressed) and past losses (past experiences of loss\, injustice and defeat) that are haunting the present?
\nThis conference brings together \;critical approaches to the philosophy of history\, postcolonial perspectives on loss\, \;theoretical reflections on displacement and genocide\, accounts of ecological loss and destruction and psychoanalytic discussions of (historical) mourning and melancholia.
\nIf you would like to contribute as a speaker\, please send an abstract of maximum 500 words to r.w.vinkesteijn@uu.nl\, the deadline for abstracts is Saturday 28 February 2026. If you have further questions about the scope and topic of this conference\, do not hesitate to get in touch.
ORGANIZER;CN=Katherina Kinzel: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260915T033021Z DTSTART;TZID=America/Sao_Paulo:20261110T090000 DTEND;TZID=America/Sao_Paulo:20261113T170000 SUMMARY:From Leibniz to Kant: ruptures and continuities UID:20260915T033030Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@fe80:0:0:0:dcf7:d8ff:fe11:7ebf%3 TZID:America/Sao_Paulo LOCATION:Av. Prof. Luciano Gualberto\, 315\, São Paulo\, Brazil\, 05508-010 DESCRIPTION:It is with great pleasure that we announce the call for abstracts for the colloquium &ldquo\;From Leibniz to Kant: Ruptures and Continuities&rdquo\;\, to be held from November 10 to 13\, 2026\, at the Faculty of Philosophy\, Languages\, and Human Sciences of the University of Sã\;o Paulo (FFLCH&ndash\;USP).
\nThe colloquium will feature keynote lectures\, panel discussions\, and communications. Communications will be limited to a maximum of 30 minutes\, with additional time for questions. Abstracts should be between 200 and 400 words. We also request the submission of a preliminary bibliography\, limited to 300 words. Submissions may be made only by graduate researchers (master&rsquo\;s and doctoral students)\, as well as by holders of master&rsquo\;s and doctoral degrees. Abstracts may be submitted in Portuguese\, Spanish\, English\, French\, German\, or Italian. They will be evaluated by a scientific committee\, which reserves the right to select them according to criteria of philosophical rigor and historical-thematic delimitation. After acceptance\, full papers of between 2\,500 and 3\,000 words must be submitted to the organizing committee.
\nExtended deadline for abstract submission: 10/07/2026
ORGANIZER;CN=Pedro Casalotti Farhat;CN=Robson Carvalho dos Santos;CN="Caio Aruanã Batista": METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260915T033021Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Istanbul:20261113T070000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Istanbul:20261113T070000 SUMMARY:The Right of War in Grotius and Hobbes UID:20260915T033031Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@fe80:0:0:0:dcf7:d8ff:fe11:7ebf%3 TZID:Europe/Istanbul LOCATION:Middle East Technical University Üniversiteler Mahallesi\, Dumlupınar Bulvarı No:1\, Ankara\, Turkey\, 06800 DESCRIPTION:The Hobbes Scholars International Association Sixth International Conference
\n13-14 November\, 2026
&ldquo\;The Right of War in Grotius and Hobbes&rdquo\;
Department of Philosophy - Middle East Technical University
Ü\;niversiteler Mahallesi\, Dumlupınar Bulvarı No:1\, 06800 Ç\;ankaya/Ankara Turkey
We invite papers on theories of war in Grotius and Hobbes for presentation and discussion during the Sixth International Conference Thomas Hobbes organized by the Hobbes Scholars International Association which is to be held on 13-14 November 2026 at the Middle East Technical University.
\n
Format of the conference :
Presentation of 20 minutes and discussion
Languages :
English and French
If you would like to present a paper\, please send a short abstract (no more than 500 words) by August 20 2026 to Liang PANG (Email : ).
\n
We will inform you of the result of the selection by August 31 2026.
If your contribution is accepted\, you will have to send the complete paper by October 15 2026.
Keynote lectures :
Yves Charles ZARKA\, Emeritus Professor at the Sorbonne\, Université\; Paris Cité\;
James GRIFFITH\, Assistant professor\, Middle East Technical University
----------------------------
Pr. Didier MINEUR
President of the Hobbes Scholars International Association
Professor at Sciences Po Rennes \; Researcher at PHILé\;POL\, Université\; Paris Cité\;
Format of the conference :
Presentation of 20 minutes and discussion
Languages :
English and French
Graduate students and early career researchers are invited to submit expressions of interest for &ldquo\;Reading philosophies of nature and beauty: close reading as method in the history of philosophy&rdquo\;\, a workshop taking place at the University of Sydney on Tuesday 24 November 2026.
The event is the product of a collaboration between "Extending New Narratives" SSHRC (Canada) major award and &ldquo\;Women Philosophers on the Natural and the Human" ARC Future Fellowship (Dalia Nassar)
Overview
\nAs historians of philosophy\, we are directly acquainted with the method of &lsquo\;close reading&rsquo\;\, but are rarely challenged to articulate what\, exactly\, this methodology entails\, and how it can be better practiced. This one-day event brings together senior scholars with early career researchers within the history of philosophy to discuss the role of close reading in our own work and its implications for our discipline. The day will begin with a masterclass conducted by an experienced historian of philosophy\, and will conclude with a workshop of presentations from graduate students and ECRs showcasing their research and the role of close reading within it. \;
\nThe masterclass and workshop is complementary to the conference &ldquo\;The Natural and the Beautiful: Women Philosophers on Nature\, Beauty\, and Art&rdquo\; hosted at the University of Sydney over 25-27 November\, and will take place the day before the conference begins: Tuesday 24 November 2026.
\nIt is open to early career historians of philosophy working on theories of nature\, organic life\, beauty\, and environmental aesthetics (and adjacent fields)\, with a particular interest in the philosophical contributions of women and other underrepresented figures. This workshop aims to provide an opportunity for scholars to showcase their own textual practices and to work collaboratively to articulate how strategies of close reading serve as a specific method of philosophical analysis. \; \;
\nAs such\, key questions include:
\nLocation:
\nThe event will take place in-person only at the University of Sydney.
\nEligibility:
\nThe workshop is open to ECRs and graduate students working on any or all of the following topics:
\nParticipants are invited to submit a 150-200 word abstract for a talk showcasing their work and reflecting on the textual practices that inform their historical and philosophical research. Speakers are encouraged to conduct a guided close reading of a short passage as part of their presentation. \;
\n(ECR is defined as up to five years post-PhD\, and up to seven years with career interruptions. Career interruptions include childcare\, working out of academia\, prolonged uncertain and casual work within academia.)
\nExpressions of Interest:
\nIf you wish to present at the workshop\, please submit an abstract with your EOI at the link below. Please also fill out the EOI if you wish to simply attend. DEADLINE EXTENDED: Abstracts are due 1st of September 2026. \;
ORGANIZER;CN=Campbell R: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260915T033021Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20270101T090000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20270101T090000 SUMMARY:CFP: Fate and Narrative Identity UID:20260915T033034Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@fe80:0:0:0:dcf7:d8ff:fe11:7ebf%3 TZID:Europe/London DESCRIPTION:CALL FOR PAPERS
\nSpecial Issue of The Journal of Ethics: Fate and narrative identity
\nDeadline for submission of full draft: 1 January 2027
\nLength of paper: 8\,000-11\,000 words\, including footnotes but not including references at the end.
\nThis special issue starts with the autobiographical question: who am I? What are the most important constituents of my identity? We might distinguish involuntary components such as my birth nationality\, my ethnicity\, by socio-economic background\, my gender\, from voluntary components such as my profession\, my marriage\, my political allegiance\, my long-term residence. But even involuntary components admit of more-or-less voluntary interpretations of the meaning of such components. An ethnic identity can yield a sense of belonging or indifference\, an unwanted constraint can be changed into a catalyst for important life choices.
\nVoluntary identity components and voluntary interpretations usually admit of a narrative description of how they came to play the important role in my identity\, and of how I see their role in the future. As part of that narrative description\, I might ask myself which components are somehow essential to who I am &ndash\; in other words\, without that component\, I cannot imagine being me. Most often these components will begin their narrative role with an event of pure luck. In such a case\, I may be tempted to speak of that event as fateful. So this special issue is about the question: what does it mean to see a narrative identity component as 'my fate'? What can the concept of fate contribute to my and others&rsquo\; understanding of my life?
\nImportantly\, we are NOT directly interested in the concept of fate as denying free will. We are not directly interested in any kind of metaphysical notion\, divine or otherwise\, that might determine my future. Instead\, our autobiographical perspective is primarily about making sense of our past and present\, in the sense described by Robert Solomon&rsquo\;s article &lsquo\;Fate and Fatalism&rsquo\; Philosophy East and West\, Vol. 53\, No. 4 (Oct.\, 2003)\, pp. 435-454.
\nSolomon offers many examples. He himself\, a professional philosopher\, started at university studying medicine\, and on an impulse took a philosophy elective that steered him into a whole new area of interest. He wants to call the impulse fateful. Now it might be said that given his (known and unknown) dispositions\, he was fated to switch to philosophy sooner or later\, and if he had missed this one elective\, other opportunities would have caught his eye. As such we might reach for Heraclitus&rsquo\;s mantra of &ldquo\;character is destiny&rdquo\;. But consider another of Solomon&rsquo\;s examples: two people have been married to one another for many years\, and as such have deeply influenced one another&rsquo\;s identity. And yet their meeting\, their subsequent romantic availability\, their mutual attraction\, their cohabitational compatibility\, their shared interests etc. &ndash\; all of that was radically contingent. Retrospectively\, however\, that meeting (and everything else) was necessary\, fated\, in order for them to become who they are now\, individually\, and jointly\, many years later.
\nWe&rsquo\;re not only interested in Solomon&rsquo\;s retrospective view of fateful events\, we&rsquo\;re also interested in the experience of practical necessity (a phrase coined by Bernard Williams in his 1981 article of that name). Here the agent\, in the present\, discovers what she &lsquo\;must&rsquo\; do\, given who she is\, what she has become\, what roles she fills\, who she is in a relationship with\, where she works etc.. Such a discovery about oneself may be more or less surprising\, and more or less acceptable and understandable among one&rsquo\;s friends (who know her more or less well). Williams&rsquo\;s concept has spawned some philosophical discussion\, but his and others&rsquo\; heroes do not usually use the word &lsquo\;fate&rsquo\; &ndash\; the question is whether they are entitled to do so\, while taking themselves and being taken seriously.
\nWe welcome submissions on the following topics: (not exhaustive)
\nSubmission instructions for Authors
\nAuthors must make use of the standard online EM system used by The Journal of Ethics. All manuscripts will go through the standard double-blind peer-review process according to The Journal of Ethics&rsquo\; guidelines. As a matter of general policy on special issues\, all submission will also be checked by the editor-in-chief. All manuscripts should be prepared according to the journal&rsquo\;s guidelines provided on The Journal of Ethics website. \;
\nCo-editors:
\n \; \; \; \; \; ·\; \; \; Katrien Schaubroeck\, University of Antwerp\, Belgium.
katrien.schaubroeck@uantwerpen.be
\; \; \; \; \; ·\; \; \; Christopher Cowley\, Charles University\, Czech Republic\, and University College Dublin\, Ireland.
Christopher.cowley@ff.cuni.cz
For twenty years\, Back to the Things Themselves! (BTTTT!) has been an annual attempt to put aside the more conventional scholarly practice of textual exegesis and critique\, and return to the lived world to divine the essential structures of experience through careful phenomenological description.
\nIn short\, BTTTT!&lsquo\;s main aim is to &ldquo\;do phenomenology&rdquo\;&mdash\;that is\, to generate original descriptions of phenomena in the lifeworld.
\nhttps://btttt.net/cfp/
ORGANIZER: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260915T033021Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20300531T090000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20300531T090000 SUMMARY:Phenomenologies of Religious Experience UID:20260915T033036Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@fe80:0:0:0:dcf7:d8ff:fe11:7ebf%3 TZID:Europe/London DESCRIPTION:This series invites proposals in classical phenomenology\, French phenomenology\, pre- and post-phenomenologies\, and in methodologies that bridge phenomenology and analytic philosophy. The relation between phenomenology and religious experience can be considered in a variety of modes: epistemic (phenomenology as a "rigorous science" of religious experience in Husserl's sense)\; ontic (phenomenology as a way to access the core motive\, or regulative ideal\, of religion)\; analogical (phenomenological experience as a secular version of religious experience)\; generalizing (religious experience turning into phenomenological experience when stripped from its dogmatic frame)\, etc. Proposals can take critical\, descriptive\, theoretical\, comparative\, historical\, or other approaches\, and they can focus on the interplay between religious or spiritual experience and assorted theoretical approaches\, or proceed from such experience towards building a new theory. In accord with Husserl&rsquo\;s original intent\, the series welcomes attempts to locate spiritual or religious experience within a broader theory of the sciences (Wissenschaftslehre) and to expand phenomenology towards transcendental philosophy and metaphysics.
The series covers five areas:
1) Clarifications of religious and spiritual experience\, its formal phenomenological research\, and its relationships to art\, textuality\, culture\, anthropology\, politics\, and comparative religion\;
2) Metaphysical extensions of the phenomenology of religious and spiritual experience\;
3) Existential and psychological analyses\, in different traditions\, of religious and spiritual experience\;
4) Theologies of religious experience\, with or beyond a specific focus on ritual and liturgy\, including liberation theologies\, feminist theologies\, theologies at the intersection of religious experience and race\, social status\, etc.\;
5) The phenomenology of religious and spiritual experience as applied to and/ or examined within medicine\, nursing\, and the health sciences and the natural and social sciences.
The series is published in cooperation with the Society for the Phenomenology of Religious Experience\, \;www.sophere.org.
Editors: \;Michael Barber (michael.barber@slu.edu)\, Peter Costello (PCOSTELL@providence.edu)\, Olga Louchakova-Schwartz (founding editor\, \;olouch@ucdavis.edu)\, and Martin Nitsche (nitsche@flu.cas.cz)
Advisory Board: \;Jason Alvis (University of Vienna)\, Angela Ales Bello (Pontifical Lateran University)\, Michel Bitbol (The French National Center for Scientific Research)\, Carla Canullo (University of Macerata)\, David Ciavatta (Ryerson University)\, Crina Gschwandtner (Fordham University)\, Neal DeRoo (The King&rsquo\;s University)\, Thomas Fuchs (University of Heidelberg)\, James G. Hart (University of Indiana)\, Richard Kearney (Boston College)\, Jeff McCurry (Duquesne University)\, Felix O&rsquo\;Murchadha (National University of Ireland\, Galway)\, Dermot Moran (Boston College)\, Tom Nenon (The University of Memphis)\, Ryōsuke Ōhashi (Universities of Kyoto and Osaka)\, Vincent Pastro (Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University and Aquinas Institute of Theology\, St Louis)\, Hans Rainer Sepp (Charles University)\, Michel Staudigl (University of Vienna)\, Claudia Welz (Aarhus University)
Staff editorial contact: \;Jana Hodges-Kluck (jhodges-kluck@rowman.com) \;