The International Berkeley Society invites submissions for its group session at the 2027 Central Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association. The conference will be held February 24&ndash\;27\, 2027 at the Hilton Denver City Center in Denver\, Colorado. We particularly welcome abstracts that engage with the theme of &ldquo\;Berkeley Beyond Philosophy.&rdquo\; Relevant topics might include Berkeley&rsquo\;s influence on literature\, religion\, public life\, political economy\, mathematics\, natural science\, medicine\, education\, or other intellectual and cultural domains outside narrowly philosophical contexts.
\nAbstracts of up to 500 words for 25-minute presentations should be prepared for blind review and submitted to Todd DeRose at t.derose@ew.edu. The deadline for submissions is September 1\, 2026. Modest financial assistance may be available for early career scholars (less than two years out from their PhD). Please contact Todd DeRose with any questions.
ORGANIZER: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260901T073638Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260921T190000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260921T210000 SUMMARY:Psychoanalysis for the Fourth Industrial Revolution UID:20260901T073651Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@fe80:0:0:0:4024:76ff:fe73:ed37%3 TZID:Europe/London LOCATION:Verdurin\, 2 Clunbury Str\, London N1 6TT\, London\, United Kingdom\, N1 6TT DESCRIPTION:The ongoing Fourth Industrial Revolution is transforming the core of our lives with digital media\, artificial intelligence\, automation\, and ubiquitous connectivity. These technologies do not simply respond to our desires\, but rather cultivate and exploit them\, drawing us ever deeper into opaque control systems. They take hold of our very subjectivity.
How can we make sense of our changing self as the boundaries between the physical and the social\, the public and the private blur\, and virtually everything is fodder for commodification? Interpreting these transformations requires more than a traditional analysis of economics and technology alone.
Psychoanalysis is a philosophy of subjectivity\, a tool that can elucidate the structure of our consciousness and the vicissitudes of its entanglement with our economic and technological reality. This four-part course examines the subjective\, political\, economic\, and technological transformations as inseparable from one another. It interrogates the evolving nature of institutions\, corporations\, desire\, authority\, repression\, and the social bond.
Through a psychoanalytic approach\, these seminars and discussions offer a distinctive way of thinking about these changes\, attending not only to conscious beliefs\, but also to unconscious fantasy\, conflict\, religious thinking\, and enjoyment.
In four sessions\, exploring psychoanalytic understandings of art and film\, artificial intelligence\, capital\, and faith and belief\, participants will explore these themes beyond familiar partisan certainties or cultural campism. The course is designed for both those new to the ideas of psychoanalysis and to readers already familiar with thinkers such as Freud\, Lacan\, Hegel\, Marx\, and contemporary psychoanalytic and continental thought.
This year's meeting of the North American Society for Philosophical Hermeneutics will meet at University of California Davis. The meeting will feature a keynote address by Dr. Francis Mootz (University of the Pacific) entitled "Law after Postmodernity: Ontology\, Practice\, and Critique." The program will feature a variety of talks on topics in philosophical hermeneutics -- highlighting scholarship on the thought of Hans-Georg Gadamer and the application of hermeneutic theory to a variety of philosophical and social problems. \;
ORGANIZER;CN=Carolyn Culbertson: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260901T073638Z DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261016T141500 DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261018T170000 SUMMARY:North American Association for Philosophy and Education (NAAPE) 2026 UID:20260901T073653Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@fe80:0:0:0:4024:76ff:fe73:ed37%3 TZID:America/Chicago LOCATION:Mundelein\, United States DESCRIPTION:NAAPE welcomes submissions in any area related to philosophy and education and encourages submissions from all traditions of philosophy including work that is historical\, contemporary\, \;analytic\, continental\, theoretical\, and/or applied. Furthermore\, we encourage authors working within the interdisciplinary fields of educational ethics\, moral and civic education\, and ethics of educational policy to submit to the conference. However\, we only accept papers that are written in clear\, straightforward prose that is accessible to a wide range of philosophers and educators. We therefore discourage the use of technical language that is not otherwise clearly explained in the paper. Finally\, the paper must have some bearing on education. \;If that bearing is largely implicit throughout the paper\, \;the author must\, at the very least\, gesture towards its bearing in the introduction or conclusion of the paper. Submissions for NAAPE 2026 are due \;July 1st\, 2026 by 11:59 PM CDT (UTC -5\, Chicago time). \;
ORGANIZER;CN=Dennis Arjo;CN=Drew Chambers;CN=Madison Cosby;CN=Randall R. Curren;CN=Evan Dutmer;CN=Nicholas Smith;CN=Dario Vaccaro;CN=Darby Vickers;CN=Ilya Zrudlo: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260901T073638Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20261029T090000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20261030T170000 SUMMARY:Melancholic historicity: lost pasts and past losses UID:20260901T073654Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@fe80:0:0:0:4024:76ff:fe73:ed37%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:20260901T073638Z DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20261107T090000 DTEND;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20261108T170000 SUMMARY:The 1st Workshop on History and Philosophy of Science in the East UID:20260901T073655Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@fe80:0:0:0:4024:76ff:fe73:ed37%3 TZID:Asia/Hong_Kong LOCATION:HKUST\, Hong Kong\, Hong Kong DESCRIPTION:History and Philosophy of Science (HPS) has been a vibrant movement in the philosophy of science since 1960s. It profoundly influenced the development of 20th century philosophy of science. HPS departments and postgraduate programmes have been established worldwide\, while various HPS conferences have been running regularly. However\, HPS in the East is still underdeveloped. To be fair\, philosophy of science in East Asia is not as well developed as it might seem. For example\, in China\, philosophy of science is even sometimes conflated with analytic philosophy. This workshop series aims to advance and promote the research of HPS in the East. It will bring together philosophers of science and historians of science in the East to promote the dialogue across the boundaries with an aim to reflect on the nature\, methodology\, and development of HPS and explore new HPS approaches.
\nVenue
\nDates
\nOrganising Committee
\nKeynote Speakers
\nContact
\nPapers on any philosophical topic and from \;any \;research tradition in philosophy are welcome from all \;current \;graduate students. \; \;All submitted papers should: (i) not exceed 3\,000-words\, (ii) be prepared for blind review\, and (iii) be accompanied by a separate document that includes paper title and author information (name\, affiliation\, graduate student status (MA or PhD student) and student contact information).
\nWe encourage submissions from all current graduate students! The conference will be held in person\, and is open to the public and free to attend. Lunch will be provided to all participants\, and accommodations\, such as lodging and transportation within Kent\, may be available to participants as well (on a first-come\, first-serve basis).
\nPlease email all submissions and questions to the Department of Philosophy graduate students at:
\nksu.philosophy.conference@gmail.com
ORGANIZER;CN=Matthew Coate: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260901T073638Z DTSTART;TZID=America/Sao_Paulo:20261110T090000 DTEND;TZID=America/Sao_Paulo:20261113T170000 SUMMARY:From Leibniz to Kant: ruptures and continuities UID:20260901T073657Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@fe80:0:0:0:4024:76ff:fe73:ed37%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:20260901T073638Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Rome:20261112T090000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Rome:20261113T170000 SUMMARY:Reappraising nostalgia: The times and places of mindful yearning An international colloquium UID:20260901T073658Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@fe80:0:0:0:4024:76ff:fe73:ed37%3 TZID:Europe/Rome LOCATION:Macerata\, Italy DESCRIPTION:Reappraising nostalgia: The times and places of mindful yearning An international colloquium
ORGANIZER: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260901T073638Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Rome:20261112T230000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Rome:20261112T230000 SUMMARY:Reappraising nostalgia: The times and places of mindful yearning An international colloquium UID:20260901T073659Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@fe80:0:0:0:4024:76ff:fe73:ed37%3 TZID:Europe/Rome LOCATION:Macerata\, Italy DESCRIPTION:Reappraising nostalgia: The times and places of mindful yearning\n \;\nAn international colloquium organized by Silvia Pierosara and Guido Giglioni\n \;\nUniversità\; di Macerata\, Italy\n \;\n12-13 November 2026\n \;\nBy focusing on contextual clusters of meaning and historical interpretations dealing with notions of loss\, identity and impermanence\, this conference intends to explore the philosophical relevance of nostalgia for both contemporary thought and the history of ideas.\nFrom Johann Hofer in the late seventeenth century to Karl Jaspers in the twentieth century\, nostalgia has been described as a particular kind of affliction (Weh\, woe) involving emotional\, cognitive and physical symptoms. The origin of the word\, coined by Hofer by combining two Greek words\, sheds light on its meaning and history: nostos (&lsquo\;homecoming&rsquo\;) and algos (&lsquo\;pain&rsquo\;): a wistful longing for familiar surroundings (in Hofer&rsquo\;s case\, Switzerland). While being coterminous with such states of the mind and the body as yearning\, melancholy\, grief and regret\, and while overlapping such places of human action as dispossession\, exile and utopia\, nostalgia cannot be reduced to any of the states and places above. The observation and recording of the features underpinning the syndrome that took shape between the seventeenth and twentieth centuries testify to the slow accretion of cultural\, geographic and social meanings: the forced displacement from one&rsquo\;s native surroundings\; the distinctive landscape of the Alps\; the air\, the water and the food indispensable for the life of a community\; the emotions associated with the folk music of the area. And yet\, despite its being historically and geographically localized\, the story of nostalgia extends before and after the seventeenth century\, and beyond the confines of western sensibilities. After all\, nostos tells us of archives of immemorial myths\, while algia reminds us of contemporary and global anxieties.\nPossible directions and subjects of research include critical review of current models of identity and autonomy\; history of medical and psychiatric accounts of homesickness\; memories and the many precarious ways in which they can be recovered\; landscapes of longing and geographies of desire\; utopianism and imagined futures\; solastalgia and our disorientation at being confronted by the acceleration of environmental change\; non-western nostalgia. We want the scope of our conference to be bold\, far reaching and open to a diversity of approaches and interpretations\, both thematically and chronologically. The kind of nostalgic yearning on which we would like to focus our attention is associated with mindful reflection\, seen as way of enriching our thinking of human and non-human experiences of time.\nWhile featuring keynote addresses\, the conference invites speakers interested in the event&rsquo\;s themes through a call for papers. Applicants should send a title\, an abstract of about 250-500 words\, either in English or in Italian\, name\, affiliation and contact details to the following email addresses:\ns.pierosara@unimc.it\; guido.giglioni64@gmail.com\nThe deadline for submission is 15 June 2026. Successful applicants will be notified by 15 July 2026. ORGANIZER: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260901T073638Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261117T000000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261117T000000 SUMMARY:The Oxford Spinoza Conference 2027 UID:20260901T073700Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@fe80:0:0:0:4024:76ff:fe73:ed37%3 TZID:Europe/London LOCATION:Oxford\, United Kingdom DESCRIPTION:Call for Papers: The Oxford Spinoza Conference 2027 \; \; \;
\nThe \;Oxford Spinoza Conference \;is an annual gathering dedicated to exploring the myriad manners in which Benedict Spinoza has contributed to the history of philosophy\, and continues to shape our understanding of the world. \; Discussions are cross-generational and trans-disciplinary. The fifth edition will take place at \;Pembroke College \;on \;Thursday 13 May 2027. The theme of next year&rsquo\;s conference is: \; \; \;
\nThe Global Spinoza
Keynote Speakers
Mioko Kawazoe \;(Keio University\, Japan)
\nAlexander Douglas \;(University of St Andrews\, Scotland) \; \;
\n\nOn the occasion of the 350th anniversary of his death\, the exchanges will be dedicated to Spinoza's worldwide reception. Building on existing scholarship\, they will also explore how his thought resonates with a \;wide array of global philosophical traditions\, and how the latter help put Euro-Atlantic approaches into perspective. \; \;
\nPapers are welcome from \;across all generations \;of Spinoza scholars: \;we accept submissions from students\, early career researchers and experienced academics. Please feel free to circulate the call to colleagues both without and within the European\, English and American traditions. \;
\nAbstracts to \;osc@pmb.ox.ac.uk \;before \;17 November 2026. \; \;
\nThe conference is organised in collaboration with the Oxford Philosophy Faculty and the Maison Franç\;aise d&rsquo\;Oxford (MFO\, CNRS UAR 3129). Please note we encourage the broadest possible diversity of scholars to apply.
ORGANIZER: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260901T073638Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261231T000000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261231T000000 SUMMARY:Rilke and Philosophy – Historical and Systematic Analyses UID:20260901T073701Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@fe80:0:0:0:4024:76ff:fe73:ed37%3 TZID:Europe/London DESCRIPTION:Rilke and Philosophy &ndash\; Historical and Systematic Analyses
\nEdited by Moritz R. Pretzsch and Jan Kerkmann\, 2027
\nCall for Papers
\n&ldquo\;Rilke and philosophy&rdquo\; designates a relationship as multifaceted as it is fraught with tensions. Rainer Maria Rilke understood himself neither as a philosopher nor as the proponent of a systematic worldview. Nevertheless\, his work ranks among the most philosophically challenging achievements of literary modernism. His poetry develops a distinctive form of poetic thinking in which fundamental questions concerning being\, world\, language\, art\, time\, death\, love\, subjectivity\, and transcendence assume poetic form. Rilke&rsquo\;s writings do not articulate systematic doctrines\; rather\, they open up modes of experience and knowledge that resist purely conceptual comprehension and\, precisely for this reason\, pose a distinctive challenge to philosophical reflection. Their philosophical productivity lies not least in raising the question of whether poetry can yield knowledge where conceptual thought reaches its limits.
\nRilke&rsquo\;s work occupies the intersection of philosophy\, religion\, and art. It engages intensively with philosophical and theological traditions without aligning itself with any particular school or intellectual movement. His poetry develops a distinctive mode of disclosing the world in which perception\, language\, form\, and existence are inseparably intertwined. What is at stake is not merely the poetic treatment of philosophical motifs\, but a genuine movement of thought enacted by poetry itself. Rilke&rsquo\;s writings ask how the world becomes visible\, sayable\, and experienceable\; they explore how reality is transformed through the medium of language and how\, through poetic speech\, human beings may enter into a new relationship with things\, with themselves\, and with being.
\nParticularly characteristic in this regard is Rilke&rsquo\;s thinking of form. For him\, form is not merely aesthetic configuration but a way of ordering\, concentrating\, and rendering reality newly experienceable. In this sense\, Rilke&rsquo\;s poetry is closely connected with a &ldquo\;new seeing&rdquo\; that restores to things their independence while simultaneously transforming the human relationship to the world. Poetic language becomes an &ldquo\;Ortschaft der Worte&rdquo\; (&ldquo\;place of words&rdquo\;)\, in which being\, perception\, and expression permeate one another. Rilke&rsquo\;s poetry is therefore neither merely an expression of subjective inwardness nor decorative verbal art. It is a form of work upon the visibility of the world and\, at the same time\, upon one&rsquo\;s own existence.
\nRilke&rsquo\;s work emerged during a period of profound intellectual upheaval. Amid the erosion of metaphysical certainties\, the challenges posed by scientific and technological modernity\, a powerful belief in progress\, and the crisis of traditional religious frameworks of meaning\, he sought new possibilities for understanding both world and self. In doing so\, he engaged with philosophical and religious forms of thought without ever systematically adopting them. His engagement with Arthur Schopenhauer\, Sø\;ren Kierkegaard\, and Friedrich Nietzsche belongs to his intellectual horizon no less than his interest in Christian mysticism\, particularly Meister Eckhart\, as well as biblical and patristic traditions. His journeys to Russia brought him into contact with Orthodox spirituality and Russian religious philosophy\, while his encounters with Lou Andreas-Salomé\;\, Auguste Rodin\, and Paul Cé\;zanne had a lasting impact on his understanding of existence\, form\, work\, perception\, and artistic knowledge.
\nLou Andreas-Salomé\; is of particular importance in this context. Rilke&rsquo\;s relationship with her brings into focus questions concerning life and work\, help and self-help\, poetry and self-transformation. From this perspective\, Rilke&rsquo\;s writing may also be understood as a form of existential work in which thinking and writing acquire therapeutic\, orienting\, and transformative force. Poetry becomes a medium through which the past may be brought to life anew and through which experience\, memory\, and suffering may assume a new form of life. Art thus appears not as an escape from reality but as an arduous form of engagement with it.
\nRodin and Cé\;zanne likewise became decisive figures for Rilke&rsquo\;s poetic thinking. From Rodin\, Rilke learned the discipline of work\, the patience of form\, and an intense concentration on the thing. Cé\;zanne&rsquo\;s art\, in turn\, opened up a new mode of seeing in which things no longer appear merely as objects of subjective perception but emerge in their own presence\, density\, and silence. The silence surrounding things becomes\, in Rilke\, a philosophically significant realm of experience: it points towards a dimension of the world that cannot be immediately appropriated conceptually but becomes accessible only through attentive perception and poetic concentration.
\nAgainst this background\, philosophy in Rilke appears less as an academic discipline than as part of a comprehensive intellectual and existential search for an adequate way of seeing\, thinking\, and speaking. His poetry moves between a sense of belonging and existential groundlessness\, between connectedness to the world and solitude\, between body and spirit\, finitude and transcendence. Again and again\, it leads into states of suspension and lingering in which familiar certainties dissolve and new possibilities of relating to the world become visible. These states of suspension are among the philosophically most productive moments of Rilke&rsquo\;s work.
\nRilke&rsquo\;s points of contact with Eastern traditions of thought likewise deserve attention. Although there is no evidence of a systematic reception of either Buddhism or Daoism\, scholars have repeatedly identified motifs in his work that resonate with notions of serenity\, transformation\, emptiness\, non-availability\, and a deeper unity of all living things. Such intercultural perspectives open up new possibilities for reading Rilke&rsquo\;s poetry within the horizon of comparative philosophy while also bringing it into dialogue with contemporary debates concerning world-relation\, self-relation\, and transcendence.
\nThe philosophical key concepts of Rilke&rsquo\;s work likewise merit particular attention. Concepts such as thing\, transformation\, Weltinnenraum (&ldquo\;world inner space&rdquo\;)\, angel\, death\, love\, openness\, and song can be understood neither exclusively in poetological nor exclusively in metaphysical terms. Rather\, they form nodal points of a mode of thinking that interweaves ontological\, anthropological\, epistemological\, ethical\, and religious-philosophical dimensions. The New Poems\, The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge\, the Duino Elegies\, and the Sonnets to Orpheus thus belong among those works of European modernism in which philosophical questions are not merely taken up but transformed and developed further in poetic form.
\nOf particular philosophical significance is Rilke&rsquo\;s understanding of seeing. His poetry aims at a new mode of perception in which things no longer remain mere objects of human disposal but are allowed to appear in their own presence. Poetic seeing opens up a relation to the world that places perception and knowledge\, proximity and distance\, openness and form in a productive tension. It is precisely here that the distinctive contemporary relevance of his work becomes apparent. Rilke&rsquo\;s poetry reminds us that knowledge does not consist solely in conceptual apprehension\, but also in a patient\, attentive\, and transformative perception of reality.
\nEqually fundamental is Rilke&rsquo\;s understanding of being. His work revolves around the question of how human existence can succeed at all in the face of finitude\, transience\, and historical uncertainty. Recurring motifs of solitude\, existential groundlessness\, and the search for belonging point not merely to biographical experiences but to fundamental structures of human existence. Again and again\, Rilke&rsquo\;s poetry leads into states of suspension in which accustomed certainties are suspended and new possibilities of understanding self and world become visible. This movement of a &ldquo\;turn towards one&rsquo\;s own&rdquo\; (Wendung ins Eigene) does not signify a withdrawal from the world but rather the search for a deepened form of being-in-the-world.
\nClosely connected with this is a remarkable reflection on the relationship between life and work. For Rilke\, poetry appears not merely as aesthetic production but as a form of life\, a spiritual exercise\, and a continuous labour upon one&rsquo\;s own existence. In this sense\, art possesses an orienting and\, not infrequently\, therapeutic function. It opens possibilities for self-formation\, self-understanding\, and existential transformation without ever being reducible to an aesthetics of mere self-expression. The frequently noted unity of living and working thus provides a central key to understanding Rilke&rsquo\;s poetic thinking.
\nNot least\, Rilke&rsquo\;s work revolves around the relationship between body and spirit. His poetry moves beyond traditional dualisms by understanding embodiment\, perception\, and spirituality as mutually interdependent dimensions of human existence. Here in particular lies its proximity both to phenomenology and to more recent debates in philosophical anthropology. At the same time\, the famous thought expressed in the Sonnets to Orpheus that &ldquo\;Gesang ist Dasein&rdquo\; (&ldquo\;song is existence&rdquo\;) acquires a philosophical significance extending far beyond literature. Poetry appears not as an ornamental addition to life but as a way of bringing forth reality\, disclosing a world\, and enacting human existence.
\nIt is precisely here that we can see why Rilke&rsquo\;s work continues to exert such extraordinary philosophical fascination. His poems open up realms of experience in which language does not merely describe reality but allows it to become visible in a new way. Again and again\, they lead us to the point at which conceptual thought encounters its limits and poetic language opens up a distinctive form of knowledge. The linguistic rigour\, formal perfection\, and existential truthfulness so often associated with Rilke&rsquo\;s poetry therefore cannot be understood in exclusively literary terms. Rather\, they account for its status as a philosophical event. Rilke&rsquo\;s work challenges us to reconsider fundamentally the relationship between poetry and thought\, language and being\, art and truth.
\nNo less significant is Rilke&rsquo\;s impact on twentieth- and twenty-first-century philosophy. The philosophical significance of his work was recognised early on and was emphasised in its religious-philosophical and existential dimensions particularly by Romano Guardini. Few German-language poets of modernity have engaged philosophy as persistently as Rilke. Martin Heidegger repeatedly drew upon his poetry in his reflections on language\, being\, dwelling\, and the essence of poetry\; Hans-Georg Gadamer understood it as a paradigmatic site of the interrelation of poetry\, experience\, and understanding. Emmanuel Levinas\, Maurice Blanchot\, Jacques Derrida\, Michel Henry\, Jean-Luc Marion\, and Giorgio Agamben have likewise engaged productively with Rilke&rsquo\;s work in connection with questions of alterity\, phenomenology\, the invisible\, the gift\, language\, and finitude. In hermeneutics\, existential philosophy\, philosophical anthropology\, philosophy of religion\, aesthetics\, and philosophy of culture\, Rilke&rsquo\;s poetry has likewise lost none of its philosophical force.
\nIt is precisely here that its continuing relevance lies. In the context of contemporary debates concerning the possibilities and limits of linguistic representation\, the crisis of traditional frameworks of meaning\, the relationship between human beings and the world\, the role of aesthetic experience\, and the significance of poetic knowledge\, Rilke&rsquo\;s work opens up an exceptionally productive space for philosophical reflection. His writings remind us that the world is disclosed not through concepts alone but also through perception\, intuition\, imagination\, and poetic language. They challenge us to rethink the relationship between philosophy and literature\, thinking and poetry\, rationality and aesthetic experience. For this very reason\, Rilke&rsquo\;s work has the potential to make a significant contribution to contemporary debates in ontology\, philosophy of language\, anthropology\, philosophy of religion\, and aesthetics.
\nAgainst this background\, the proposed edited volume seeks to reassess Rilke&rsquo\;s relationship to philosophy from both historical and systematic perspectives. On the one hand\, contributions may investigate the philosophical presuppositions\, contexts\, and interlocutors of his work. These may include\, among others\, Schopenhauer\, Kierkegaard\, Nietzsche\, Meister Eckhart\, Christian mysticism\, Russian religious philosophy\, Rodin\, Cé\;zanne\, Lou Andreas-Salomé\;\, philosophy of life (Lebensphilosophie)\, and phenomenology. On the other hand\, the volume seeks to examine Rilke&rsquo\;s philosophical reception and influence up to the present day. Possible points of reference include Heidegger\, Guardini\, Gadamer\, Levinas\, Blanchot\, Derrida\, Michel Henry\, Jean-Luc Marion\, Giorgio Agamben\, as well as more recent approaches in hermeneutics\, phenomenology\, philosophy of religion\, philosophy of language\, philosophical anthropology\, and philosophy of culture.
\nThe volume expressly understands Rilke&rsquo\;s poetry not merely as an object of philosophical interpretation but as a distinctive site of philosophical world-disclosure in its own right. Its guiding question concerns the contribution that poetic thinking can make to philosophy&rsquo\;s understanding of itself. In this sense\, the volume seeks not to treat literature and philosophy as separate discourses\, but as mutually enriching modes of human experience\, knowledge\, and engagement with the world.
\nContributions are invited on topics including\, but not limited to:
\nContributions addressing other aspects of the relationship between Rilke&rsquo\;s poetry and philosophical thought are\, of course\, equally welcome.
\nAbstracts (in English) outlining historically or systematically oriented contributions (max. 500 words) should be submitted by 31 December 2026 to:
\njan.kerkmann@philosophie.uni-freiburg.de
\n\nDecisions on acceptance are expected to be communicated by 1 February 2027.
\nCompleted contributions (max. 60\,000 characters including spaces\, Times New Roman\, 1.5 line spacing) should be submitted by 1 July 2027.
\nThe edited volume will be published in 2027 by a renowned international academic publisher.
ORGANIZER: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260901T073638Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20270116T090000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20270116T090000 SUMMARY:CFP Discipline Filosofiche\, XXXVII\, 1\, 2027: Phenomenological Analyses of Emotions in their Ontological and Metaphysical Implications\, ed. by Giuliana Mancuso UID:20260901T073702Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@fe80:0:0:0:4024:76ff:fe73:ed37%3 TZID:Europe/London DESCRIPTION:DISCIPLINE FILOSOFICHE\, XXXVII\, 1\, 2027: PHENOMENOLOGICAL ANALYSES OF EMOTIONS IN THEIR ONTOLOGICAL AND METAPHYSICAL IMPLICATIONS Edited by Giuliana Mancuso Over the past twenty years\, scientific literature on emotions has grown enormously\, and the same has occurred in philosophy. In light of the assumptions&mdash\;often implicit&mdash\;that guide scientific research programs\, the wealth of their findings\, and the explanatory hypotheses advanced on the basis of such observational and theoretical grounds\, it is inevitable that philosophers ask what the specific contribution of philosophy to research on emotions might be\, given the intertwining of physiological\, expressive\, behavioral\, cognitive\, evaluative\, normative\, and motivational components that emotions involve\, as well as their social relevance. In other words\, what does philosophy have to say about emotions in relation to what the natural and social sciences already tell us about them? The answers naturally vary depending on the conceptions one may hold of philosophy\, but there is a particular philosophical tradition that appears especially well suited to addressing phenomena such as emotions in their characteristic two-fold nature as subjective\, first-person experiences and at the same time as objective experiences that disclose aspects of the world&mdash\;a two-fold structure that philosophical reflections on emotions have often sacrificed in favor of one aspect or the other. This tradition is phenomenology\, understood not generically as an empirical investigation of &ldquo\;what it is like to feel\,&rdquo\; but properly as the study of embodied consciousness in its directedness toward other subjects as well as toward objects\, states of affairs\, and events in the world. With respect to the contemporary philosophy of emotions as a chapter of the philosophy of mind in its relation to the cognitive sciences\, the phenomenological approach in fact claims a primacy that is\, first of all\, temporal. Between the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries\, emotions acquired centrality in philosophy primarily thanks to what Husserl described as an already existing method\, of which Husserlian transcendental phenomenology conceived itself as &ldquo\;a certain radicalization&rdquo\; (HUA IX\, 302). This was descriptive or phenomenological psychology\, a philosophical research project on consciousness and its lived experiences that ran parallel and as an alternative to the experimental psychology of the time. Its main figures were Brentano\, Stumpf\, and Th. Lipps\, and it was from this tradition that Husserl himself set out in his \;Logical Investigations. Under the influence of Husserl\, it was then Lipps&rsquo\;s students and collaborators in Munich\, and later Husserl&rsquo\;s in Gö\;ttingen\, who defended the idea of a distinctive affective intentionality irreducible to that of other mental states such as beliefs\, judgments\, or desires. In their works they developed extraordinarily detailed eidetic analyses of particular classes of emotional experiences\, their contents\, and the themes connected with them&mdash\;analyses that\, in what is perhaps the most famous case\, that of Max Scheler\, culminated in a complex philosophical theory of emotional functions and acts\, as well as of their objects\, namely values. In subsequent developments of phenomenological philosophy\, the role accorded to affectivity remained central in Heidegger\, Sartre\, Merleau-Ponty\, Levinas\, and Henry\, as well as later in Hermann Schmitz&rsquo\;s &ldquo\;new phenomenology&rdquo\;&mdash\;with its conception of emotions as spatially extended atmospheres that transcend the mind/body distinction and the distinction between psychophysically separate individuals&mdash\;in Waldenfels&rsquo\;s &ldquo\;responsive phenomenology\,&rdquo\; and\, finally\, in the numerous studies of recent years at the intersection of phenomenology and the cognitive sciences on classical phenomenological themes such as intersubjectivity\, empathy\, and the emotional forms of collective intentionality. In such a context\, a renewed focus on emotions and values has been prompted by the publication\, in 2020\, of the \;Studien zur Struktur des Bewusstseins \;(HUA XLIII)\, which bring together analyses carried out by Husserl between 1909 and 1914 and subsequently in the first half of the 1920s. Against this background\, \;Discipline filosofiche \;intends to devote a special issue to phenomenological analyses of emotions\, past and present\, and invites authors to submit contributions on the following topics:
\nThe \;Oxford Spinoza Conference \;is an annual gathering dedicated to exploring the myriad manners in which Benedict Spinoza has contributed to the history of philosophy\, and continues to shape our understanding of the world. \;
\nDiscussions are cross-generational and trans-disciplinary. The fifth edition will take place at \;Pembroke College \;on \;Thursday 13 May 2027. The theme of next year&rsquo\;s conference is: \; \; \;
\nThe Global Spinoza
Keynote Speakers
Mioko Kawazoe \;(Keio University\, Japan)
\nAlexander Douglas \;(University of St Andrews\, Scotland) \; \;
\nOn the occasion of the 350th anniversary of his death\, the exchanges will be dedicated to Spinoza's worldwide reception. Building on existing scholarship\, they will also explore how his thought resonates with a \;wide array of global philosophical traditions\, and how the latter help put Euro-Atlantic approaches into perspective. \; \;
\nPapers are welcome from \;across all generations \;of Spinoza scholars: \;we accept submissions from students\, early career researchers and experienced academics. Please feel free to circulate the call to colleagues both without and within the European\, English and American traditions. \;
\nAbstracts to \;osc@pmb.ox.ac.uk \;before \;17 November 2026. \; \;
\nThe conference is organised in collaboration with the Oxford Philosophy Faculty and the Maison Franç\;aise d&rsquo\;Oxford (MFO\, CNRS UAR 3129). Please note we encourage the broadest possible diversity of scholars to apply.
ORGANIZER: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260901T073638Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20300531T090000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20300531T090000 SUMMARY:Phenomenologies of Religious Experience UID:20260901T073705Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@fe80:0:0:0:4024:76ff:fe73:ed37%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) \;