PhilSoc and the Philosophy Department are hosting a panel and discussion on a currently interesting, even pressing issue, of significance for philosophy and education. Students and faculty will put ideas and questions about ChatGPT and surrounding issues on the table, followed by discussion. All students and staff welcome.

Thinking Spaces – A Roundtable Discussion

with Matthew Bliss (History of Arts), Tobias Keiling (Philosophy), Hana Samaržija (Philosophy), and Naomi Waltham-Smith (CIM)

(Third instalment of the event series Philosophy Goes Architecture)

Tuesday, 2 May, 5:30pm–7pm (followed by drinks reception)

Venue: S0.11 (ground floor Social Sciences)

 Doing philosophy is an embodied activity: it is always someone who thinks, and so thoughts are had, expanded, and written down somewhere, often in human-made surroundings that reflect societal values, ideological currents, and particular interests. How do these spaces interact with the individuals that populate them? How does spatial design interfere with intellectual labour? How does the history of buildings leave a trace on the products of the mind?

The invited speakers are asked to respond to these and similar questions, drawing on their own research and preferred approaches. They are particularly encouraged to relate their answers to our shared experience as people who work and think in the English Midlands, in Coventry, on Warwick Campus, at their respective departments.

All Warwick Philosophy students and staff (permanent, sessional, administrative) are invited to attend and join the discussion!

Contact: simon.gansinger@warwick.ac.uk

Followed by drinks reception

The symposium will be an opportunity for some PhD students working on continental political philosophy to discuss their works with peers and other members of the staff.

It will take place in room S0.17 on the 7^th of June, from 3pm to 7pm. Thanks to the Philosophy Student Events fund, the symposium will be followed by a wine reception!

Everyone is more than welcome to join.

This dinner will be open to all of our new PG students. Please could we ask any staff wishing to come along to sign up via this online form so we have an idea of numbers: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/philosophy/intranets/postgraduatehome/welcomepostgraduates/graduatebuffet

Open to all PG students and staff but again please do register if you are coming so we can make sure we order enough lunch and meet any dietary requirements!
https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/philosophy/intranets/postgraduatehome/welcomepostgraduates/graduatebuffet

10:30AM-11:30AM

Ben Campion, “Collaboration and Trust in Photography”

Commentator: Ben Ferguson

11:45AM- 12:45PM

Ying Xue, “Does Universality Matter to Freedom? -- A Comparison Between Hegel and Harry Frankfurt”

Commentator: Nadine Elzein

12:45- 1:45PM

Lunch

1:45AM-2:45PM

Chris Bowling, “The Genealogy of Morals as a 'Critical History’”

Commentator: Tim Stoll

2:45PM-3:15PM- Break

3:15PM-4:15PM:

Maria Zanella, “Could Sadness be a Bodily Feeling?”

Commentator: Johannes Roessler

W2 - What is Theology? Paul Tillich, Systematic Theology, V1, Introduction.

Please get in touch with Benedikt (Vaclav.Loula@warwick.ac.uk) to register your interest, or rock up at the designated time if you feel like joining fellow-minded seekers of wisdom to break (intellectual) bread with.

Eve Poirer will present 'Plausible Abstractions: The role of fiction, truth and history in Genealogy and State of Nature Philosophy'. Everyone welcome!

Abstract

What is the place of historical truth in Genealogy? Why appeal to State of Nature stories even when we know they could never have happened? How far can philosophy abstract from reality while still having explanatory relevance? Pulling from Bernard Williams, Nietzsche, Nozick, Foucault and others, I will attempt to tackle some of these questions: exploring broadly the interaction between supposedly true historical happenings and fictional abstractions in Genealogies and State of Nature stories. I will discuss the purposes for which Genealogy is employed, the way in which State of Nature stories attempt to abstract from history, and the importance of 'plausibility' or 'conceivability' in the explanatory relevance or effectiveness of Genealogy. From this, I hope to suggest some conclusions about the appropriate and inappropriate use of Genealogy. That said, this is a work very much in progress on a very broad topic, so I hope that there will be further conclusion to be found in the discussion.

Teams link

https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3aa49e6af9675349fda02fee164134326a%40thread.tacv2/1696871238131?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2209bacfbd-47ef-4465-9265-3546f2eaf6bc%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22fdb1bbe9-d582-4ba3-8da8-3fb0a6c42dc8%22%2c%22MessageId%22%3a%221696871351606%22%7d

W4 - First use of the term (excerpts)

Plato - Republic, Aristotle - Metaphysics, Cicero - De natura Deorum, Augustine - De Civitate Dei (on Varro)

Please get in touch with Benedikt (Vaclav.Loula@warwick.ac.uk) to register your interest, or rock up at the designated time if you feel like joining fellow-minded seekers of wisdom to break (intellectual) bread with.

W6 - Early Christianity: Faith and Reason (excerpts)

Paul the Apostle - 1 Corinthians 1&2, Celsus - On the True Doctrine, Tertullian - On the Prescriptions of Heretics, Augustine - De Civitate Dei.

Please get in touch with Benedikt (Vaclav.Loula@warwick.ac.uk) to register your interest, or rock up at the designated time if you feel like joining fellow-minded seekers of wisdom to break (intellectual) bread with.

Open to all MA and MPhil students.

Meet your peers, discuss modules, generate essay ideas, discover Warwick University's offering, distribute academic resources and more!

For any questions, email: Amrita.Tewari@warwick.ac.uk

The metaethics reading group is a venue for those interested in metaethics to talk through metaethics papers (either contemporary or classic) that are relevant to their work - whether that be for an undergraduate essay/dissertation or postgraduate/professional research. We meet regularly to talk through a paper suggested by a member of the group.

If you are interested please email k.a.surgener@warwick.ac.uk to be added to our mailing list.

We encourage student who identify as trans and want to explore and share their experiences at university, particularly in terms of mental health and wellbeing, to sign up for this workshop led by Dorian, the Trans Officer for the SU. The numbers are currently low, so if you want to contribute to changes to how university supports students who identify as trans, please do sign up to make the event happen! Please also share within your networks if you can!

Please note that this event is only open to members of the trans community.

For Trans Day of Remembrance, you can join in creating chalk art on the pavements around campus and placing commemorations of trans and gender-diverse lives lost in the past year. This event is open to anyone, and materials will be provided!

For Trans Day of Remembrance, we are holding a vigil to remember trans and gender-diverse lives lost to transphobic bigotry and violence in the past year. There will be speeches and reading of names at the Piazza. This event is open to anyone and please note that traditional candles will not be used during this event, but feel free to bring battery-powered lights or signs.

Finally, we encourage everyone to read up on resources to learn more about being trans. Warwick Pride has a vast number of resources available for anyone to read and the University of Warwick website also has a dedicated page for students who identify as trans. We also encourage everyone to reach out to Warwick Wellbeing to get support if you are struggling. Warwick Wellbeing offers drop-in brief consultations as well as longer-term support if needed.

W8 - Theology as an academic discipline (excerpts)

Boethius - On the Holy Trinity, Aquinas - Selection from works

Please get in touch with Benedikt (Vaclav.Loula@warwick.ac.uk) to register your interest, or rock up at the designated time if you feel like joining fellow-minded seekers of wisdom to break (intellectual) bread with.

Open to all MA and MPhil students.

Meet your peers, discuss modules, generate essay ideas, discover Warwick University's offering, distribute academic resources and more!

For any questions, email: Amrita.Tewari@warwick.ac.uk

Our next postgraduate Work in Progress (WiP) seminar is taking place this Thursday 23rd November from 5-6:15 PM in S2.77 and on Teams. Fridolin Neumann will present 'Heidegger on Kant and Ontological Intuition'. Everyone welcome!

Abstract:

In the 1920s and 1930s, Heidegger intensively engaged with Kant’s philosophy in a way that he himself acknowledges as “violent” since it always attempts to capture the unsaid in the written word. My talk revolves around a crucial claim Heidegger makes about Kant’s theory of cognition, evoking discomfort in every loyal Kantian: “knowing is primarily intuiting [Erkennen ist primär Anschauen].” I argue that in order to understand what is at stake here this claim must be interpreted along the lines of Heidegger’s distinction between ontic and ontological cognition (that is, cognition of entities on the one hand and cognition of being transcendentally determining our encounter with entities on the other hand). As I propose, the supposed primacy of intuition mainly refers to ontological cognition and hereby offers an account of human responsiveness to ontological norms which determine our ontic experience of entities in the first place. In Heidegger’s account, this (ontological) responsiveness is cashed out in terms of intuition which is structurally similar to (ontic) intuition involved in sensible perception. I proceed by first elaborating on the distinction between ontic and ontological cognition to then argue why Heidegger’s thesis about intuition should be understood as referring to the latter. After that, I sketch what it means to understand ontological cognition in terms of intuition.

The metaethics reading group is a venue for those interested in metaethics to talk through metaethics papers (either contemporary or classic) that are relevant to their work - whether that be for an undergraduate essay/dissertation or postgraduate/professional research. We meet regularly to talk through a paper suggested by a member of the group.

If you are interested please email k.a.surgener@warwick.ac.uk to be added to our mailing list.

W10 - Inventing Modern Natural Theology

Herbert, Lord Cherbury - De Veritate, Descartes - selections from Meditations, Locke - Selections from Essay and A Letter Concerning Toleration.

Please get in touch with Benedikt (Vaclav.Loula@warwick.ac.uk) to register your interest, or rock up at the designated time if you feel like joining fellow-minded seekers of wisdom to break (intellectual) bread with.

Open to all MA and MPhil students.

Meet your peers, discuss modules, generate essay ideas, discover Warwick University's offering, distribute academic resources and more!

For any questions, email: Amrita.Tewari@warwick.ac.uk

Wednesday 6th December, 5 - 7pm

2023 Philosophy Christmas lecture: 'Myself and my selfie.'

Speaker: Professor Heather Widdows (Philosophy Department, University of Warwick

Where: L3 Sciences Concourse

With responses by:

• Ben Campion (PhD student)
• Kaylei Vernon (UG student, 3rd year PPL)
• Erin Doherty (UG student 3rd year PPE)

Everyone is welcome!

Nibbles and drinks included!