Philosophy Research Seminar

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The Philosophy Research Seminar (formerly known as The Department Seminar) is central to the academic life of the School of History, Philosophy, and Digital Humanities. The seminar runs most weeks in term time.

The Philosophy Research Seminar takes place on Friday afternoons through the Autumn and Spring terms (2:30-4:30 pm) in Broad Lane, Lecture Theatre 4

Speakers present their paper (sometime shared in advance) for 45 minutes, followed by a short break and discussion.

For more information, please, contact:

Jerry Viera - g.viera@sheffield.ac.uk or Ed Matthews - e.p.matthews@sheffield.ac.uk. 

All are welcome!

Upcoming events

Spring 2025

DateSpeakerTitle of paper
21st February - The Open СŷÊÓƵThe shield of Achilles and the marvellous sophist’s mirror
28th February - Stockholm СŷÊÓƵ

‘The New Bigamy?

Systematically Deceptive Relationships and the Law’

7th March - СŷÊÓƵ of CambridgeForgetting to some purpose
14th March - СŷÊÓƵ of London'Not just tools, but agents: an overlooked requirement for agentive AI' - Hang Seng Centre for Cognitive Studies' Distinguished Lecture in Cognitive Science
21st MarchChris Bennett - СŷÊÓƵ of SheffieldReparations for Historical Injustice: The Role of Apology
28th March - СŷÊÓƵ of Cambridge Towards a History of Philosophy? Early Modern Women Philosophers and the Canon: A Case Study (change of room, please check the event page)
4th April - Durham СŷÊÓƵDon’t Worry About Me: Paternalism, Authority, and Relationships
23rd May - СŷÊÓƵ of California, San DiegoDesert and Liability
16th May - Northeastern СŷÊÓƵReligious Freedom, Social Status, and Fairness: Why Power and Privilege Matter When Assessing Religious Accommodations

Past events

Autumn 2024
DateSpeakerTitle of paper
11th October - СŷÊÓƵ of Oxford

SPECIAL LECTURE - EXPANDING THE CANON

'Rethinking Responsibility'

18th October- Lancaster СŷÊÓƵ'Frances Power Cobbe and Animal Ethics'
25th October- СŷÊÓƵ of Sheffield'The Mismeasure of Pain' 
1st November - СŷÊÓƵ of SheffieldSPECIAL LECTURE - THE PHILOSOPHY OF DISABILITY AND DIFFERENCE - 'Cripistemologies of Chronicity: A "coalition of the 'left-behinds'"
8th November - СŷÊÓƵ of Bristol'Living forces and Stationary action: Leibniz at the limits of analytic mechanics'
22nd November - Cardiff СŷÊÓƵ'Aesthetic Slurs'
6th December- СŷÊÓƵ of Edinburgh'Pornography, Objectification, and Fungibility'
13th December - СŷÊÓƵ of Bristol'Social Metaphysical Explanation'
Autumn 2023
DateSpeakerTitle of paper
13th OctoberDavid Papineau - Kings College LondonThe Moral Irrelvance of Consciousness
20th October - CANCELLEDRachel Fraser - Oxford СŷÊÓƵ - CANCELLEDOpen-mindedness as Curiosity - CANCELLED
27th OctoberIan Kidd - The СŷÊÓƵ of NottinghamMisanthropy
3rd November - CANCELLEDHelen Frowe - Stockholm Ð¡Å·ÊÓƵ - CANCELLED(Some Nascent Thoughts on) The Moral Permissibility of Collective Defence Agreements - CANCELLED
10th NovemberLea Cantor - СŷÊÓƵ of CambridgeAncient philosophy within a global purview: from historiography to first-order philosophical interpretation
17th NovemberCamil Golub - Rutgers СŷÊÓƵThe Good, the Bad, and the Meaningful
24th NovemberEmma Borg - СŷÊÓƵ of ReadingAre Heuristics Unthinking Processes? The No Reasons challenge to Common-sense Psychology
1st DecemberRichard Pettigrew - СŷÊÓƵ of Bristol What is the distinctive wrong of testimonial injustice?
8th DecemberGonzalo Velasco Arias - Universidad Carlos IIIOn Online Virtuous Deference
Spring 2024
DateSpeakerTitle of paper
16th FebruaryMichael Ridge - СŷÊÓƵ of EdinburghImmoral Hopes
23rd FebruaryAlexander Prescott-Couch - Oxford СŷÊÓƵAgainst Problematization Accounts of Genealogical Critique
1st MarchFrederique Janssen-Lauret - СŷÊÓƵ of Manchester (Women in the History of Philosophy Annual Lecture)Susan Stebbing’s Philosophy of Physics
8th MarchRachel Fraser - СŷÊÓƵ of OxfordPractical Assurance
22nd MarchDaniel Rothschild - СŷÊÓƵ College LondonLearning Curves: Machine and human learning

19th-20th April

(Two day conference)

Teemu Toppinen - Tampere СŷÊÓƵ & Vilma I Venesmaa - СŷÊÓƵ of HelsinkiConference title: Explaining Normativity
26th AprilPatrice Haynes - СŷÊÓƵ of Nottingham (Minorities and Philosophy Annual Lecture)TBC
3rd MayZsuzsanna ChappellThe Philosophy of Disability and Difference
10th MayJonathan Parry - London School of EconomicsWhy Paternalism is Wrong (When It is Wrong)?
   
2022

Autumn 2022

DateSpeakerTitle of paper
13th OctoberExpanding the Canon Annual Lecture - , СŷÊÓƵ of Sheffield, UKFanon and the Body Schema
21st October, Ð¡Å·ÊÓƵ of St Andrews, UKThe Tyrant and the Failure of Philia
4th November, Ð¡Å·ÊÓƵ of Sheffield, UKGetting what you "want"
4th November​*(Online Only - , King's College London, UK
Note change time: 6.00-8.00 pm - Zoom Link to join .
Thought and Feeling: George Eliot and the Expansion of Philosophy
18th November, Ð¡Å·ÊÓƵ of Leeds, UK Truth and rationality in mindreading
Postponed (Date TBC)Women in the History of Philosophy Annual Lecture - Rescheduled to 3rd March 
2nd December, Cardiff СŷÊÓƵ, UKCommitment on-line: On taking responsibility for one’s words on social media
9th December, Ð¡Å·ÊÓƵ of Texas, Austin, USAWhat We Make When We Make an Effort
2023

Spring 2023

DateSpeakerTitle of paper
27th January​, Brown СŷÊÓƵ, USA - ICOSS Conference Room - this talk will take place at 3:30 pmDeliberation and Fetish
10th FebruaryCancelled 
17th February, King's College London, UKKnotty Promises
24th February, Tel-Hai Academic College, IsraelSentiments and personal identity
3rd MarchWomen in the History of Philosophy Annual Lecture - , Birkbeck, СŷÊÓƵ of LondonThe Theoretical and Practical Philosophy of Dr Sophie Bryant (1850-1922)
10th March, Virginia Tech СŷÊÓƵ, USAHumorlessness as a Moral Vice
17th MarchCancelled 
24th March, Vanderbilt СŷÊÓƵ, USAWhen Emotions Go Wrong: Epistemic and Ethical Distortions
31st March, The СŷÊÓƵ of Sydney, AustraliaHave You Forgiven Me?
28th April, Ð¡Å·ÊÓƵ of Warwick, UKExtremism, Radicalism, and the Politics of Labelling
5th May, Ð¡Å·ÊÓƵ College London, UK 
12th May

The Minorities and Philosophy Annual Lecture - , Universitat de Barcelona

Register at 

​Gender Identity, First-Person Authority,  and Philosophy of Mind
19th May, СŷÊÓƵ of Texas, Austin, USAArt and Responsibility
June (Date TBC), Georgetown СŷÊÓƵ, USA
2022

Spring 2022

DateSpeakerTitle of paper
25th February* (Queen’s СŷÊÓƵ, Canada)Martin Luther King on Fearlessness and Faith
4th March* (Northwestern СŷÊÓƵ)Against Irrationalism in the Theory of Propaganda
11th March (СŷÊÓƵ of Edinburgh)Interpersonal Reasoning
18th March (СŷÊÓƵ of Edinburgh)Decolonizing the Intersection: Conceptual and Empirical Evidence against the Presuppositions of Intersectional Theory
25th March (СŷÊÓƵ of Essex)Kierkegaard on Thoughts
29th April (СŷÊÓƵ of Oxford) 
6th May (Open СŷÊÓƵ)MAP Lecture
13th May (École Normale Supérieure)Anticipating Pain
2021

Autumn 2021

DateSpeakerTitle of paper
8th October* (Washington СŷÊÓƵ St Louis)Informational Chauvinism
15th OctoberJames Chamberlain (СŷÊÓƵ of Sheffield)A Humean account of  moral intuitions
22nd October* (СŷÊÓƵ of Connecticut)Resistance isn't Futile:  Fending off Toxic Speech
29th October* (Harvard СŷÊÓƵ)The Phenomenal Public
5th November (СŷÊÓƵ of Groningen)Testimonial  injustice in law: Victims and witnesses of climate injustice
19th November (СŷÊÓƵ of Glasgow)The Reality of Colour  Illusion
26th November (СŷÊÓƵ of Glasgow)What is Trustworthiness?
3rd December (СŷÊÓƵ of Edinburgh)Decolonizing the  Intersection: Conceptual and Empirical Evidence against the Presuppositions of  Intersectional Theory
10th December (СŷÊÓƵ of Birmingham)Procreative Justice:  Genetic Selection and Skin Tone


Spring 2021
 

DateSpeakerTitle of paper
19th FebruaryVanessa Wills (George Washington)The 'White Privilege' Concept in Marxism and in Critical Race Theory
26th FebruaryStephen Darwall (Yale)Transformative Knowledge of Love and Respect: The Cases of James Baldwin and Frederick Douglass
5th MarchMargot Strohminger (Australian Catholic)What’s the difference between supposing and imagining?
12th MarchAdriana Clavel-Vasquez (Oxford)Controlling (mental) images and the aesthetic appreciation of racialized bodies
19th MarchCandice Delmas (Northeastern)Uncivil disobedience from Black
Lives Matter to the Capitol (2pm)
26th MarchLaura Valentini (LMU Munich)Normative Powers
23rd AprilJimmy Lenman (Sheffield)Confucius or Plato?
30th AprilJules Holroyd (Sheffield)Bad Praise
7th MayMuhammad Ali Khalidi (CUNY)Language & Social Ontology
14th MayJessica Leech (KCL)Martha Kneale's Necessary A Posteriori
2020

Autumn 2020

DateSpeakerTitle of paper
9th OctoberDavid Enoch (Hebrew СŷÊÓƵ)Why Care about Morality, Robustly Realistically Understood
16th OctoberCaspar Hare (MIT)Pleasing the Crowd Within
23rd OctoberLiz Camp (Rutgers)Perspectival Complacency, Perversion and Amelioration
30th OctoberJustin Clarke - Doane (Columbia)Russell's Regressive Method in Mathematics and Philosophy
6th NovemberWilliam Paris (Wesleyan)Looking for Tomorrow in Yesterday: W.E.B. Du Bois and the Utopia of The Souls of Black Folk.
13th NovemberNo SeminarReading Week
20th NovemberThi Nguyen (Utah)Value Capture and Value Collapse (4pm)
27th NovemberCarrie Fidgor (Iowa)What Could Cognition Be, If Not Human Cognition?
4th DecemberKomarine Romdenh-Romluc (Sheffield)Now and Then: Thinking about Time
11th DecemberMargot Strohminger (ACU)Supposition, Imagination, and Offline Belief (Time TBC)
18th DecemberHarjit Bhogal (Maryland)Strikingness (3pm)

Spring 2020

DateSpeakerTitle of paper
14 FebruarySeiriol Morgan (Bristol)On Entitlement
28 FebruaryTom Stern (UCL)Nietzsche's Ethics
6 MarchNatalie Ashton (Stirling)

Productive Online Environments: Why Twitter is (Epistemically) Better than Facebook

Minorities And Philosophy (MAP) Annual Lecture

Please note change of venue to Hicks Lecture Theatre 5

20 MarchKomarine Romdenh-Romluc (Sheffield)'Now' Thoughts
27 MarchBoudewijn de Bruin (Groningen)Self-Fulfilling Epistemic Injustice
3 AprilCarrie Figdor (Iowa)Towards a Non-Anthropocentric Psychology
1 MayDan Watts (Essex)Kierkegaard on the Limits of Reason and the Freedom to Judge
15 MayJessica Leech (King’s College London)

Martha Kneale on Why Metaphysical Necessities Are Not A Priori

Annual Women in the History of Philosophy lecture

2019

Autumn 2019

DateSpeakerTitle of paper
4 October (Barcelona)Imperative Transparency
18 OctoberMax Hayward (Sheffield)Terrestrial Ethics
25 October (СŷÊÓƵ College Dublin)Fragrant Games - Playing With Perfumes
1 November (Durham)How To Be An Epistemic Constitutivist
8 November (Duisburg-Essen)The Dark Side of Forgiveness
29 November (Oxford)Skepticism About Cases in Philosophy, Near and Far
13 December (Kings College London)The Wrong of Untruthfulness

Spring 2019

DateSpeakerTitle of paper
8 FebruaryAre the Norms of Assertion Social Norms?
22 FebruaryEpistemic Dilemmas and the Fixed-Point Thesis
1 MarchMinorities and Philosophy Annual lecture: Holding Resistance Hostage: When Resistance Is Futile
8 MarchSelf-Trust and Discriminatory Speech
22 MarchResponding to The Negative Repugnant Conclusion
29 MarchTatjana von Solodkoff (СŷÊÓƵ College Dublin)Cancelled
5 AprilAnnual Women in the History of Philosophy lecture: Rose Rand (1903–1980) from the Archives: Real and Unreal 
3 MayMegan Blomfield (Sheffield)Epistemic injustice in asylum claim credibility assessments
10 MayOn biological individuality
2018

Autumn 2018

DateSpeakerTitle of paper
12 OctoberDr Chris Marshall (Sheffield)Killing Innocent Threats and Ducking Harm
19 OctoberDisagreement about Logic: How and When
26 OctoberTBA
2 NovemberInter-temporal choice and the metaphysics of time
16 NovemberPluralism about moral worth
23 NovemberProf. Robert Stern (Sheffield)Beast or Neighbour? Logstrup and Levinas on the Relation Between Ethics and Politics
30 NovemberIs Aesthetic Immoralism Obviously True
7 DecemberRisk Imposition and Duties of Care

 Spring 2018

DateSpeakerTitle of paper
16 FebMinorities and Philosophy Annual lecture: "Slaves and Tyrants: Freedom and Domination in the Vindication of the Rights of Women"
2 MarchMeaning Pluralism, Linguistic Register and Slurs
9 MarchKomarine Romdenh-Romluc (Sheffield)Homo Aestheticus
16 MarchAmbivalence - cancelled due to proposed UCU industrial action.
20 AprilFrom Duty for the Right Reasons
27 AprilVirtual Representation in Pictorial Space
4 May  Annual Women in the History of Philosophy lecture: "The Republican Family in the Revolution: Adapting and Subverting Rousseau"
11 MayCulpable ignorance and mental disorders

Events at the СŷÊÓƵ

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