Supported by the 糖心视频 and jointly hosted by Guildford School of Acting and the Centre for Translation Studies at the University of Surrey.

This one-day symposium explores philosophical issues around disability and accessibility in the performing arts. Focused on themes including aesthetic justice and community, cross-modal perception, meaning-making, sensory sensitivity, inclusivity and specific access practices such as audio description, the event brings together philosophers, performing artists and access practitioners. 

The event is in-person and free to attend but registration is required. Register here: 

A draft programme for the event is available here: 

Speakers: Rebecca Comay (Toronto), Peter Osborne (Kingston), Gregor Sch盲fer (Basel), Christoph Schuringa (Northwestern).

While Hegel鈥檚&苍产蝉辫;Lectures on Fine Art (1818鈥�29) have received much attention in recent scholarship, the question of how exactly art impacts political life remains open. How should we interpret Hegel’s view of this matter, and how ought we to theorize the interaction between art and society in general? In Hegel鈥檚 system, the emergence of art is linked to historical processes of conflict, struggle, and contradiction, thereby expressing spirit’s liberation beyond the confines of a specific historical situation. In world history (where art’s absolute spirit comes to the fore), established forms of political life, institutions and traditional ways of thinking and acting appear fragile and debatable. As an 鈥榦ld鈥� form of socio-political life comes to an end, art is the first sensuous embodiment of this dissolution and the medium in which the transition to a new form of socio-political life manifests itself. Hegel鈥檚 theorem that in modern times art 鈥榟as become a thing of the past鈥� and no longer fulfils 鈥榯he highest need [Bestimmung] of human spirit鈥� (often referred to as art鈥檚 鈥榚nd鈥�) is therefore paradoxical: rather than simply stating the irrelevance of art for the present, it points to art as something that reflects on and expresses the current historical-political state in all its contradictions. 

The workshop aims to develop a fresh perspective on the intersection between aesthetics and politics in Hegel鈥檚 philosophy. It seeks to reconsider Hegel鈥檚 claim that art is absolute spirit鈥檚 initial form (before religion and philosophy) and its sensuous embodiment, and its critical potential in modern society. Speakers will address the issue of how we should read the paradoxical figure of art鈥檚 鈥榚nd鈥�, its possible emancipatory role, namely the question of how art not only articulates the predicament of our present society in a visible form, but may also actively participate in its actual transformation. 

This in-person workshop will take place at the University of London Senate House. All welcome; advance online registration essential. Registration: 拢10 (standard rate); 拢5 (students).

The workshop is organised by C忙cilie Varslev-Pedersen (University of Southampton) and Gregor Sch盲fer (Institute of Languages, Cultures and Societies, University of London/University of Basel), and sponsored by The Mind Association.

The event will take place at Edificio de Humanidades UNED, Madrid 鈥� Sala B, from 10am to 17:45pm. It will also be streamed online. Attendance is free and open to all, but if you wish to attend online please email us at metis@fsof.uned.es at least two days in advance.

This event is organised by Paloma Atencia-Linares and Nemesio Garc铆a-Carril Puy as part of the project听听with the support of the听糖心视频.

Assistants: Sergio A帽贸n Lij贸 (Complutense University), Ram贸n Carnota M茅ndez (UNED), Carlos Ib谩帽ez Garc铆a (Complutense University).

Dr Christopher Earley (Edinburgh)听
“Art and the Aesthetics of Inquiring”

Wednesday 26th听November 2025
4:10-5:30pm
John Percival Building, Room 3.47, Cardiff University

All Welcome!

Abstract

Philosophers of art often argue that there is a close relation between an artwork鈥檚 cognitive value and its aesthetic value. Typically, they do so by demonstrating how experiencing the aesthetic features of an artwork alters our understanding of a particular aspect of the world. I argue for an alternative way of understanding this relationship. I propose that, due to the collaborative nature of inquiry in the arts, artworks often prompt audiences to appreciate the aesthetic qualities of their own acts of inquiring. I put forward an account of how one can aesthetically experience one鈥檚 own epistemic agency, how these aesthetic experiences might help enhance our epistemic standing, and, in doing so, aim to shed light on an understudied yet highly significant aspect of art appreciation.

Recording

The organisers aim to record the talk and听make it available through their website for anyone who can鈥檛 make it. However, please bear with them while we are changing websites.

Dinner & Drinks

After the talk, they鈥檒l head for a drink, followed by dinner. The British Society of听Aesthetics听has agreed to cover dinner expenses for听up to two students. Students who are interested in this opportunity are invited to contact the organiser (dixond7@cardiff.ac.uk). Anyone else who鈥檇 like to join, please also email.听Please let the organisers know if you鈥檇 like听to join for dinner听by 5pm on Monday 24th November.

The Inter-University Centre in Dubrovnik, Croatia hosts a large number of conferences in a wide variety of disciplines each year, bringing together scholars from Europe, North America, and further afield. In April 2026, the organisers shall be holding the twelfth in vivo Dubrovnik Conference on the Philosophy of Art. The dates for the 2026 meetings are 13^th to 17^th April, and the conference directors are David Collins (Cambridge), David Davies (McGill), Jason Gaiger (Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford), Bozidar Kante (Maribor), Anna Pakes (Roehampton), and Iris Vidmar (Rijeka). The organisers welcome proposals for presentations ranging across the full range of issues in the philosophy of art and aesthetics. On the middle day of the conference (15^th April), there will be presentations on a selected theme with invited participants.

The conference runs along similar lines to the Dubrovnik Philosophy of Science Conference also held in April each year. This means that the organisers shall not be asking those wishing to attend for copies of their papers in advance, but they do ask for a title and a brief abstract by March 13^th at the latest, and earlier if possible. They鈥檒l notify all those who provide abstracts and titles as to whether their proposals have been accepted within a couple of days of that deadline, and earlier in the case of submissions received before the deadline. They can also provide, if requested, formal letters of invitation for those whose submissions have been accepted 鈥� these may be helpful in obtaining funding from institutions or granting agencies. A draft of the programme will be circulated to participants in the weeks prior to the conference, allowing for adjustments to be made if necessary to accommodate the schedules of those arriving late or departing early. There will be five or six sessions each day, with a lengthy lunch break (up to 3 hours) to allow participants to continue their discussions at a restaurant or other place of hostelry in the Old Town, or to explore the city. Presentations in regular sessions should be no longer than 40 minutes, allowing 20 minutes for discussion. Graduate students and those wishing to present shorter papers can give 20 minute presentations, with ten minutes for discussion, with two such events taking up a single one-hour slot in the programme.

The organisers are unfortunately not able to pay any expenses for participants, but hope this will not prove too much of a discouragement. Participants should be able to obtain reasonable accommodation at hotels frequented by other participants at IUC conferences 鈥� details can be provided to those interested. Apartment accommodation听in the Old Town is also available at a very reasonable cost. There will be a small conference fee (around 85 Euros, they will try to cover this for students) in order to cover their obligations to the IUC for the use of the conference centre.

If you are interested in participating in the conference, please send a title and a brief abstract to David Davies at david.davies@mcgill.ca by March 13^th 2026 at the latest. For further information, or if you are interested in attending, but not presenting at, the conference, please also contact David Davies at the same e-address.

For updates, you can also follow on:

Bluesky – @dbphilart.bsky.social
LinkedIn – 听

Wednesday 15th October 2025

4:10-5:30pm

John Percival Building, Room 2.03, Cardiff University

All Welcome!

Abstract

Might my love of Picasso make me a better partner? Can practicing aesthetic appreciation improve my capacity for loving attention in my relationships? The stalwart critics of moralism have long argued that artworks don鈥檛 have much of a moral impact on us, and avid consumers of art rarely turn out to be 鈥榖etter鈥� people. Why think art would make us better lovers? Drawing on Iris Murdoch鈥檚 work, this paper centres on one answer to this question: namely that aesthetic appreciation and loving attention have much in common. We should, in some ways, treat our loved ones as works of art. Just as aesthetic appreciation is guided by detail, so love鈥檚 work lies in responding to the particularities of a person.  

Recording

We aim to record the talk and make it available through our website for anyone who can鈥檛 make it. However, please bear with us while we are changing websites.

Dinner & Drinks

After the talk, we鈥檒l head for a drink, followed by dinner. 糖心视频 has generously agreed to cover dinner expenses for up to two students. Students who are interested in this opportunity are invited to contact the organiser (dixond7@cardiff.ac.uk).

*** TheWelsh Aesthetics Forum | Fforwm Estheteg Cymru is made possible through the support of the 糖心视频 ***

Department of Music, Dublin City University; Thursday and Friday, 9^th-10^th 2026

Call for Papers for Themed Sessions

Themed Sessions invite papers centred on a shared topic. These sessions run in addition to Free Paper Sessions and Associate Sessions. The MPSG committee and the session convenors invite proposals for 20-minute (in person) papers related to the three Themed Sessions below.

To propose a paper, please send a paper title and abstract of no more than 350 words to the session convenor by the deadline of Friday 31^st October. The decision regarding the acceptance of proposals will be communicated in December.

Themed Session 1: 鈥�Recession Pop: Music in the Ruins of Neoliberalism鈥�

Session convenor: Dr Jacob Downs (jacob.downs@music.ox.ac.uk)

What happens to commercial music when economies collapse? To speak of music 鈥榠n the ruins of neoliberalism鈥� (Brown 2019) is to register a contemporary world in which the economic and cultural project of neoliberal capitalism has buckled but not fallen. While the 2008 financial crash and its aftermath certainly exposed neoliberalism鈥檚 contradictions, its familiar infrastructures鈥攑recarious labour, financial volatility, and austerity鈥攅ndure: too broken to function, yet too entrenched to dismantle. We might say that neoliberalism persists today as a cultural wasteland of hollowed-out futures, littered with the debris of capitalist realism (Fisher 2009).

Pop music made during and soon after the crash often registered these conditions. Hits such as Kesha鈥檚 鈥楾iK ToK鈥�, Lady Gaga鈥檚 鈥楯ust Dance鈥�, and the Black Eyed Peas鈥� 鈥業 Gotta Feeling鈥� offered alcohol-drenched anthems of excess鈥攕ongs of abandon launched into a world of foreclosures and lay-offs. A decade later, a second wave has emerged: Gaga and Kesha have returned with an updated sound, joined by newcomers: Charli XCX, flaunting hedonism edged with exhaustion; PinkPantheress, pulling hooks from the vestiges of UK garage; Chappell Roan, staging extravagance as both mask and release; and many more. This new wave is haunted by Y2K aesthetics鈥攕hiny surfaces and millennial optimism recycled just as their promises of prosperity ring most hollow. Why this return, and why now? What futures, if any, can pop sound in these ruins?

This session positions recession pop as a category demanding conceptual labour in the form of interventions that mobilize continental philosophy, critical theory, and related traditions to interrogate its aesthetics and politics. What is recession pop? What does it mean for pop music to aestheticize austerity, to recycle its past, or to imagine futurity from within collapse? How might we grasp the contradictory pleasures and anxieties encoded in recession pop? And what, if anything, can this music tell us about the possibility of survival, critique, and speculative futures in the ruins of neoliberalism?

Themed Session 2: 鈥楳usic and Philosophy Studies in Contemporary China: Dialogue between West and East鈥�

Session convenor: Prof. Luna Sun (sunyue@shcmusic.edu.cn)

In recent decades, the field of music and philosophy has undergone significant expansion worldwide, and China has become an increasingly dynamic participant in these conversations. The session 鈥淢usic and Philosophy Studies in Contemporary China: Dialogue between West and East鈥� seeks to explore the distinctive approaches, methodologies, and theoretical frameworks emerging from Chinese scholarship, as well as the interactions between global traditions and local intellectual resources.

Music and philosophy in China today unfold across multiple dimensions: the re-reading of classical Chinese thought (Confucian, Daoist, Buddhist) in relation to aesthetics of sound and musical practice; the reception and transformation of Western philosophical perspectives (from Kant and Hegel to Nietzsche, Adorno, and contemporary theorists); and the interdisciplinary dialogues between philosophy, musicology, cultural studies, and aesthetics. By addressing these areas, the session aims to highlight both the continuities with Chinese intellectual traditions and the creative innovations arising from the country鈥檚 rapidly changing cultural and academic environment. We are enthusiastically expecting dialogues between East and West on music and philosophy.

We invite papers that address, but are not limited to, the following themes:

鈥� Reinterpretations of Chinese classical philosophy in relation to music and sound.

鈥� Engagement with Western philosophical thought in Chinese music scholarship.

鈥� Comparative studies of aesthetics, ethics, and ontology of music in Chinese and international contexts.

鈥� Contemporary Chinese contributions to global debates in philosophy of music.

鈥� Reflections on the institutional and disciplinary conditions of music鈥損hilosophy research in present-day China.

Submission guidelines: Abstracts must be submitted in English (maximum length as required by MPSG 26 guidelines). Contributions from scholars based in China and abroad are equally welcome.

Themed Session 3: 鈥�Liminal Musicking: Dreams, Imagination, Thought鈥�

Session convenors: Dr Christine Dysers and Malte Kobel (liminalmusicking@gmail.com)

What is 鈥榤usical thought鈥�? Can music be considered a form of thinking? How to think in, with or through music?

In times of planetary crises, traditional modes of thinking and being in the world increasingly fall short. Music, by definition engaged with sociality, has the agency to access, highlight and challenge existing socio-political formations, and might therefore imagine alternative ways of being in the world.

Marking the start of a larger, collaborative research project, we hypothesise musicking as a mode of thought in its own right; one that differs from and raises challenges to a normative phonologocentrism of (Western) traditional rationality and its disembodied understanding of thinking. In that respect, we speculate that musicking is a liminal and transient practice that shares certain affinities with (lucid) dreaming and the imaginary.

This themed session aims to foster cross-disciplinary conversation on liminal musicking and its surrounding topics. We invite proposals for short provocations of up to ten minutes in the broadly defined fields of music studies and philosophy, and welcome speculative, theoretical, and practical perspectives from across genres, cultures, histories and traditions on topics including, but not necessarily limited to:

鈥� Musical epistemologies: music as thought, musicking as thought-in-action, sonic thinking, more-than-human musical sensibilities, feminist and decolonial perspectives and methodologies

鈥� Imaginary musics: imagined, fictional, and surrealist musics, music and mental imagery, music and memory

鈥� Music in/and dreams: irrational, illogical, unreal, incoherent, or associative musics, strange and warped temporalities, disorientation, dream logics

鈥� Multi-modal reasoning and affect: non-sonic musical sensibilities (touch, smell, taste, etc.), feeling-thinking, d/Deaf perspectives

Further details of the conference, including the Call for Papers for Free Sessions on any area of music and philosophy (deadline: 31^st October), can be found on the MPSG website:  

Dublin City University,听Thursday and Friday, 9鈥�10 July 2026

Keynote speakers to be announced

The RMA Music and Philosophy Study Group warmly invites session and paper鈥痯roposals for this鈥痶wo-day鈥痠nternational conference, to be held in Dublin on 9鈥�10 July 2026.鈥疶he event will offer an opportunity for those with an interest in music and philosophy to share and discuss their work, in the hope of furthering dialogue in this area.

The organisers are soliciting session and paper proposals under the following headings:

• Themed sessions, will be organised by individual session convenors, who鈥痟ave issued鈥痗alls for papers鈥痮n鈥痵pecific topics;
• Associates Sessions, hosted by organisations with related interests;鈥�
• Free Sessions, open to papers on all topics relating to music and philosophy.

Proposals may be on any topic relating to music and philosophy broadly conceived. The organisers take 鈥渕usic” to include the study of all forms and genres of music and musicmaking from all historical and geographical settings intended for all kinds of venues, audiences, and modes of creation, performance, and consumption; they take 鈥渕usic studies鈥� to encompass inquiry that falls under the heading of 鈥渟ound studies鈥�. They take 鈥減hilosophy” to include the study and practice of all traditions of philosophical thought around the world and from all historical periods, including what may be referred to as analytic, continental, feminist, Black, Indigenous, and classical/ancient philosophies, critical theory, and philosophies from outside the North Atlantic.

Subject to the MPSG receiving additional funding, a limited number of bursaries will be available for presenters who do not have access to institutional funding. Priority will be given to early career applicants and members of underrepresented groups. Expression of interest will be possible alongside abstract submission via the website.

Call for Themed Sessions 

The organisers seek enthusiastic individuals to听propose听Themed Sessions on topics that are focused yet inclusive.听All topics and formats (including but not limited to workshops, roundtables, and experimental formats) will be considered but听should be designed to encourage submissions from both music studies and philosophy, whilst assuming a broad and inclusive definition of each.听The maximum overall time available for the session will be 2 hours.

If you would like to host such a session, please submit a 300-word draft call for papers/contributions that will also function as a session abstractby 8 September 2025 through the . The draft call for papers should focus on the topic of, and rationale for, the session. 

The organisers hope to communicate decisions on the selection of Themed Sessions within a week, with a further deadline of听31听October听2025 for submission of paper abstracts (where applicable) to session organisers. Organisers will be asked to submit paper choices to the programme committee by 17听November听2025. The intention is that the programme committee will, in most circumstances, simply approve the organisers鈥櫶齝hoices, however the committee reserve the right to request changes if there are problems of topical balance or scholarly quality. Final decisions on panel acceptance will be communicated in December 2025.

Call for Associates Sessions

Related organisations, including scholarly societies, study groups, and institutional departments, are warmly invited to host a session at the conference. The topic and organisation of such sessions is left to the host; sessions may feature invited speakers. All formats (including but not limited to workshops, roundtables, and experimental formats) will be considered; the maximum overall time available for the session will be 2 hours.

If you would like to be involved in this way, please submit your session abstract (of up to 350 words), proposed paper titles, and speaker names where applicable through our by 31 October 2025. Decisions will be communicated in December 2025; individual paper abstracts and speaker biographies for accepted panels will be solicited from organisers in early 2026.

Call for Free Papers and Lecture-Recitals

The organisers invite submissions for papers on any topic relating to music and philosophy (as defined above). Regardless of disciplinary affiliation,听the committee seeks conceptually rigorous and clearly articulated research听that presents a novel argument and advances understanding of its topic. Collaboration between people from different disciplines鈥�(including music studies, philosophy, performance, composition, psychology, history, literary studies, art history, anthropology, and others) would be especially welcomed.鈥�

Proposals are invited for:鈥� 

• individual papers听(20 minutes) 鈥� up to 350 words鈥�
• collaborative papers听(up to 30 minutes) 鈥� up to 500 words鈥�
• lecture recitals (30 minutes) 鈥� up to 350 words*鈥�

* Lecture recitals should demonstrate a balance of scholarly rigour with musical performance, making clear connections between music and philosophical themes and/or concepts.

Please submit proposals听by 31 October 2025 through the .

Decisions will be communicated in December 2025. All paper submissions will be considered by blind review by the programme committee:鈥� 

• Dr Clare Lesser (Independent)
• Professor Derek鈥疢atravers鈥�(Open University)鈥�
• Dominik Mitterer (Durham University)
• Dr Friedlind Riedel (Salzburg University)
• Dr F茅rdia Stone-Davis (University of Cambridge)听
• Professor Naomi Waltham-Smith鈥�(University of Oxford)
• Dr Samuel Wilson (Guildhall School of Music & Drama)

If you have queries about the CFP and submitting a proposal, please contact the Chair of the RMA Music & Philosophy Study Group Dr F茅rdia Stone-Davis, fjs23@cam.ac.uk.

Timeline Overview

Wednesday, June 4 to Saturday, June 7  

Co-hosted by the University of Alberta and the University of Lethbridge

糖心视频 the Conference

 is an interdisciplinary organization of scholars interested in cognitive, philosophical, aesthetic, historical, psychological, neuroscientific, and evolutionary approaches to the analysis of film and other moving image media. Conference presentations will facilitate the Society鈥檚 mission: to foster an interdisciplinary dialogue between moving image theorists, historians, critics, and philosophers, and scientifically-oriented researchers working on moving image media.

Venue

The conference will be held at the University of Alberta鈥檚 Edmonton Clinic Health Academy

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The campus is centrally located in Edmonton, the capital of Alberta, which is one of the largest cities in western Canada. The University of Alberta is situated near the beautiful Kinsmen Park, the impressive Alberta Legislature Building, and 2 km from the city鈥檚 downtown. 

Registration

You can register here, through Oxford Abstracts, at  

• Auditor fees:听$150 USD
• Single day pass:听$40 USD/day

The conference is fully hybrid. So, registration will enable you to attend all scheduled events, either online or in person.

Program

The is available to download.

Free Conference Events Open To The Public

Various conference events will be open to the wider University of Alberta community and to the general public free of charge! No registration required! 

These special events include:

• Wednesday, June 4 (7pm, ECHA L1-490) –听An artist talk on professional screenwriting presented by author, producer, and screenwriter听
• Friday, June 6 (4pm, ECHA L1 190)听– A panel on Character Engagement and Moral Understanding facilitated by Allison Eden, Dan Levin, Carl Plantinga & Murray Smith
• Friday, June 6 (6pm) –听A screening at the听听of the celebrated film听The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open听(2019), followed by a Q&A with co-director Elle-M谩ij谩 Tailfeathers and lead actor Violet Nelson Kathleen Hepburn
• Saturday, June 7 (9am, ECHA L1-190) –听听A roundtable discussion of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion research and pedagogy featuring Catalin Brylla, Charles Kebaya, and Laura di Summa.
• Saturday, June 7 (1-4pm) –听A workshop on field audio recording techniques hosted by the University of Alberta鈥檚听. Participants will learn about various types of location-based audio recording practices and techniques. Spaces are limited, so听!听
• Daily keynote presentations听by leading researchers from a variety of areas including:
  • cognitive music theory –听听(University of Lethbridge)
  • cognitive ethology –听听(University of British Columbia)
  • film cognition and moral understanding –听听(Vanderbilt University)
  • music psychology –听听(University of Prince Edward Island)

Date: 16.06.25

Reference to the self is ubiquitous in contemporary culture. But what is the self? Is it discovered or created? How do the stories we tell about ourselves shape our identity? What part does literature play in reflecting or defining an era鈥檚 culture of selfhood?

To help us answer these questions, we have assembled distinguished writers and academics whose works in various genres shine a light on these issues.

This afternoon event will comprise two parts:

I. A CREATIVE ROUNDTABLE (5.15-7pm) bringing celebrated writers into conversation with each other and the audience to discuss the experience and representation of selfhood in the twenty-first century.

Our guests will be:

Rachel Cusk, novelist (Parade, 2024, Second Place, 2021, the Outline trilogy: Outline | Transit | Kudos, 2014-18, Arlington Park, 2006, among many others), memoirist (A Life鈥檚 Work, 2001; The Last Supper, 2009; Aftermath, 2012), and playwright (Medea, 2015).

Brian Dillon, memoirist (In the Dark Room, 2005), novelist (Sanctuary, 2011), author of a number of genre-defying books blending the personal and the critical (Affinities, 2023; Suppose a Sentence, 2020; Essayism, 2017; The Great Explosion, 2015; Objects in this Mirror, 2014; I Am Sitting in a Room, 2012; Tormented Hope: Nine Hypochondriac Lives, 2009), and curator (Tate and Hayward Galleries).

Vidyan Ravinthiran, memoirist (Asian/Other: Life, Poems, and the Problem of Memoir, 2025), poet (Avidya, forthcoming; The Million-Petalled Flower of Being Here, 2019; Grun-tu-molani, 2014), and Harvard academic (Spontaneity and Form in Modern Prose, 2022; Worlds Woven Together, 2022; Elizabeth Bishop鈥檚 Prosaic, 2015).

This creative roundtable will be preceded by

II. A PANEL OF ENGAGING TALKS BY ACADEMICS (3- 4.30pm) about the self in literature, philosophy, and history.

Our speakers will be:

Prof. Clare Carlisle (KCL Philosophy), author of Transcendence for Beginners (forthcoming), The Marriage Question: George Eliot鈥檚 Double Life (2023), Spinoza鈥檚 Religion (2021), Philosopher of the Heart: The Restless Life of S酶ren Kierkegaard (2019), On Habit (2014).

Dr Eric Langley (UCL English), author of Shakespeare鈥檚 Contagious Sympathies (2018), Narcissism and Suicide in Shakespeare and His Contemporaries (2009), and, as a poet, of Raking Light (2017).

Prof. Tom Stern (UCL Philosophy, A&H Vice-Dean for Interdisciplinarity), author of Philosophy and Theatre (2019) and Nietzsche鈥檚&苍产蝉辫;Ethics (2019).

Tea and coffee will be served in adjoining rooms between 4.30 and 5.15pm.

This event is generously supported by the 糖心视频 and the Leverhulme Trust, UCL Centre for Humanities Education, UCL Philosophy, UCL English, and UCL Global Engagement.