Philosophy: What and How?
A workshop on the nature, aims, and methods of philosophy.
Views on what philosophy is and how it should be done vary widely. Is philosophy concerned with reality or with our concepts used for grasping aspects of reality? Does philosophy use a priori or empirical methods? What is the role of intuitions? Of hypothetical cases? What are philosophers trying to find out? Is Philosophy a descriptive or a normative discipline, or both?
This workshop brings together a diverse group of philosophers who have tried to answer some of these questions. We are looking forward to illuminating talks and fruitful discussions.
Speakers:
May 7
9:00 – 10:15
Max Kölbel (University of Vienna)
Title: Philosophy as Conceptual Engagement
10:30 – 11:45
Yaokun Fu (University of Vienna)
Title: The Arrovian Impossibility Theorem in Metaphysical Theory Choice
12:00 – 13:15
Sophie Veigl (University of Vienna)
Title: Beyond Method? Philosophy of Science Between Analysis and Activities
Lunch
15:00 – 16:15
Elijah Chudnoff (University of Miami)
Title: Intuition and Philosophical Progress
16:30 – 17:45
Matti Eklund (Uppsala University)
Title: The Parochial, the Universal and the Alien
Workshop dinner at 19h
May 8
10:00 – 11:15
Asya Passinsky (Central European University)
Title: Ameliorative Metaphysics
11:30 – 12:45
Eric Wallace (University of Vienna)
Title: Idealisation and Overfitting
Lunch
14:30 – 15:45
Alice van’t Hoff (University of Vienna)
Title: Choosing Metalanguages
16:00 – 17:15
Edouard Machery (University of Pittsburgh)
Title: Arguments won’t help
Abstracts:
Date and venue:
7 to 8 May 2026, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sky Lounge (DG), Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1, 1090 Wien, Austria
Organizers:
Max Kölbel , Emils Zavelis, Mani Rashtipour, Pedro Almeida Brandão
University of Vienna
This workshop is supported by the PACE and KiC projects.
Registration:
If you would like to participate, please register via the form below. There is no registration fee.