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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20260625T200000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20260625T213000
DTSTAMP:20260623T141000Z
CREATED:20260623T140352Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260623T141000Z
UID:1800-1782417600-1782423000@www.ispwl.com
SUMMARY:PWL International Seminar #4
DESCRIPTION:PWL INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR #4\n“Affability\, Attention to the Present and Cosmic Consciousness: Byung-Chul Han and Philosophy as a Way of Life”\nLUCAS NASCIMENTO MACHADO\nONLINE | June 25 | 8 PM (CET)\n\nAbstract\nIn our presentation\, we will discuss the similarities in Hadot’s understanding the philosophical way of life and Han’s understanding of Freundlichkeit (“Affability”) as a mode of being in the world. Focusing on Hadot’s understanding of spiritual exercises and their practice as meant to bring about attention to the present and cosmic consciousness\, we will show how such exercises can be seen in Han’s philosophy through the discourse he elaborates on Affability and the kind of practice he prescribes as a different way of being in the world\, contrasted to today’s capitalistic and achievement oriented way of life. We will further discuss how Han’s own understanding and practice of philosophy is very much aligned with Hadot’s views on it\, in a way that allows us to see Han not only as belonging to the tradition of PWL\, but also as a case study for the possibility of doing philosophy as PWL today. \n\nBio\nLucas Nascimento Machado is a researcher on the history of philosophy at the University of Verona. He was previously professor of history of philosophy at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and teacher of philosophy\, German and sociology at the Humboldt School in São Paulo. He is the former director of the Latin-American Network on Intercultural Philosophy (ALAFI)\, a fellow and one the scientific secretaries of the ISPWL\, and one of the main translators of the work of Byung-Chul Han into Brazilian Portuguese. \n  \nAttendance is free but restricted to the members of the ISPWL. If you wish to become a member\, please fill in this form.
URL:https://www.ispwl.com/event/pwl-international-seminar-4/
LOCATION:Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.ispwl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Session-4-Website.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Paris:20260528T200000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Paris:20260528T213000
DTSTAMP:20260521T201558Z
CREATED:20260521T201558Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260521T201558Z
UID:1776-1779998400-1780003800@www.ispwl.com
SUMMARY:PWL International Seminar #3
DESCRIPTION:PWL INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR #3\n“Intellectual Happiness in XIV-century Bologna: Reading Gentile of Cingoli and Related Texts”\nMATTEO STETTLER\nONLINE | May 28 | 8 PM (CET)\n\nAbstract\nThis presentation examines the rediscovery of philosophy as a way of life in Dante’s Italy\, engaging critically with Pierre Hadot’s thesis that the medieval university and the rise of Scholasticism led to the decline of ancient philosophy as a spiritual practice. Against this narrative – which Hadot himself partly retracted later on in his career – the article builds on the intuition of Maria Corti to show that the ideal of “intellectual happiness” (felicitas intellectualis) – the contemplative life ideal celebrated in Book X of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and revived by thirteenth-century Parisian masters of arts such as Boethius of Dacia and Siger of Brabant – did not remain confined to Paris but was successfully exported to Italy\, particularly to the studium of Arts and Medicine at the University of Bologna between the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. \nThrough a detailed analysis of the Bolognese master Gentile of Cingoli’s prologue to his commentary on Martin of Dacia’s Modi significandi and a series of related texts\, the article identifies four key topoi of this protreptic literature: (1) the condemnation of those who pursue sensory pleasures; (2) the claim that only the philosopher deserves to be called a human being; (3) the conviction that the highest attainable happiness consists in speculative activity; and (4) the idea that such activity is an emulation of the divine life. As we shall see\, all these themes reveal striking parallels with the Parisian model of “intellectual happiness” as articulated by Boethius of Dacia in his De summo bono. \n\nBio\nA perspective postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Philosophy (Ifilnova) of the NOVA University of Lisbon\, Matteo Stettler previously held a position as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Bologna\, working within the PRIN 2022 project ‘TeLPh. Teaching and Learning Philosophy in the Regnum Italiae (1250–1450).’ In this context\, he worked on the transcription and study of medieval texts survived in manuscript form from the Bolognese studium of the arts of the 13th–14th centuries\, including works by Italian Aristotelian commentators like Gentile da Cingoli. To date\, he has co-authored two critical editions of such texts: one containing a series of sermons in praise of logic and philosophy transmitted by the Ms. Sevilla\, Biblioteca Capitular y Columbina 56-1-6 (co-edited with Stefano Pelizzari\, in the series Flumen Sapientiae\, Aracne Editore)\, another of Gentile of Cingoli’s Reportationes super libro sex principiorum (co-edited with Costantino Marmo\, in the same book series). He earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy from Deakin University (Melbourne\, Australia)\, where he investigated the Aristotelian strand of philosophy as a way of life\, namely the model of the contemplative life as the happy life\, from antiquity to the Middle Ages. Shortly after\, he earned Module C of the ‘Diplôme Européen d’Études Médiévales’ (DEEM) at the Fédération Internationale des Instituts d’Études Médiévales (FIDEM). While completing his Ph.D.\, Matteo also served as Adjunct Instructor at the Lorenzo de’ Medici Institute of Florence\, Italy\, where he taught the undergraduate course “The Pursuit of Happiness” (PHI220). In addition to the above-mentioned critical editions\, his research has resulted in a substantial body of work\, including articles in peer-reviewed international journals such as Philosophy and Social Criticism\, Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum\, Foucault Studies\, and Aevum. He has contributed several essays to edited volumes\, including forthcoming publications with Brill and Oxford University Press. His translation work includes the recent Brill volume Philosophy\, Theory or Way of Life? Controversies in Antiquity\, the Middle Ages\, and the Renaissance (2024)\, the forthcoming Italian translation of Pierre Hadot’s writings on conversion (La filosofia come conversione) for Edizioni ETS\, and an upcoming English translation of Hadot’s 1971 essay ‘Conversio’ for Philosophy Today. \n  \nAttendance is free but restricted to the members of the ISPWL. If you wish to become a member\, please fill in this form.
URL:https://www.ispwl.com/event/pwl-international-seminar-3/
LOCATION:Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.ispwl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/PWL-International-Seminar-3-Website.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Paris:20260430T200000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Paris:20260430T213000
DTSTAMP:20260427T163420Z
CREATED:20260427T163420Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260427T163420Z
UID:1754-1777579200-1777584600@www.ispwl.com
SUMMARY:PWL International Seminar #2
DESCRIPTION:PWL INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR #2\n“Practice Grounds for Living and Community-Oriented Self-Formation:\nThe Role of Institutes of Higher Learning”\nKAM BELLAMY & PHILIP FRANCIS\n\nONLINE | April 30 | 8 PM (CET)\n\nAbstract\nAcross the global tradition ISPWL brings into dialogue\, “philosophy as a way of life” names not only a field of study\, but efforts to revitalize philosophical arts of living: practices of attention\, contemplative expansion to a broader perspective\, and self-formation\, sustained in community\, and oriented toward the good life for oneself and others. In that spirit\, Springboard approaches humane-formative higher education as the deliberate cultivation of contemporary “practice grounds”: small\, place-based living-learning communities that make room for transformation to be lived\, tested\, and stabilized–experienced\, not merely discussed.\nA significant amount of sense-making takes place in the college years\, and formation happens regardless of how we educate. Springboard works with the premise that we can be intentional about creating conditions under which formation occurs. We call for a re-imagination of what higher education can be and what it is for. We call for a commitment to engaging the whole learner—body\, mind and spirit—in a lived practice that can orient a young person toward a life of meaning and purpose and a commitment to the well-being of the planet and the good life for all. We work with the premise that formation happens in relationship–to self\, community\, and place–and that small-scale\, material environments foster these relationships. Through practices of attention\, frank dialogue and care for self and others\, and communal-civic responsibility and decision making\, microcolleges and living-learning institutes work with PWL traditions that have long been treated as central to philosophical formation.\nSpringboard works with a three-pronged strategy to develop more humanly-scaled\, community-oriented learning communities for young adults. First\, Springboard supports the development of a robust field of models we can point to as examples of what formative education (grounded in what PWL articulates as spiritual exercises) might look like. These are exemplary “practice grounds” that can also function as lures and reference-points for a wider PWL ecosystem. Second\, Springboard works to develop and coalesce a research and evidence base to understand how transformative learning happens in the young adult years and make the case for why it is important. Finally\, Springboard works to develop an ecosystem of educators\, funders\, students\, and college and university affiliates that supports the flourishing of existing transformative learning communities and the deliberate development of new communities.\nIn this session\, Springboard’s Executive Director Kam Bellamy will share why Springboard works to ensure young people are invited into learning communities in which experiences of connection to self\, community\, and place are intentionally cultivated\, as conditions for humane formation and philosophical living. We will hear from the PWL oriented philosopher and Seguinland Institute’s Executive Director Phillip Francis about his work to create a deeply transformative learning community\, and how work with Springboard catalyzed Seguinland Institute’s development. We will hear the status of the research work and how it is working to bolster the ecosystem of funders and educators committed to this work. Finally\, we will hear a call for support for greater collaboration with college and university partners to ensure more young people are afforded opportunities to be part of deeply transformative learning communities. We will invite ISPWL members into dialogue about their own work building enclaves for philosophical and transformational learning\, and how we can work together to\, institutionally and culturally\, make such “practice grounds” a durable part of the higher education landscape rather than isolated exceptions. \nSuggested Pre-Reading\nSpringboard’s 2024 White Paper:\nDistinctive Pedagogies that Address the Meaning Crisis in Higher Education: Case Studies from Microcolleges and Living-Learning Institutes \n  \nBios\nKam Bellamy is Executive Director of the Springboard Foundation for Whole Person Learning. From a life in Camphill communities working with people with disabilities\, to a career in agriculture and food systems\, to her current field of educational spaces\, a throughline in Kam’s life is a dedication to creating living environments in which people can practice new ways of being. How do we want to be—with ourselves\, with each other\, and with the earth? Kam is excited about Springboard because it works to ensure young people have opportunities to “imagine (and make real) otherwise.” From communal living to governing their daily life and the world around them\, Springboard is about developing practice grounds in which young people can create the world they want to inhabit. Kam feels passionately about the power of connected relationships to create long-lasting and meaningful change. She has served as the inaugural Executive Director of 3 successful non-profits and earned an MBA from Yale School of Management. With grounded idealism\, Kam loves working with forward-thinking individuals and groups to envision and forge new paths. \nPhilip Francis is the Founder & Director of Seguinland Institute. Philip (he/him) grew up on a boat yard in Georgetown\, Maine. He learned to philosophize in that salty mix of lobstermen pragmatists and back to the lander idealists. After painting the bottom of many a boat\, he took his questions on the road: to liberation theology base camps in Nicaragua\, intentional communities in India and monasteries in Greece. He settled down at Harvard Divinity School where he completed his doctoral work in religion. He completed a postdoc at UPenn and professorships at Carleton College and Manhattan College before returning to his home state as Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religion at UMaine Farmington. His book\, When Art Disrupts Religion\, was published by Oxford University Press. He is on the Board of Directors of the Gap Year Association. \n  \nAttendance is free but restricted to the members of the ISPWL. If you wish to become a member\, please fill in this form.
URL:https://www.ispwl.com/event/pwl-international-seminar-2/
LOCATION:Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.ispwl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/PWL-International-Seminar-2-1.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Paris:20260422T143000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Paris:20260424T130000
DTSTAMP:20260302T202538Z
CREATED:20260227T161937Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260302T202538Z
UID:1634-1776868200-1777035600@www.ispwl.com
SUMMARY:La filosofia come modo di vita nell'età dell'Illuminismo / Philosophy as a Way of Life in the Age of the Enlightenment
DESCRIPTION:Arising from the collaboration between the University of Verona\, the Pontifical Gregorian University\, the Voltaire Foundation of the University of Oxford\, and the Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of the European Enlightenment of Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg\, this conference is the first scientific initiative co-organized by the ISPWL. The aim of the conference is to apply the meta-philosophical paradigm of “Philosophy as a Way of Life” to the various Enlightenments that developed across European soil\, thereby testing its effectiveness. The hope is to contribute to the construction of an alternative narrative — one that can find space not only in the pages of specialized publications\, but also\, and above all\, in a new vision of what the Enlightenment has meant and what it may once again come to mean.\n\n\nPROGRAM\n\n22 aprile 2026\n\n14.30     Saluti istituzionali: V. Moro (Verona)\, L. Mortari (Verona) e R. Silva (Verona) \nBenvenuto: L.A. Macor (Verona)\, S. D’Agostino (Roma)\, E. Décultot (Halle) e M. Faustino (Lisboa) \n15.00     Moderatore: A. Stavru (Verona) \n              L. Cremonesi (Pisa): Illuminismo e filosofia come maniera di vivere: la prospettiva di Pierre Hadot \n15.30     L.A. Macor (Verona): “Il valore dell’uomo”: Lessing e la tradizione degli esercizi spirituali \n16.00     Discussione \n16.30     Pausa \n17.00     Moderatore: S. D’Agostino (Roma)  \n              J. Sellars (London): The Role of Marcus Aurelius in Shaftesbury’s Philosophy as a Way of Life \n17.30     D. Fulda (Halle): Combat as a Philosophical Way of Life: a Cultural Pattern Typical of the Enlightenment? \n18.00     Discussione \n\n  \n23 aprile 2026\n10.00     Moderatore: M. Chase (Paris/Victoria) \n               S. Buchenau (Paris): Johann Jacob Brucker’s Invention of Modern Philosophical Historiography: Philosophy Beyond the Way of Life \n10.30     E. Décultot (Halle): Art Perception as Practice: Aesthetic Experience in Du Bos\, Sulzer\, and Winckelmann \n11.00      M. Sharpe (Melbourne): “But …”: Voltaire’s Zadig as Figure of Enlightenment Sage \n11.30      Discussione \n12.15     Pausa pranzo \n15.00     Moderatrice: M. Faustino (Lisboa) \n              J. Raisbeck (London): The Strolling Philosopher: Christian Garve and Philosophy as a Way of Life \n15.30     L. Machado (Verona): More Than Mere Words: Philosophy as a Way of Life and its Link with Kant’s Conception of Knowledge \n16.00     Discussione \n16.30     Pausa \n17.00     Moderatore: G. Lorini (Verona) \n              A. Nannini (Halle): Estetica come arte di vivere: una rilettura dell’invenzione di Baumgarten \n17.30     R. Sciuto (Los Angeles): A testimonianza concreta dell’impossibile: d’Holbach e l’ateismo virtuoso come modo di vivere \n18.00     Discussione \n  \n24 aprile 2026\n09.30     Moderatore: G. Cusinato (Verona) \n               N. Zambon (Würzburg): Più che una gastrosofia: sul rapporto tra ascetica e dietetica in Kant e Nietzsche \n10.00     A. Lucci (Torino/Berlin): Lo Yoga-Streit: Schlegel\, Humboldt\, Hegel e il problema della traducibilità delle pratiche del Sé \n10.30     Discussione \n11.00      Pausa \n11.30      Moderatrice: L.A. Macor (Verona) \n              G. Di Biase (Chieti-Pescara): Francesco Soave lettore di Locke: la Guida dell’intelletto nella ricerca della verità \n12.00     S. D’Agostino (Roma): Locke sul metodo nell’Essay e nella Conduct \n12.30     Discussione e chiusura dei lavori \n  \nEvento organizzato da: \nNicholas Cronk (Oxford)\, Simone D’Agostino (Roma)\, Elisabeth Décultot (Halle) e Laura Anna Macor (Verona) \nin collaborazione con la International Society for Philosophy as a Way of Life (ISPWL) \ncon il patrocinio della Società Italiana di Storia della Filosofia (SISF) \nSede: Chiostro Santa Maria della Vittoria\, Lungadige Porta Vittoria\, 41 – 37129 Verona \nPer informazioni contattare: lauraanna.macor@univr.it \n  \n 
URL:https://www.ispwl.com/event/la-filosofia-come-modo-di-vita-nelleta-dellilluminismo-philosophy-as-a-way-of-life-in-the-age-of-the-enlightenment/
LOCATION:University of Verona\, AULA Messedaglia - Lungadige Porta Vittoria 41\, Verona\, Italy
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.ispwl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/conf-verona-16-9.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Paris:20260326T200000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Paris:20260326T213000
DTSTAMP:20260321T131006Z
CREATED:20260321T130141Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260321T131006Z
UID:1696-1774555200-1774560600@www.ispwl.com
SUMMARY:PWL International Seminar #1
DESCRIPTION:PWL INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR #1\n“Hermeneutics as a Way of Life: Philosophy and Leadership in an Age of Instrumental Individualism”\nDAVID HANEY\n  \nONLINE | March 26 | 8 PM (CET)\n  \nAbstract\nThis talk is based on my forthcoming book\, Reading Philosophy and Practicing Leadership: Applied Hermeneutics in an Age of Instrumental Individualism. “Instrumental individualism” refers to the modern primacy of the individual\, recently unmoored from moral frameworks\, who uses reason and discourse as tools and weapons to serve individual aims rather than to advance historical and social understanding. A broadly defined version of “philosophical hermeneutics\,” exemplified by thinkers including Hans-Georg Gadamer\, Paul Ricoeur\, Emmanual Levinas\, and Charles Taylor\, provides a counter to modern individualism\, emphasizing dialogue\, authentic questioning\, historical understanding\, acceptance of otherness\, avoidance of  certainty in favor of open-ended experience\, the metaphoric development of concepts\, and placing the self at risk in the context of historically determined horizons.\nThe second part of the talk will address the intersection between this hermeneutic approach and Philosophy as a Way of Life (PWL). Hermeneutics and PWL both overlap and diverge on issues of history\, language\, and the role of the philosopher\, which makes “living hermeneutically” both an example of and a divergence from PWL. Drawing on Gadamer’s critique of abstract philosophy in favor of lived understanding\, Ricoeur’s theory of action as text\, and PWL founder Pierre Hadot’s work on the historic separation of discourse and life in philosophy\, I will discuss the benefits and challenges of incorporating hermeneutics into the lived experiences of leadership. The interpretive act of writing about these issues is examined as both the production of a discourse about leadership and a lived hermeneutic engagement. \nHaney\, Pre-Session Reading \n  \nBio\nDr. David P. Haney is the former president of Hiram College and Centenary University and has served in faculty and administrative roles at several public and private colleges and universities. He has published on higher education issues in outlets including Inside Higher Ed and The Chronicle of Higher Education\, and he is the author of two monographs on Penn State Press’s Literature and Philosophy series:  William Wordsworth and the Hermeneutics of Incarnation (1993) and The Challenge of Coleridge: Ethics and Interpretation in Romanticism and Modern Philosophy (2001). His new book\, forthcoming on Springer Press\, is Reading Philosophy and Practicing Leadership: Applied Hermeneutics in an Age of Instrumental Individualism. He holds an MA and PhD in English from the University at Buffalo and an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from John Cabot University in Rome\, Italy.  For more information\, see davidphaney.com. \n  \nAttendance is free but restricted to the members of the ISPWL. If you wish to become a member\, please fill in this form.
URL:https://www.ispwl.com/event/pwl-international-seminar-1/
LOCATION:Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.ispwl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/PWL-International-Seminar-Newsletter-Website-1.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20250509T000000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20250509T235959
DTSTAMP:20251105T003053Z
CREATED:20251105T002223Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251105T003053Z
UID:821-1746748800-1746835199@www.ispwl.com
SUMMARY:La filosofia come modo di vita. Nuove frontiere della ricerca in Italia
DESCRIPTION:Il workshop intende mettere a confronto le/gli studiose/i italiane/i attualmente impegnate/i in ricerche innovative nell’ambito della cosiddetta PWL (Philosophy as a Way of Life)\, resa in italiano con l’espressione “Filosofia come modo di vita”. La PWL sta guadagnando credibilità e centralità nel panorama internazionale\, e il contributo italiano è riconosciuto come cruciale su più fronti: meta-filosofico\, storiografico\, interdisciplinare e comparativo. Si tratta quindi di un’occasione preziosa per fare il punto sulla direzione degli studi e per conferire sempre maggiore visibilità alla ricerca italiana\, e a Verona (in particolare al Dipartimento di Scienze Umane) come sede propulsiva in questo senso. \n 
URL:https://www.ispwl.com/event/la-filosofia-come-modo-di-vita-nuove-frontiere-della-ricerca-in-italia/
LOCATION:University of Verona\, AULA Messedaglia - Lungadige Porta Vittoria 41\, Verona\, Italy
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.ispwl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Macor-2025-2.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20241016T000000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20241018T235959
DTSTAMP:20250715T025553Z
CREATED:20250715T024610Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250715T025553Z
UID:478-1729036800-1729295999@www.ispwl.com
SUMMARY:"Mapping Philosophy as a Way of Life: Final Conference"
DESCRIPTION:he final conference of the project «Mapping Philosophy as a Way of Life: An Ancient Model\, A Contemporary Approach» will bring together team members\, consultants\, and collaborators of the project in order to present the most significant results achieved in the last two years. In line with the project’s main objective\, the conference will map the vibrant and multifaceted field of philosophy as a way of life (PWL) and present for the first time the main contents of the upcoming Oxford Handbook of Philosophy as a Way of Life. In doing so\, it aims to provide an up-to-date overview of the leading research trends in the field while also discussing new avenues of inquiry\, use\, and application of PWL. \nPresentations will focus on the three main trends of research and application of PWL in current philosophical debate: \n1. Questions and Controversies \nAs a metaphilosophical model that contrasts and competes with others\, PWL has renewed reflection on the very nature and role of philosophy. This involves not only discussion about what philosophy as a way of life is and what distinguishes it from other ways of conceiving philosophy—a question regarding which consensus has not yet been reached—but also addressing some of the controversial distinguishing hallmarks of the notion\, most notably the very definition of PWL\, the complex relationship between theory and practice (including the alleged privilege of the latter over the former in PWL)\, the idea that the philosophical life is necessarily preceded by an existential choice\, the specificity of PWL when compared to other forms of spirituality (in particular\, religion)\, and the much-contested possibility of applying the model to post-Antiquity philosophers. \n2. History \nAccording to Pierre Hadot\, Michel Foucault\, and other scholars working in their wake\, the practical and existential dimension that characterized Greco-Roman philosophy can also be found in several modern and contemporary authors who revived its practical\, concrete\, and self-transformative orientation. At the same time\, it has often been noted how the same performative and self-transformative orientation is at the core of other philosophical or spiritual traditions\, such as Hinduism\, Taoism\, or Buddhism. In this light\, PWL appears not simply as a characterization of ancient philosophy but also as a specific metaphilosophical model that has characterized a good part of the history of philosophy and can be fruitfully used to (re)read this history in an alternative and illuminating way. As a model that brings philosophy’s practical\, performative\, and self-transformative potential to the fore\, it allows not only for a different and more complex understanding of what Western philosophy looked like throughout its history but also for a crucial intercultural dialogue with other philosophical cultures that share similar traits and understanding of the nature and function of philosophy. \n3. Uses and Applications \nIn the last few years\, we have witnessed a proliferation of activities and publications\, as well as networks and research projects designed to apply the PWL approach to a variety of knowledge domains that go beyond the academic world—such as management studies\, psychotherapy\, mental health and contemplative studies—and also to some of the most challenging questions and problems of our time such as feminism\, global conflict\, and ecology. This shows how PWL’s focus on ethical transformation and practice can render philosophy particularly useful in dealing with contemporary issues\, problems\, and challenges. We will thus offer an overview of some of the possible applications of PWL\, thereby showing how PWL is not just a scholarly\, abstract field (focused exclusively on how to interpret the history of philosophy) but also an approach that is being usefully applied to other fields of human activity. \n\nThe conference will take place in a hybrid format. The speakers who will give their talk remotely are marked with an asterisk (*) below. \nConfirmed Speakers\n\nDouglas Anderson (Southern Illinois University Carbondale) *\nStephen Angle (Wesleyan University) *\nJennifer Baker (College of Charleston)\nMichael Chase (CNRS Centre Jean Pépin)\nCaleb Cohoe (Metropolitan State University of Denver)\nSimone D’Agostino (Pontifical Gregorian University)\nMarc-Henri Deroche (Kyoto University) *\nWilliam Desmond (Maynooth University) *\nMichael Fagenblat (Open University\, Israel) *\nMarta Faustino (Nova University of Lisbon)\nGianfranco Ferraro (Open University\, Lisbon)\nMarc-Antoine Gavray (Université de Liège)\nEli Kramer (University of Wrocław)\nPablo Lamberti (University of Amsterdam)\nAnnie Larivée (Carleton University)\nJaco Louw (Stellenbosch University) *\nLaura Anna Macor (Università degli Studi di Verona)\nJohn Marenbon (Trinity College\, Cambridge) *\nLaura Mueller (West Texas A&M University)\nPawel Odyniec (Karlstad University\, Sweden)\nGuy du Plessis (Utah State University / Loyola University Chicago) *\nLisa Raphals (University of California Riverside) *\nBartholomew Ryan (Nova University of Lisbon) *\nMatthew Sharpe (Australian Catholic University) *\nRichard Shusterman (Florida Atlantic University) *\nJohn Sellars (Royal Holloway\, University of London)\nMatteo Stettler (Università di Bologna)\nHélder Telo (Universidade da Beira Interior)\nSimone Webb (University of Sussex)\nDaniel Louis Wyche (Columbia University\, New York) *
URL:https://www.ispwl.com/event/mapping-philosophy-as-a-way-of-life-final-conference/
LOCATION:NOVA University of Lisbon\, Av. de Berna 26 C\, Lisbon\, Portugal
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.ispwl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/final-conference.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20240920T000000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20240920T235959
DTSTAMP:20250715T014133Z
CREATED:20250715T012801Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250715T014133Z
UID:447-1726790400-1726876799@www.ispwl.com
SUMMARY:Juliusz Domański's Books Launch Event
DESCRIPTION:  \nOfficial launch of the English editions of Juliusz Domański’s pioneering works\, newly published by Brill in the ‘Philosophy as a Way of Life: Texts and Studies’ book series: \n\nPhilosophy\, Theory or Way of Life? Controversies in Antiquity\, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance\n\n\nErasmus and Philosophy. On the Concept of Philosophy Developed by Erasmus of Rotterdam\n\nSpeakers: Matthew Sharpe\, Michael Champion\, Dragos Calma\, John Sellars
URL:https://www.ispwl.com/event/juliusz-domanskis-books-launch-event/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.ispwl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Domanski-launch-1.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20240528T000000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20240528T235959
DTSTAMP:20250715T023230Z
CREATED:20250715T013508Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250715T023230Z
UID:455-1716854400-1716940799@www.ispwl.com
SUMMARY:Philosophy as a Way of Life: A New Frontier in the History of Philosophy
DESCRIPTION:The workshop intends to enhance the metaphilosophical\, historiographical and hermeneutic potential of the paradigm now known as “Philosophy as a Way of Life” (PWL)\, taking into consideration authors of modernity (Malebranche)\, theoretical problems (theory/practice\, transformation) and interactions with other disciplines (physics). \nOrganization: Prof. Laura Anna Macor (lauraanna.macor@univr.it) \nSpeakers: Marta Faustino\, Simone D’Agostino\, Guido Cusinato\, Michael Chase \nDiscussants: Carlo Chiurco\, Lorenzo L. Pizzichemi\, Joanna Raisbeck\, Alessandro Stavru
URL:https://www.ispwl.com/event/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life-a-new-frontier-in-the-history-of-philosophy/
LOCATION:University of Verona\, AULA Messedaglia - Lungadige Porta Vittoria 41\, Verona\, Italy
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.ispwl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Macor-2.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Paris:20231213T080000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Paris:20231213T143000
DTSTAMP:20250715T015235Z
CREATED:20250715T014828Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250715T015235Z
UID:461-1702454400-1702477800@www.ispwl.com
SUMMARY:Book Presentation: Laura Macor\, "Il mestiere di uomo. La concezione pratica della filosofia nel tardo illuminismo tedesco"
DESCRIPTION:  \nOn December 13\, 2023 (2h30 PM\, Rome time) Laura Macor will present her recently published book Il mestiere di uomo. La concezione pratica della filosofia nel tardo illuminismo tedesco (Morcelliana\, Brescia 2023). \nThe book presentation will take place at the University of Verona\, but online attendance will be possible. Please contact Prof. Davide Poggi to receive the link. \nThe event will be in Italian.
URL:https://www.ispwl.com/event/book-presentation-laura-macor-il-mestiere-di-uomo-la-concezione-pratica-della-filosofia-nel-tardo-illuminismo-tedesco/
LOCATION:University of Verona\, AULA Messedaglia - Lungadige Porta Vittoria 41\, Verona\, Italy
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.ispwl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Macor-1-1.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20231109T090000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20231109T110000
DTSTAMP:20250715T024200Z
CREATED:20250715T021826Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250715T024200Z
UID:464-1699520400-1699527600@www.ispwl.com
SUMMARY:Christopher Gill's "Learning to Live Naturally": Online Forum With the Author
DESCRIPTION:On Thu 9 November\, at 7 pm AEDT (9 am London 9 Nov\, 6pm New York 8 Nov)\, please join us for a zoom forum on Christopher Gill’s Learning to Live Naturally: Stoic Ethics and its Modern Significance. Gill’s book is arguably the most significant text on Stoic ethics for a generation\, not only challenging popular misrepresentations\, but bringing Stoic ethics into debates in contemporary virtue ethics and around ecology. \nProf. Gill is the author of numerous works on ancient philosophy\, ancient medicine\, and conceptions of the self in antiquity\, ​ a founding member of Modern Stoicism. \nProf. Gill will speak for 30 mins\, followed by 15 minute presentations on different aspects of the book by Assoc. Prof. Matt Sharpe (ACU philosophy) and Judy Stove\, assistant editor of Stoicism Today\, co-host of the Soul-Searching With Seneca podcast at https://thewalledgarden.com/\, and a member of the organising team for Stoicon-X Melbourne.
URL:https://www.ispwl.com/event/christopher-gills-learning-to-live-naturally-online-forum-with-the-author/
LOCATION:Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.ispwl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Gill-1.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20230705T000000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20230706T235959
DTSTAMP:20250715T025343Z
CREATED:20250715T024856Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250715T025343Z
UID:480-1688515200-1688687999@www.ispwl.com
SUMMARY:"What Exactly is Philosophy as a Way of Life? Boundaries\, Crossroads\, Deadlocks"
DESCRIPTION:Over the past few decades\, the idea of philosophy as a way of life (PWL) has gained undeniable prominence in contemporary philosophical debates. Pierre Hadot forged the notion to denote the specific way in which ancient philosophers conceived of and practiced philosophy\, stressing its performative character and its potential for self-transformation on the basis of what he called “spiritual exercises”. Furthermore\, he also implied that some modern and contemporary philosophers came close to this model of philosophical practice and described it as his own metaphilosophical ideal. Hadot’s account\, followed by the late Foucault’s own reflections on philosophy’s practical and performative potential\, has inspired recent scholarship to define PWL as a metaphilosophical model that can be fruitfully used to (re)read the history of philosophy in an alternative and illuminating way. Some have also argued that PWL is an innovative methodological approach to the study\, research and teaching of philosophy\, that might enable a transformation of philosophical practices in the context of modern universities. Not coincidentally\, these are the two axes of the contemporary discussion on PWL that this project aims to explore. \nHowever\, as much as the expression “philosophy as a way of life” has entered contemporary philosophical debate\, there is still much to discuss regarding what it entails and what distinguishes it from other possible ways of conceiving of and practicing philosophy. Despite several attempts to define and characterise this model (by authors such as John Cooper\, Michal Chase\, John Sellars\, Matthew Sharpe and Michael Ure\, to name just a few)\, consensus has not yet been reached\, and discussion is still underway. The complexity is even greater if we consider related notions such as “art of living”\, Foucault’s “aesthetics of existence”\, Martha Nussbaum’s “therapy of desire”\, or Peter Sloterdijk’s ascetology\, among others. While this complexity and diversity might be fruitful\, it can also introduce much ambiguity in discussions or even hinder further work in the field. \nThe kick-off conference of the project will thus be dedicated to a conceptual and metaphilosophical discussion of the PWL model\, trying to determine its boundaries\, features and distinguishing marks\, as well as the crossroads and deadlocks it might still face and possible ways to overcome them. This will involve addressing a series of controversial open questions\, which include\, but are not restricted\, to the following ones: \n\nDetermining the main distinguishing marks of PWL and contrasting it with other conceptions of philosophy;\nContrasting the specificity of PWL when compared to other ways of understanding philosophy that equally stress its practical and life-changing potential (Foucault\, Nussbaum\, Sloterdijk\, etc.);\nClarifying the practical and performative component that is generally associated with PWL and analyzing its impact on the very object of philosophical (theoretical) concern;\nDefining Hadot’s notion of “spiritual exercises” or Foucault’s closely related term of “technologies of the self” and classifying them into different typologies;\nAnalyzing the specificity of philosophy compared to other currently available “arts of living”;\nReflecting on the boundaries that distinguish philosophy from other spiritual practices\, such as religion\, psychotherapy\, self-help\, etc.;\nExploring the methodological relevance of PWL to the study\, teaching and outreach of philosophy\, when compared to current academic methods and practices;\nAddressing common criticisms and concerns related to PWL;\nDiscussing the main crossroads and deadlocks in the contemporary debate on PWL and addressing possible limits to the PWL understanding of philosophy.\n\n\nConfirmed Speakers\n\nJohn Sellars (Royal Holloway\, University of London)\nMatthew Sharpe (Australian Catholic University)\nEli Kramer (University of Wrocław)\nFábio Serranito (University of Leeds)\nPawel Odyniec (Karlstad University)\nGianfranco Ferraro (Open University\, Portugal)\nMatteo Stettler (Deakin University)\nJordi Crespo (Pompeu Fabra University\, Barcelona)\nHélder Telo (University of Beira Interior)\nLeonard Waks (Temple University)\nAntónio de Castro Caeiro (NOVA University of Lisbon)\nElettra Stimilli (Sapienza University of Rome)
URL:https://www.ispwl.com/event/what-exactly-is-philosophy-as-a-way-of-life-boundaries-crossroads-deadlocks/
LOCATION:NOVA University of Lisbon\, Av. de Berna 26 C\, Lisbon\, Portugal
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.ispwl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/conf-1.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20230522T000000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20230524T235959
DTSTAMP:20250715T023828Z
CREATED:20250715T023551Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250715T023828Z
UID:474-1684713600-1684972799@www.ispwl.com
SUMMARY:“Spiritual Exercises\, Self-Transformation and Liberation in Philosophy\, Theology and Religion”
DESCRIPTION:The conference Spiritual exercises\, self-transformation and liberation in philosophy\, theology and religion is inspired by Pierre Hadot’s pioneering work on philosophy as a way of life (manière de vivre). It builds on the significance Hadot attributed to spiritual exercises (exercices spirituels)\, arguing that these were\, beside philosophical discourse\, constitutive of philosophical enterprise in Greco-Roman antiquity and beyond. Hadot’s initial insight was subsequently developed\, in his own distinctive  manner\, by Michel Foucault in theorizing the technologies of the self and care of the self\, and has ever since received considerable attention from scholars working in the field of philosophy\, theology as well as religious studies. \nHadot defined spiritual exercises (exercices spirituels) as “voluntary\, personal practices intended to bring about a transformation of the individual\, a transformation of the self” that rises the individual from an inauthentic condition of life to an authentic one\, providing peace of mind (ataraxia)\, inner freedom (autarkeia) and cosmic consciousness. Furthermore\, relying on the work of Paul Rabbow\, Hadot acknowledged that the expression exercices spirituels is derived from the Catholic theologian  Ignatius of Loyola’s Exercitia spiritualia (1548)\, but that this phrase had a philosophical\, Greco-Roman origin that was later inherited by Christian monks who employed it to denote their own practice. \nThe purpose of this conference is to initiate interdisciplinary research on spiritual exercises in global perspective\, identify primary sources in philosophy\, theology and religious writings addressing these practices\, and to address a number of relevant themes and challenges that such research entails. The conference also aims to help establishing an interdisciplinary\, academic network that will allow for future collaborations in the research activities that will be defined in a research project to be submitted to the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet) in 2024. \nThe conference is organized in collaboration between Pawel Odyniec from the Department of Political\, Historical and Religious Studies at Karlstad University and Ervik Cejvan from the Centre for Theology and Religious Studies at Lund University. \nPawel Odyniec is a lecturer (universitetsadjunkt) in Religious Studies at Karlstad University\, Sweden. He holds a PhD in Indology (UU) and three MA degrees in Philosophy (UAB)\, History of Religion (UAB) and Indian Philosophy and Religion (BHU). His research interest covers the area of Classical Indian philosophy in Sanskrit\, particularly Advaita Vedānta and Kashmir Śaivism\, Modern Indian philosophy in English and Hindi\, as well as South Asian religions. He is also interested in cross-cultural approach to philosophy as a way of life (PWL). Pawel is the author of Engaging Advaita: Conceptualising liberating knowledge in the face of Western modernity (2018) and “Rethinking Advaita Within the Colonial Predicament: the ‘Confrontative’ Philosophy of K. C. Bhattacharyya (1875-1949)” (2018). \nErvik Cejvan is a researcher affiliated with the Centre for Theology and Religious Studies at Lund University\, Sweden. He holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy of Religion (LU). His research interests intersect between philosophy\, literature\, psychoanalysis and art. In Philosophy as a Way of Life\, he is interested in the relationship between philosophy and spirituality\, writing and psychagogy\, and wisdom traditions. Ervik is the author of Critique of Exaggeration: Thinking Beyond (2021).
URL:https://www.ispwl.com/event/spiritual-exercises-self-transformation-and-liberation-in-philosophy-theology-and-religion/
LOCATION:Lund University & Karlstad University\, Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.ispwl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/karlstadt-1.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20221212T000000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20221214T235959
DTSTAMP:20250715T022753Z
CREATED:20250715T022753Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250715T022753Z
UID:469-1670803200-1671062399@www.ispwl.com
SUMMARY:Philosophy as a Way of Life: New Directions in Research
DESCRIPTION:This three-day event brings together leading scholars from around the world to discuss new directions in historical\, historiographical\, philosophical and metaphilosophical research on philosophy as a way of life\, the approach to ancient philosophy inaugurated by Ilsetraut and Pierre Hadot.
URL:https://www.ispwl.com/event/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life-new-directions-in-research/
LOCATION:Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.ispwl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/sharpe.jpg
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