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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
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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
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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
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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
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Paris:20260924T200000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Paris:20260924T200000
DTSTAMP:20261006T164403Z
CREATED:20261006T164231Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261006T164403Z
UID:1851-1790280000-1790280000@www.ispwl.com
SUMMARY:PWL International Seminar #5
DESCRIPTION:PWL INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR #5\n“Four Unique Features of Stoicism: How They Enable and Hinder PWL”\nJENNIFER BAKER \nONLINE | September 24 | 8 PM (CET)\n\nAbstract\nIn this talk\, I present four distinctive features of Stoicism and consider how each can either enable or complicate living one’s life philosophically (PWL) in the way Pierre Hadot describes. Many familiar Stoic recommendations were endorsed by Hadot\, including philosophical exercises\, the development of virtue\, a critical approach to our own beliefs and judgments\, and the cultivation of a cosmic perspective. But Stoicism’s use of traditional social norms in practical reasoning\, its resulting account of justice\, and\, more generally\, its category of moral indifferents still need to be situated within a PWL context. \n  \n\nBio\nDr. Jennifer Baker is Professor of Philosophy at the College of Charleston. She earned her B.A. in Philosophy and Political Science from Brown University and her Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Arizona\, where she studied with Julia Annas. Her research focuses on virtue ethics\, with particular attention to ancient ethical theories and their application to contemporary moral life. She has written extensively on Stoicism\, virtue\, practical ethics\, and the relationship between philosophical theory and lived practice. Baker teaches courses in ethical and political theory\, environmental ethics\, business ethics\, bioethics\, American philosophy\, and ancient philosophy. Her work on Stoicism explores the ways ancient philosophical practices can inform contemporary approaches to ethical development\, character\, grief\, technology\, and everyday life. She also writes on virtue and economics\, co-editing Economics and the Virtues: Building a New Moral Foundation. Beyond her academic research and teaching\, Baker has been involved in public philosophy and community dialogue. She has served for many years on the Ethics Committee at the Medical University of South Carolina and has participated in philosophical dialogue initiatives connecting academic philosophy with local communities on the issues of gun violence and criminal justice. \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/1851/
LOCATION:Online
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20261029T180000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20261029T180000
DTSTAMP:20261020T155845Z
CREATED:20261020T155341Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261020T155845Z
UID:1887-1793296800-1793296800@www.ispwl.com
SUMMARY:PWL INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR #6
DESCRIPTION:PWL INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR #6\n“A PWL Conversation with Charles Johnson: The Spiritual Exercises of Novels and Cartoons”\nCHARLES JOHNSON\nONLINE | October 29 | 12 PM (PDT) / 8 PM (CET)\n\nAbstract\n  \nCharles Johnson’s work offers PWL a distinctive synthesis of philosophy\, literature\, visual & graphic art\, phenomenology\, and Buddhism. An academically trained philosopher\, novelist\, essayist\, cartoonist\, and practicing Soto Zen Buddhist\, Johnson has consistently challenged the boundaries separating philosophical thought from artistic creation and lived experience. \nIn this conversation\, Eli Kramer will explore Johnson’s understanding of novels and cartoons as spiritual exercises: forms that train attention\, deepen moral imagination\, and transform the self’s relation to others and the world. For Johnson\, fiction is not merely an illustration of philosophical ideas. The novel can function as a powerful form of philosophizing\, while the cartoon can crystallize a rich moral\, social\, or metaphysical insight through a single image\, gesture\, or juxtaposition. He has brought these powers of philosophical image and text together in mixed modalities such as graphic novels. \nThe discussion will consider Johnson’s place in American philosophy and his effort to expand its forms\, audiences\, and intellectual traditions. What does Africana philosophy contribute to philosophy as a way of life? How do Black American experience and literary traditions reshape questions of self-formation\, freedom\, community\, and liberation? And what becomes possible when philosophical reflection moves beyond the professionalized essay into fiction\, autobiography\, drawing\, and public art? We will also explore Johnson’s Soto Zen practice. How does a practice aimed at loosening the grip of the ego inform the creation of fictional voices\, characters\, images\, and worlds? How can writing and drawing be acts of self-creation while also becoming means of liberation from the small self? \nBeginning with Middle Passage and moving through his other works such as Nighthawks\, Grand: A Grandparent’s Wisdom for a Happy Life\, The Way of the Writer: Reflections on the Art and Craft of Storytelling\, his co-authored graphic novel The Eightfold Path\, and All Your Racial Problems Will Soon End: The Cartoons of Charles Johnson\, the conversation will traverse the intersections of art\, writing\, and philosophy. \nThe interview will be followed by a live audience Q&A. \n\nBio\nDr. Charles Johnson\, University of Washington (Seattle) professor emeritus and the author of 27 books\, is a novelist\, philosopher\, essayist\, literary scholar\, short-story writer\, cartoonist and illustrator\, an author of children’s literature\, and a screen-and-teleplay writer. A MacArthur fellow\, Johnson has received a 2002 American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Literature\, a 1990 National Book Award for his novel Middle Passage\, a 1985 Writers Guild award for his PBS teleplay “Booker\,” the 2016 W.E.B. Du Bois Award at the National Black Writers Conference\, and many other awards. The Charles Johnson Society at the American Literature Association was founded in 2003. In February 2020\, Lifeline Theater in Chicago debuted its play adaptation of Middle Passage. Dr. Johnson’s most recent publications are The Way of the Writer: Reflections on the Art and Craft of Storytelling\, his fourth short story collection\, Night Hawks\, which was nominated for a 2019 Washington State Book Award; GRAND: A Grandparent’s Wisdom for a Happy Life; All Your Racial Problems Will Soon End: The Cartoons of Charles Johnson; and with Steven Barnes\, he is co-author of the graphic novel\, The Eightfold Path. In October\, 2027\, a graphic novel adaptation of Middle Passage will be published by Megascope/Abrams Comic Arts. Johnson is one of five people on posters created in 2019 by the American Philosophical Association (APA) to encourage diversity in the field of philosophy. \n  \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-6/
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