News
PWL International Seminar #4
JUNE 23, 2026
The forth session of the PWL International Seminar will take place on June 25 at 8 PM (CET).
Title: “Affability, Attention to the Present and Cosmic Consciousness: Byung-Chul Han and Philosophy as a Way of Life” (Lucas Nascimento Machado)
Full information here.
CFP: “Mary and Philosophy as a Way of Life“
JUNE 20, 2026
Inspired by Pierre Hadot’s work on (ancient) philosophy as a way of life, the next Sedes Sapientiae Symposium looks at how both Mary and Marian devotion can be understood as embodying this conception of philosophy as a way of life. Did Mary surpass Zeno and Epicurus, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius in living the philosophical life from the cradle to the cross? Is Marian devotion at its heart, or at least potentially, a form of ‘stoicism for the masses’?
The Symposium will take place October 30th-31st, 2026 in Leuven, Belgium.
Deadline for submission of abstracts: July 10th.
Full information here.
PWL International Seminar #3
MAY 18, 2026
The third session of the PWL International Seminar will take place on May 28 at 8 PM (CET).
Title: “Intellectual Happiness in XIV-Century Bologna: Reading Gentile of Cingoli and Related Texts” (Matteo Stettler)
Full information here.
PWL International Seminar #2
AORIL 20, 2026
The second session of the relaunched PWL International Seminar will take place on April 30 at 8 PM (CET).
Title: “Practice Grounds for Living and Community-Oriented Self-Formation: The Role of Institutes of Higher Education” (Kam Bellamy & Philip Francis)
Full information here.
Ilsetraut Hadot (1928-2026)
APRIL 13, 2026
The ISPWL deeply regrets the passing of Ilsetraut Hadot, wife of Pierre Hadot and a key pioneer in PWL studies.
Ilsetraut Hadot, philologue et philosophe, est décédée ce matin, 13 avril 2026. Ceux qui l’ont connue savent qu’elle était bien plus que l’épouse de Pierre Hadot. Née à Berlin en 1928, Ilsetraut Ludolff entreprend des études de philologie classique, latine et grecque, dans sa ville natale malgré les difficultés du moment : une ville partagée en quatre zones – soviétique, américaine, française, britannique. Au terme de sa formation, elle soutient une thèse sur “Sénèque, direction spirituelle et pratique de la philosophie”, dirigée par le professeur Paul Moraux, à Berlin, avant de croiser Pierre Hadot au cours d’un congrès de philosophie à Cologne. “Un coup de foudre”, écrit le philosophe au sujet de leur rencontre. Mariés l’été 1966, ils décident de s’installer en France où Ilsetraut bénéficie d’une bourse de recherche personnelle accordée par la Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. Elle intègre ensuite le CNRS comme attachée de recherche. En 1985, elle porte le projet “sur les oeuvres et la pensée de Simplicius” en tant que directrice de recherche, toujours au CNRS. Parmi ses nombreuses publications, son livre “Arts libéraux et philosophie dans la pensée antique” est particulièrement remarqué. Toutes nos pensées vont aujourd’hui à sa famille, sa fille, son petit-fils, son arrière-petite fille.
Texte: Mercè Prats (historienne, chercheure associée au Laboratoire d’Études sur les Monothéismes, Université de Reims Champagne-Ardennes).
PWL International Seminar #1
MARCH 26, 2026
The first session of the relaunched PWL International Seminar will take place on March 26 at 8 PM (CET).
Title: “Hermeneutics as a Way of Life: Philosophy and Leadership in an Age of Instrumental Individualism” (David Haney)
Full information here.
PWL International Seminar
MARCH-JUNE, 2026
The PWL International Seminar is a monthly online lecture-and-discussion series convened by the International Society for Philosophy as a Way of Life (ISPWL) in collaboration with Palinode. Building on the earlier “Mapping PWL” seminar series, the relaunch brings together scholars and practitioners working across traditions, methods, and fields to explore dissemination of philosophy understood not merely as a theoretical discipline, but as a way of living and transforming oneself.
International Conference
La filosofia come modo di vita nell’età dell’Illuminismo / Philosophy as a Way of Life in the Age of the Enlightenment
DIPARTIMENTO DI SCIENZE UMANE – UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI VERONA
APRIL 22-24, 2026
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.
More info here.
ISPWL
JANUARY 15, 2026
The International Society for Philosophy as a Way of Life (ISPWL) has just been launched. Learn more about our mission, meet our fellows and partners, browse our publications, discover our upcoming events, and explore the recordings of previous ones.
