Philosophy universe centres on Canberra
Some of the world's leading philosophers are joining their colleagues at the School of Philosophy this month
This month the ANU School of Philosophy is a whirlwind of activity with two flagship annual lectures and classes taking place, featuring leading philosophical figures from Australia and overseas.
Prominent Cambridge University philosopher, Professor Rae Langton, will this week will deliver the Jack Smart public lecture along with a special seminar about women in philosophy.
Associate Professor Sharon Street from New York University will on 21 July present the John Passmore lecture.
“The two major annual seminars honour major figures in the history of ANU philosophy,” Head of the School of Philosophy, Christian Barry says.
“Jack Smart made significant contributions to a broad range of areas of philosophy and is arguably Australia's first famous, influential philosopher.
“It's long been thought philosophy in Australia punches above its weight, and that has a lot to do with the contributions of Smart and the students he has inspired.”
Passmore, a former head of the Research School of Social Sciences (RSSS), was a far-ranging philosopher who dealt with topics ahead of his time, such as the status of non-human life.
The School of Philosophy is an avid user of the RSSS Visiting Fellows Program and Passmore guest lecturers are part of the cross-campus Centre for Moral, Social and Political Theory. Visitors can stay on campus for up to eight weeks joining like-minded philosophers negotiating a broad range of topics.
Christian says attracting external visitors has been influential in developing the school’s overall program, "not least our ability to place our PhD graduates in positions overseas, for which we’ve had a great deal of success in recent years.
“It also makes it an unquestionably international department with a strong international profile and reputation.
“These two lectures happen at the height of the visitor season. There's this period where for a couple of months, Canberra becomes kind of the busiest part of the philosophical universe for all its seminars and activities.”
Christian adds that one of Professor Langton’s lectures will examine the challenge of getting more women studying philosophy.
“There’s a significant under representation of women in philosophy and we’re certainly not the only discipline that has that issue,” he says.
“My colleague, Fiona Jenkins, who heads the ANU Gender Institute, recently produced the edited volume Women in Philosophy with a series of essays by distinguished women scholars looking at that issue and what potential remedies there are.
“It’s been a theme we’ve been interested in supporting as a School, and certainly it’s something that’s important to our own recruitment practices.
“We’ve recently had a great deal of success with some of our female PhD graduates getting continuing positions in philosophy and politics schools throughout the world, which has been a really welcome development.
“How our graduates are doing speaks to our success as a School.”