Lugano Philosophy Colloquia (Hybrid)
by events.isfi＠usi.ch
We are pleased to announce that on Friday, March 20 at 4.30pm (CET), Béatrice Lienemann (University of Fribourg) will give the talk The Explanatory Role of Forms in Definitions in Plato as part of the Lugano Philosophy Colloquia Spring 2026 organised by the Institute of Philosophy (ISFI) at USI.
This hybrid talk will take place in Room Multiuso FTL Building (USI west campus) and online via Zoom. If you are interested in joining online, please write to events.isfi(a)usi.ch.
Here is the abstract of the talk:
The talk addresses the complex relation between Forms and definitions in Plato. A straightforward conjecture about this relation might be that to define things like justice or beauty one must refer to the corresponding Forms, i.e. the Form of Justice or the Form of Beauty. In other words, Platonic Forms fulfil the role of the definientia in a proper definition. But even if this conjecture goes in the right direction, at least in so far as the middle and later dialogues are concerned, neither did Plato present this view out of the blue in these dialogues nor has he ever unfolded it in full detail and as explicitly as one may wish. In this talk, I examine in more depth why Forms are well suited, according to Plato, to be definientia, or even to be the only appropriate definientia whatsoever. I start by asking what motivates Plato to develop an interest in definitions in the early dialogues. I submit that it is through the various unsatisfying answers offered by his interlocutors that Plato’s Socrates first develops a substantial conception of the conditions that must be met by a satisfactory definition. This reveals also the need for the explanatory priority of the definiens in good definitions and paves the way for asking why and to what extent, according to Plato, only Forms turn out to be suited to fulfil this explanatory role in definitions.
For more information: https://www.ftl.usi.ch/it/feeds/15142
1 week
Lugano Philosophy Colloquia (Hybrid)
by events.isfi＠usi.ch
We are pleased to announce that on Thursday, March 12 at 4.30pm (CET), Thomas Sattig (University of Tuebingen and USI) will give the talk Temporal Consciousness: The Non-Locality Problem as part of the Lugano Philosophy Colloquia Spring 2026 organised by the Institute of Philosophy (ISFI) at USI.
This hybrid talk will take place in Room Multiuso FTL Building (USI west campus) and online via Zoom. If you are interested in joining online, please write to events.isfi(a)usi.ch.
Here is the abstract of the talk:
The non-locality problem concerns the foundations of phenomenal consciousness. The problem consists in the tension between two aspects of human perceptual experiences. First, the local temporal horizon. In our conscious perceptual experiences, the world around us seems to evolve through brief changes on the order of milliseconds to seconds. When asked about the temporal profile of our perceptual experiences, we report that we seem to be “stuck in the present”. Second, the global temporal order. We are usually awake and conscious for minutes to hours. During long streams of consciousness, we experience all processes as having a global temporal order. According to standard order theory, a strict linear temporal order is based on a non-local relation of precedence. But this means that our consciousness lacks a local temporal horizon. Philosophers and cognitive scientists have not yet addressed this problem systematically. In this talk, the problem will be introduced by reference to a precise visual case. Then a solution to the problem will be developed. The solution will part with long-held assumptions in philosophy of time and philosophy of consciousness.
2 weeks, 1 day
Open Lecture by Øystein Linnebo on March 17 - Master in Philosophy (USI, Lugano, Switzerland)
by events.isfi＠usi.ch
Dreaming of a PhD in Philosophy? The Master in Philosophy (MAP) at USI is a research-oriented two-year master’s degree designed to prepare students for the most demanding international PhDs in philosophy.
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Study with a clear disciplinary focus on four core areas: Metaphysics, Philosophy of Mind, Logic, Philosophy of Physics
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9/10 graduates interested in an academic career have continued with a funded PhD
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Learn from some of the most eminent scholars in the world, such as Achille Varzi, Timothy Williamson, Kathrin Koslicki, Francesco Berto, and many others.
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Improve your research skills through dedicated courses.
If you are interested, join us online or on campus on March 17 to attend our open lecture “Abstraction and abstract objects” held by Prof. Øystein Linnebo.
The open lecture is born to be a safe and friendly space for every student who wants to have a taste of one of our classes. To attend either in person or online on Zoom, please register by filling out the form on this page: https://join.usi.ch/en/master-philosophy-open-lecture
Here is the abstract of the lecture:
"The language of mathematics abounds with apparent reference to abstract objects, such as sets, numbers, and directions. Are there really such objects? If so, what are these objects, and how are they related to abstraction operations? This opening lecture considers an Aristotelian approach to these questions, based on the idea that the world contains quantities, which come in different magnitudes. This idea is developed using mereology and an equivalence relation. The resulting account promises a pleasing unification of various kinds of magnitudes as well as good account of how mathematics is applied.”
We look forward to your participation in the open lecture!
3 weeks