In einer Zeit der Desinformation, Polarisierung und Unsicherheit werden die Fähigkeiten zu kritischem Denken, der Bewertung von Argumenten und der Reflexion von Wissen immer wichtiger. Die Tagung widmet sich den Fragen, wie epistemische und argumentative Kompetenzen zu verstehen sind, welche normativen Grundlagen ihnen zugrunde liegen und wie ihre Vermittlung in Schule und in Öffentlichkeit gelingen kann. Sie richtet sich an Philosoph:innen und Philosophiedidaktiker:innen, an Vertreter:innen angrenzender Bereiche sowie an Lehrkräfte und Bildungsverantwortliche. Sie ist kostenlos und offen für Interessierte.
Datum: 17. bis 19. September 2026
Ort: HS 302, Franziskanergasse 1, Salzburg 5020
Veranstaltende: Bettina Bussmann & David Lanius
Weitere Informationen auf der Seite des Netzwerks "Argumentieren in der Schule"
Three days of the latest in social epistemology.
In the heart of Vienna.
How can epistemology help us to better understand and overcome the crisis of knowledge? The aim of this conference is to showcase cutting edge work on knowledge: its nature and norms as well as its social and political dimensions. We want to foster exchange between different approaches to knowledge and the crisis it finds itself in. At the heart of the crisis of knowledge are philosophical problems about the relationship between knowledge, truth, science, ethics and politics—and ultimately our relationship to reality itself.
Speakers and Provisional Titles
Endre Begby: What is False, Non-Explanatory, and Normatively Misguided? A Closer Look at Partisan Selective Exposure Theory
Jennifer Carr: To be announced
J. Adam Carter: Know-How in Motion
Carolina Flores: Feeling Safe and Staying Ignorant
Maria Lasonen: To be announced
Berislav Marusic: Solidarity, not Charity: On Ideals of Interpretation
Robin McKenna: What Is Wrong with Politicisation?
Johanna Thoma: Value Pluralist Science in Practice: The Case of Climate Economics
Elise Woodard: Psychologizing and Relationships
This conference is hosted by the University of Vienna and organized by Knowledge in Crisis. KiC is supported by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) under the Clusters of Excellence programme (10.55776/COE3). We're a collaboration between the University of Graz, the University of Salzburg, and the University of Vienna, led by Central European University.
More information can be found at the ↗ dedicated website.
Please direct conference-related questions to kic@ceu.edu. For questions regarding the registration portal, please contact congress@univie.ac.at.
There is no shortage of hype around artificial general intelligence and the dawn of “superintelligence,” but what about intelligence itself? In this fireside chat, Rumman Chowdhury and Tim Crane move beyond the headlines to interrogate the fundamental nature of the mind. They will tackle common misconceptions that obscure the similarities and differences between human and artificial cognition—from our tendency to anthropomorphize machines, to the idea that human thought is merely a series of computer-like calculations.
They’ll also address the way we judge progress in the field, discussing why our current benchmarks seem to fail to capture true understanding. By starting off thinking in the wrong terms, we may be measuring the wrong things entirely.
This conversation is open to researchers, industry professionals, and the interested public alike, and will be followed by a reception.
About the speakers:
Dr. Rumman Chowdhury is a data scientist and social scientist. She is the founder of Humane Intelligence Public Benefit Corporation, which creates inclusive infrastructure for Generative AI evaluation. Previously she Co-founded of the nonprofit Humane Intelligence, which builds a community of practice around evaluations of AI models.
Dr. Tim Crane is Pro-Rector for Foresight and Analysis and Professor of Philosophy at Central European University, and the Director of Research for Knowledge in Crisis. Before coming to CEU, he was Knightbridge Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Peterhouse from 2009. Before that he taught at UCL for 19 years, and founded the Institute of Philosophy in the University of London as its first Director in 2005. He was educated at the Universities of Durham, York and Cambridge, where he obtained his PhD in 1989.
9th June at Central European University
17:30-19:00 with a reception afterwards
Get your tickets ↗ here
This event has been organized us and by CEU in cooperation with European Forum Alpbach as part of its democracy in a digital age event series.
Pluralism, Perspectivism, Relativism How Not to Lose Track of a Common Moral World
Denis Džanić (Graz) & Sonja Rinofner-Kreidl (Graz)
Pluralism generally seems to be a good thing: we like having a variety of options, possibilities, and perspectives. But some forms of pluralism – of religion, identity, ethnicity, politics, etc. – often fuel disagreement and controversy. One way to avoid or minimize such conflicts, it is sometimes said, is to recognize that moral discourse is relative and dependent on our specific backgrounds. But is this a good strategy for preserving both pluralism and a sense of meaningfully shared social reality?
20th May 19:00-21:00
Ducks Coffee Shop, Raubergasse 14, 8010 Graz
SOLD OUT!
More information about the event can be found ↗ here
Socrates once said “εν οίδα ότι ουδέν οίδα”... Yeah that was hard, do not expect everybody to tell you the truth. Words can be deceptive…
What Is Metaphor Anyway?
Elek Lane (Vienna)
Metaphors are weird. Romeo tells us that Juliet (a human girl) is the sun (an astronomical object 150 million kilometers from Earth). Yet instead of being deeply puzzled, we nod along and understand what Romeo is saying: he means (at least) that she is beautiful and that his world revolves around her. How is this possible? That is, what enables Romeo to encode his intended message in such a way that we are able to decipher it? And more generally, what can the philosophy of language tell us about how metaphorical speech works?
Fake Experts: A Taxonomy.
Camilo Martinez (CEU)
How do you know the Earth is round, that smoking is bad for you, or how to invest for retirement? Chances are, you learned it from someone else. But how do you know who actually knows what they're talking about? In this talk, I will present a taxonomy of fake experts — con men, gurus, and more — and draw one key counterintuitive lesson: success isn't always a good sign of expertise.
20th May 19:00-21:00
Polkadot, Albertgasse 12, 1080 Vienna
SOLD OUT!
More information about the event can be found ↗ here
What do we really know?
Guido Melchior (Graz)
We normally think that we know quite a lot. But when we question whether we really know and consider the possibility that we might be mistaken, our confidence vanishes and we hestiate to claim that we know. So, what do we really know? And is questioning everything, as the skeptic does, just a cheap trick?
18th May 19:00-21:00
Ducks Coffee Shop, Raubergasse 14, 8010 Graz
SOLD OUT!
More information about the event can be found ↗ here
Anti-Aging: Bullshit oder Wissenschaft?
Gregor Greslehner (Vienna)
Der Traum vom Jungbrunnen ist fast ebenso alt wie die Menschheit selbst. Nun versprechen Biotechnologie-Unternehmen und exzentrische Millionäre, dass dieser Traum vom längeren Leben in greifbarere Nähe rückt. Untermauert werden derlei Behauptungen mit Verweis auf den wissenschaftlichen Fortschritt. Jedoch sind diese Versprechungen wissenschaftlich kaum haltbar. Effektive Maßnahmen für ein längeres und gesundes Leben sind längst bekannt und relativ unspektakulär: ausreichend Bewegung, Schlaf, gesunde Ernährung. Die spannende Biologie des Alterns zu studieren, lohnt sich auf jeden Fall dennoch.
18th May 19:00-21:00
Club Berlin, Gonzagagasse 12, 1010 Vienna
SOLD OUT!
More information about the event can be found ↗ here
This workshop brings together philosophers working on love, friendship, relationships, and other themes in interpersonal ethics.
Speakers:
Monika Betzler LMU Munich
Samuel Dishaw Université Catholique de Louvain
Cathy Mason Central European University
Anni A. Räty University of Vienna
Jonas Vandieken LMU Munich
Patrick Quinn White Harvard University
Organisers:
Anni A. Räty University of Vienna
Paulina Sliwa University of Vienna
The conference features talks from KiC postdocs and three Author Meets Critics sessions on recent (or forthcoming) books around the topic of self-knowledge.
Speakers:
Matthew Boyle University of Chicago
Lisa Doerksen Central European University
Keith Raymond Harris University of Vienna
Béatrice Longuenesse New York University
Ursula Renz University of Graz
Lukas Schwengerer University of Graz
Tuomo Tiisala University of Vienna
Organisers:
Denis Džanić University of Graz
Ursula Renz University of Graz
Bernhard Ritter University of Graz
Tuomo Tiisala University of Vienna
Where: University of Graz
Graz, Austria
Please register your interest before April 30 by emailing the organizers.
Join us for a public lecture on the bounds of knowledge by acclaimed philosopher Ernest Sosa (Rutgers University, USA)
We start with a comparison between Galileo and Descartes. Galileo held (and proclaimed) his very risky views in astronomy, and suffered the consequences. Because of that, Descartes kept his astronomy to himself, and perhaps even preferred to focus on mathematics and philosophy. By contrast, he faced Pyrrhonian rational concerns openly and deeply, while Galileo did not so much as address them, at least not thoroughly and publicly. So, how did those facts bear on the normative standing of their respective world views?
Descartes is generally accused of vicious circularity. So, are we doomed to intellectual failure where serious inquiry only serves to make us aware of our fallen state?
This lecture offers a hopeful course. When Elizabeth Anscombe faces dissatisfaction in normative ethics, she proposes a moratorium on normative inquiry until we can attain a better philosophical psychology. This lecture aims to enhance our epistemic psychology in the hope of a better normative epistemology that will make room for both Descartes and Galileo.
Ernest Sosa is the Board of Governors Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers University and a leading figure in contemporary epistemology. Sosa earned his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1964. He taught at Brown University for over four decades before joining the Rutgers faculty in 2007.
Sosa is widely recognized for his foundational contributions to virtue epistemology, a field he pioneered in the 1980s. His work explores the nature of knowledge, justification, and skepticism, often focusing on "virtue perspectivism"—the idea that knowledge should be understood as an "apt" belief resulting from the exercise of intellectual virtue. His extensive publications include Knowledge in Perspective (1991), A Virtue Epistemology (2007), Reflective Knowledge (2009), Knowing Full Well (2011), Judgment and agency (2015) and Epistemic Explanations (2021).
A past president of the American Philosophical Association and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Sosa has delivered prestigious lectures worldwide, including the John Locke Lectures at Oxford and the Carus Lectures.
He is also the recipient of many awards and prizes. Throughout his career, Sosa has held the position of editor, president and vice president for a vast array of journals and philosophical institutions and published over 300 works in philosophy.
Monday, May 11
5:30 PM - 7 PM
Central European University
Free tickets to the event are available ⤷ here