Jessica Tizzard meets her critics:
The event will focus on Jessica Tizzard’s recently published book, Kant’s Moral World: Ideas and the Real Use of Pure Practical Reason (Oxford, 2025), and will bring the author into conversation with leading scholars in Kant scholarship. The book provides a systematic interpretation of Immanuel Kant’s practical metaphysics, building up to his controversial claim that there are rational grounds to affirm the existence of the immortal soul and God because they represent metaphysical conditions for the realization of a moral world and culminating in a new interpretation of Kant's conception of the highest good.
A detailed programme will follow in due course.
Registration: Please send your registration to: katharina.kraus@univie.ac.at
Students are already using GenAI to study, write, code (and cheat, oops!), while universities struggle to redefine teaching, assessment, and academic integrity to adequately prepare students. What is the solution? An outright ban?
This Oxford-style debate presents two opposing views on one controversial motion: “This House Believes That AI should never be used within Higher Education.” We’re bringing a philosopher, computer scientists, a policy expert, and your fellow students together to go head-to-head! Join us to hear their views, share your own, and vote for which arguments you find the most compelling!
"Should We Ban AI in Higher Education?" has been co-organized by Young AI Leaders Linz and the FWF Cluster of Excellence Knowledge in Crisis, in partnership with Blue Danube Speakers (Toastmasters Linz) and the FWF Cluster of Excellence Bilateral AI.
Our Expert Speaker Lineup:
Dr. Tim Crane is Special Advisor to the Rector and Professor of Philosophy at CEU, Director of Research at the FWF Cluster of Excellence Knowledge in Crisis, and former Knightbridge Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge.
Anamaria-Roberta Hartl is a PhD candidate at the JKU's Institute for Machine Learning and a member of the Bilateral Artificial Intelligence (BilAI) project, an FWF Cluster of Excellence.
Dr. Erich Kobler is Assistant Professor for Machine/ Deep Learning in Medical Imaging at the JKU's Institute for Machine Learning and a member of the Bilateral Artificial Intelligence (BilAI) project, an FWF Cluster of Excellence.
Bram van Haver is the lead Project Officer for UNESCO's flagship global intercultural leadership programme, "Youth for Peace: UNESCO Intercultural Leadership Programme".
The European Moral Responsibility Consortium (EMRC) is a platform devoted to facilitating coordination and cooperation among philosophers based in Europe who are working in the area of moral responsibility and related fields and topics (free will, blame, collective responsibility, punishment, moral responsibility and AI, etc.). The platform is also open to people from outside Europe.
The 2026 conference runs over three days from 28th - 30th September
Keynote Speakers:
Monika Betzler
Gunnar Björnsson
Jules Holroyd
Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen
Speakers:
Hannah Altehenger (& Peter Schulte), Agnès Baehni & Patricia Sanches Oliva, Emily Baron, Olle Blomberg, Dominik Boll, Daphne Brandenburg, Daniele Bruno, Simon-Pierre Chevarie-Cossette, Niels de Haan, Anton Emilsson, Jonathan Fremout, Kyle G. Fritz & Daniel J. Miller, David Heering, Frank Hindriks, Anneli Jefferson, Felix Lambrecht, Elsa Magnell, Shervin Mirzaeighazi, Matthias Rolffs & Trenton Sewell, Jules Salomone-Sehr (& Eliana Luxemburg-Peck), Philipp Schwind, Kenneth Silver, Mark Spencer, Ninni Suni, András Szigeti, Kesavan Thanagopal, Marina Trakas, Alexander Velichkov, David Widerker, Pascale Willemsen (& Max Bauer & Pauline Kinzler), Nicola Zetti
More Info can be found ↗ here
The explanation of consciousness is one of the great remaining problems for science. Twenty years ago, The Economist declared that “consciousness awaits its Einstein.“ Yet despite the huge progress in neuroscience during this period, and the wide range of theories that have been offered by philosophers and scientists, agreement on how consciousness should be understood seems to be even further away. How do we get from a scientific knowledge of the interactions between neurons to an understanding of how they produce thought, perception, emotion, and other conscious phenomena? In conversation with Vienna Humanities Festival co-founder DESSY GAVRILOVA, the distinguished British philosopher and Central European University professor TIM CRANE will delve into the “hard problem“ of consciousness.
This event forms part of the ↗ Vienna Humanities Festival
TIM CRANE is a Professor of Philosophy at the Central European University (CEU) in Vienna, where he is also Director of Research of the FWF Cluster of Excellence Knowledge in Crisis. Crane works in the philosophy of mind and has taught previously at the University of Cambridge and UCL. His books include The Mechanical Mind (1995), Elements of Mind (2001), The Objects of Thought (2013) and The Meaning of Belief (2017).
His website is www.timcrane.com.
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"
Convinced you're right? Let's check - philosophy provides a useful toolset for uncovering the truth. At this station, you can tackle some of today's most pressing issues through open, honest dialogue with a philosopher. Our "Change My Mind" prompts are here to help you examine your views and see how well they hold up when we think them through together.
No registration required—stop by any time between 17:15 and 19:00. ↗ Further details here
This event is part of the City of Vienna's Wiener Demokratie-Tag, a series of "democracy stations" around the city to showcase and foster active civic participation. ↗ Learn more here (in German)
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