Projects

Abstract

In the past, institutions used to operate under an ideology to organize social practices. In our pluralist, rapidly changing society, which is characterised by the centrality of media and technology as well as by social segmentation, we cannot rely on such an overarching belief system any longer. For this reason, this project proposes to examine how (cultural, educational and media) institutions should organize social practices in order to foment interaction and cohesiveness. This will be done through the pragmatist, ecological philosophy of Félix Guattari, who was an important actor of the movement of institutional analysis. His thought is especially relevant here, because it is permeated with reflections on media and institutions in the context of a globalised, capitalist society, in which the mental and social ecologies of individuals are eroding, and in which individuals and groups become more and more segmentalized, polarized, and isolated. The aim of this project is to elaborate on the basis of Guattari's works a metamodeling tool, which would allow to reflect on the role of the institution in such a divided society.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Acosta Emiliano
• Fellow: Van der Wielen Julie

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This project explores recent cultural-philosophical approaches to ethics and ontology in reflecting on contemporary debates on moral realism. In metaethics, cultural contexts have been largely neglected on methodological grounds. Metaethics is said to involve a step back from culturalhistorical backgrounds and social-political contexts, and to offer a crucial neutral background against which normative issues need to be understood. However, philosophers outside metaethics have been defending views that explicitly invoke cultural-historical contexts in developing novel approaches to moral realism. This project will study how authors such as Jane Bennett, Akeel Bilgrami, Charles Taylor, and Stephen White explicitly combine cultural-philosophical analysis with metaphysical inquiry in the debate on disenchantment as a world-making narrative. The project starts by investigating philosophical views which explicitly connect cultural diagnoses to issues of moral realism in developing such diverse concepts as "metaphysical imaginary," "ontostories" (Bennet 2001), "secular enchantment" (Bilgrami 2010, 2016, 2020), "moral ontology," "social imaginary" (Taylor 1989, 2007) and "weak ontology" (White 2000). Using these different concepts as heuristic devices for widening the current realist debate, the project continues to examine how the cultural-philosophical debate on disenchantment displays a highly original approach to the metaphysics of value, namely one that acknowledges the key role of narrative for metaphysical inquiry. Understanding moral metaphysics narratively is to understand it not as a mere "theory," that is, as a set of descriptive claims about certain states of affairs, but as a way of interpreting the world in seeking moral orientation. One major advantage of such "narrative ontologies" as compared with mainstream realisms is that they allow for cultural difference and historical development while still sustaining the realist claim that value is part of the world by understanding narrativity as a worldmaking practice. The upshot of developing this approach in full would be a deeply normative account of ethics duly informed by the philosophy of culture, yet without sacrificing a metaphysical understanding of moral truth, objectivity, and knowledge.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Cools Arthur
• Promoter: Herman Luc
• Fellow: Meijer Michiel

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy
• Antwerp Centre for Digital humanities and literary Criticism (ACDC)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

In metaethics, normative questions have been largely avoided on methodological grounds. Metaethics is said to involve a step back from substantive normative debates and to offer a crucial neutral background against which normative issues need to be understood. However, moral philosophers outside metaethics have been defending views that explicitly invoke normative questions in developing novel approaches to moral realism. This PhD project will study how authors such as John McDowell, David Wiggins, Ronald Dworkin, Alan Thomas, and Matthew Kramer take the realist debate outside value-neutral metaphysics into the normative domain of politics. Questions the PhD could address include: How has the normative ethics/metaethics distinction been challenged in ethical theory? How to renew moral realism after dispelling its alleged neutrality? Is "politicizing" moral realism enough? What is the role of political theorizing for understanding moral metaphysics?

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meijer Michiel

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This project picks up on an important intuition at the center of the global moral revolt over the Russian invasion in Ukraine: the intuition of objective right and wrong. It starts from the observation that the philosophical reflection on value has fostered a strong sense of suspicion regarding this intuition, as most ethicists remain highly skeptical of the metaphysical status of such judgments. In developing the idea of "interpretive metaethics," it is shown how the hermeneutics of value makes a significant contribution to this debate, first, by understanding ethics hermeneutically, that is, to see moral judgments as interpretations of meaning rather than (non)descriptive statements, and second, by reflecting on morality from the perspective of the philosophy of culture, that is, to reflect on the historical constitution of moral experience in a disenchanted world. In so arguing, it builds on the views of Charles Taylor, using his distinctive moral realism and philosophy of culture to foreground an often-neglected topic in metaethics: the issue of moral self- understanding. In this way, this project aims to develop a new ethical theory on strictly interpretive grounds, while also showing how such a view helps to bridge the gap between normative ethics and metaethics. At stake is the possibility of a more comprehensive ethics – yielding a theory of contemporary moral identity with relevant implications for metaethics, normative ethics, and the philosophy of culture.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: De Vriese Herbert

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

What happens when you say something is a metaphor? You designate that 'something' as that what it is but also as 'something else'. You create a space for anyone who engages with this 'something' to co-create what 'something else' might be. By naming his personal artistic practice a metaphor, Vedran Kopljar wilfully creates this space and the opportunity for anyone who engages with it to co-create what else it might be. What is the potential of metaphorizing artistic practices? Can the artistic archive be an embodiment of an artistic practice? How does painting relate to metaphor? Is a book a theoretical model? How can an academy function as a metaphor? These are just some of the questions summoned by Kopljar's designation of his practice as a metaphor and reflection on it. The designation is rooted in the division of his practice into sub-practices and the subsequent discovery of their functioning. The sub-practices evolved from works or long-term projects into distinct forms and became semi-autonomous practices with their own distinct methodology, archiving and documentation. By reflecting on this breakdown of his artistic practice into these sub-practices he has come to see their potential as metaphors, and they have evolved to function as such. In this process he has come to question the role of metaphor on the level of artistic practices, instead of on the level of the artwork itself.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Cools Arthur

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

In what way should we conceive of the material world as the source of normativity, interconnectivity, and value? How does the recognition that non-human entities have agency enable ethical motivation? How should we conceive of the human agent when her exceptional status has done so much damage? These questions take centre stage in new materialist theory, but are paradoxically accommodated for in relation to an implicit and weak anthropological framework. The paradox resides in (1) an ethical dimension implicated in an ontological revaluation of reality wherein the human agent is simultaneously deprived from its superior agential capacity, yet manifestly addressed as the very being who has to take up a specific stance towards the material world; (2) in the way this human agent is ultimately addressed in order to respond more adequately to issues in the ethico-political realm: through a limited set of capacities at odds with the normative appeal of the very ethico-political issues new materialists pursue. This project addresses and overcomes this double paradox by developing a strong anthropological framework that is both more consistent with new materialism's own theoretical commitments and thereby potentially reinforces its normative pursuit. This framework is outlined as a new materialist anthropology.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: De Vriese Herbert
• Co-promoter: Meijer Michiel
• Fellow: de Nijs Bik Oscar

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

In recent decades, the justification of democratic political community has become a core issue in the philosophical domain of territorial rights. Current democratic theories of territorial rights have mostly focused on justifying political community based on the right to self-determination of a sovereign pre-political people. This approach has led current theories to essentially depoliticize international affairs: International issues should be resolved through moral argumentation, not by involving people in democratic decision-making processes. However, a lot of democratic philosophers, especially those subscribing to the all-affected and all-subjected approaches to the democratic principle, have argued that this depoliticization goes against democratic ideals. Instead of trying to justify a democratic political community based on a sovereign people, they hold that we must look for different ways of justifying political community. Until now though, it remains unclear what such a conception of political community should be and how it could function in a theory of territorial rights. This research project will explore the possibilities of justifying a democratic political community that is not based on sovereignty but can be applied to contemporary political problems as part of a comprehensive theory of territorial rights.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Van Eekert Geert
• Fellow: Schuckink Kool Coen

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The existence of a public sphere in which citizens encounter each other and enter into a debate on public and political matters has been a central concern of democratic theory. Since the 1990s, various authors have observed that the internet provides such a 'digital public sphere'. This observation has triggered a debate on the political implications of the digital transformation of the public sphere between so-called cyberoptimists and -pessimists. Both sides of the debate make use of the public sphere theories of Jürgen Habermas and Hannah Arendt. These theories still rely on speech-based models of participating in the public sphere. However, recent scholarship has shown that the experience of participating in the public sphere has become a largely visual experience thanks to the medium of the digital screen. This implies that the assessment of the political implications of that transformation departs from an inadequate understanding of the experience of participating in the digital public sphere today. To fill this gap, this project will first develop a thorough understanding of the medium specificity of the digital screen and the immersive and interactive visual experiences of participation that the digital screen affords. Based on this, a critical analysis will re-assess which conception of politics is needed to understand the political implications of the digital transformation of the public sphere.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Cools Arthur
• Co-promoter: Van Eekert Geert
• Fellow: Longo Anthony

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Rewilding has recently gained rapid popularity, becoming a buzzword in nature conservation, environmental philosophy and activism, as well as in subculture and new alternative circles aiming for a rewilding of human life. This type of rewilding seeks to reconnect humans with nature, and often manifests itself openly as a counter-culture of modernity. While rewilding has mostly drawn attention by scholars as an ecological practice and ideology, it has not been thoroughly studied as a (counter-)cultural movement and vision for modern life. This research proposal aims to fill that gap by assessing rewilding as a modern counter-culture. By means of a genealogical investigation, it seeks to uncover a common dynamic of modernity critique underneath the diverse manifestations of rewilding. Two traditions in particular are crucial in exposing this cultural-critical dynamic: views on the Dionysian in romantic literature and Nietzsche's philosophy, and the discourse of enchantment that developed in reaction to Weber's disenchantment theory. Detecting these critical legacies behind the emergence of rewilding allows for a profound assessment of the philosophical irations and implications of the rewilding vision in modernity. This assessment will not only consider the theoretical relevance of rewilding as a modern counter-culture, but also its practical potential for cultural transformation.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: De Vriese Herbert
• Co-promoter: Van Eekert Geert
• Fellow: De Vroey Linde

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Hannah Arendt has become one of the most influential contemporary political philosophers. Her work is called upon today to inform debates on political freedom, civil disobedience and statelessness. It is therefore surprising that her voice is nearly absent in discussions on the important issue of memory politics. The insights that Arendt can bring to these discussions have not yet been recognised for two reasons. She never formulated a systematic philosophy of history and memory. And, secondly, there exists an unresolved tension in her reflections on these subjects. I aim, first, to articulate a comprehensive understanding of Arendt's concepts of remembrance and history and, secondly, to bring these insights to bear on contemporary discussions on memory politics. I will use the concepts and themes of memory studies to bring focus and structure to the fragmented and scattered reflections on history and remembrance in the work of Arendt. By confronting Arendt's views on history and memory with concepts such as individual and collective memory, collective identity and social frameworks, I aim to bring Arendt's theory of remembrance into focus and make it relevant for discussions on memory politics. My research project strives for a cross fertilization between Arendt and the field of memory studies: the conceptual framework of memory studies serves as a heuristic aid for articulating Arendt's theory of remembrance which in turn can shed new light on the politics of memory.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Van Eekert Geert
• Fellow: Dufraing An

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Digitization has radically changed society and cultural life in a short space of time. Social media, such as Facebook, Tiktok and Instagram, have a direct impact on the social interactions of millions of users. The video game industry also reaches millions of people every day and creates new forms of community and social interaction. The aim of this call is to analyze, understand and evaluate the nature of this transformation of society and culture through the advancing digitization in the light of the contemporary philosophies of life world and culture. This objective is formulated very broadly to give potential candidates the opportunity to situate their own expertise in this field. Research proposals can be dedicated but are not limited to the following themes: the concept of 'virtual reality'; the concept of authorship in digital contexts; creation and experience of fictional worlds in virtual reality; representation and exploration in virtual worlds; the functioning, development and reception of story-telling in interactive virtual worlds; the reality effect of digital media; identity formation in virtual reality (cf. casus metaverse); social media user's participation, submission and autonomy; the aesthetic experience in video games; mechanisms of re-enchantment in virtual environments; amongst others.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Cools Arthur
• Co-promoter: Van de Mosselaer Nele

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

In what way should we conceive of the material world as the locus of normativity, interconnectivity, and value? How enables the recognition that nonhuman entities have agency ethical motivation? How should we conceive of the human agent when her exceptional status is being overthrown for causing so much havoc? These questions take centre stage in new materialist ethics, but are paradoxically accommodated for in relation to a disavowed and implicit anthropological framework. The paradox resides in (1) an ethical dimension implicated in an ontological revaluation of reality wherein the human agent is simultaneously banned from its superior agential capacity, yet manifestly addressed as the very being who has to take up a specific stance towards the material world; (2) in the way this ethical dimension is ultimately accounted for, namely, via a counterintuitively subjectivist understanding of ethics. Taking both points together, a double paradox in new materialist ethics can be discerned. Although the refutation of exclusively human agency is the underlying motif of new materialist thinking, this project addresses this double paradox by shifting focus towards an object-oriented-anthropology as a hermeneutical framework to combat these theoretical difficulties and reinforce the normative force akin to new materialist ontological narratives.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: De Vriese Herbert
• Co-promoter: Meijer Michiel
• Fellow: de Nijs Bik Oscar

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

In this research, an interdisciplinary research team consisting of two musicians, a music philosopher and an art sociologist, studies the impact of COVID-19 on the aesthetic resilience of artistic production within the contemporary music sector. First, it analyzes various digital productions that were commissioned and performed during the COVID-19 lockdown, to understand the effects of digitization and other technical tools on aesthetic values and the relationship with the audience. The findings are then actively tested by experimenting with different virtual concert settings of "FITTINGinSIDE", a production of the Belgium-based Nadar ensemble. The central questions of this research project are: (1) How to improve the aesthetic resilience of music productions in light of the limitations of the coronavirus pandemic? And (2) how to improve the relationship with the audience of contemporary music concerts in this new reality?

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: De Munck Marlies

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Contemporary virtual media let us interactively explore computergenerated environments. Peculiar to these environments is their ambiguous (non)representational nature: they actually exist as computer-generated representations, which might mandate their user to imagine a fictional world, or might simply be used as actual tools for real-world interactions. Current philosophical debates, however, always start from a categorization of the virtual as either real or irreal. As a result, these debates fail to address what is actually at stake in the experience of virtual media: the way in which these media complicate the relation and distinction between the fictional, nonfictional, and nonrepresentational. The aim of this project is to develop a framework that takes into account the fictional, nonfictional, and nonrepresentational aspects of virtual media, clarifies how they are related, and how their simultaneous presence influences our experience of virtual environments. For this purpose, I will critically re-examine philosophical reflections on the role of creative intentions, and appreciator interpretation and participation in the experience of representations, and specify how these need to be amended when it comes to the experience of virtual environments. In the end, I will describe not only the nature of (our experience of) virtual environments, but also strategies to deal with the (sometimes deceitful) (non)fictional status of virtually presented content.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Cools Arthur
• Fellow: Van de Mosselaer Nele

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

We can feel pride about something we achieved or about an ability we have, whether that be about a good result on an exam, the way we handled a tricky situation, or a silly way in which we can move our ears. We can also feel pride of other people's achievements, like those of our children or of our friends. We can be proud of the country we belong to, a soccer team we cheer for, a religion we believe in, or not believing in any religion at all. Sometimes, these feelings of pride give us reasons to act in a certain way. We might want to dress up in the colours of our favourite soccer team on the night that they are playing against a dreaded competitor, or we might want to tell our friends about the great results our kids are getting in school. Our pride can drive us to do good actions. It may encourage us to donate to charity or to pursue ambitions that we cherish. But pride can have morally bad consequences as well. Those become apparent in contemporary issues like religious extremism or nationalist feelings that lead to discrimination. In order to understand the emotion of pride and how it affects our actions both in a positive and negative way, it is interesting and not without importance to come to a philosophical exploration of pride. This project investigates into what it means to be proud of something, and how that feeling relates to the notion of dignity and identity. Moreover, it investigates what role the recognition by others, in relation to pride, plays in our moral lives.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Vanheeswijck Guy
• Co-promoter: Schaubroeck Katrien
• Fellow: Claeys Martha

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The aim of this project is to examine the political significance of pride. In recent years, political philosophy has shown increasing interest in the role of emotions in politics. Whereas strong emotions like anger, fear, resentment, indignation, love and compassion have all received a great deal of attention in recent debates, comparatively little work has been done on investigating pride as a political emotion. The current project seeks to make up for this lack of attention. It will describe the distinctive political potential of the emotion of pride and argue why it is important to take pride seriously in politics.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: De Vriese Herbert
• Co-promoter: Vanheeswijck Guy
• Fellow: Bergman Harriet

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The aim of this project is to develop a theory of fiction that accounts for the imaginative experience of interactive fictions such as videogames and virtual or augmented reality games. Peculiar to these kinds of fiction is that they are interactive, as their narrative development depends on the actions of the appreciator who is granted agency within the story through identification with a fictional character. Consequently, the experience of interactive fiction is often immersive in the sense that the appreciator feels present in the represented space. Existing fiction theories, such as Kendall Walton's make-believe theory and Peter Lamarque's thought theory, discuss traditional fictions like literature, theatre, and film. As such, these theories do not explain the fact that we can be moved to act towards fictional representations. Based on a critical examination of existing fiction theories, this project will develop a theory that accounts for the interaction with fictional objects.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Cools Arthur
• Co-promoter: Myin Erik
• Fellow: Van de Mosselaer Nele

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

One of the most debated topics in the philosophy of literature is the relation between literature and truth. Philosophers have articulated this relationship in many different ways, but it is remarkable that they have often investigated this relation starting from the realist novel of the 19th century. Yet the novel has undergone an important transformation with the rise of the modernist novel. This means that many of the philosophical theories on the novel's truth-value are unable to give an account of the meaning of literary artworks of the 20th or 21st century. Therefore, this project aims to investigate the novel's truth-value starting from the modernist novel. In particular, this project focuses on hermeneutic and deconstructionist theories on (modernist) literature and its relation to truth.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Cools Arthur
• Co-promoter: Liska Vivian
• Fellow: Verheyen Leen

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Is the attribution of value compatible with the physical, biological, and psychological explanations of the empirical sciences? The philosophical reflection on this question is often divided into two approaches: "naturalistic" doctrines that take empirical science as our best guide to understanding reality and "hermeneutical" views, which argue that the empirical sciences do not provide human beings with their primary and most significant access to the world. This project explores a novel form of ethics in between hermeneutical and naturalistic approaches by confronting Charles Taylor's moral philosophy with the pragmatist ethics of Hilary Putnam. On the one hand, their shared concern is that crucial features of human life – especially moral ones – precisely disappear by adopting a scientific stance. On the other hand, Taylor and Putnam are of different minds on the question of how to defend the autonomy of morality with regard to empirical science. The Taylor-Putnam debate starts from the observation that most people are reluctant to embrace naturalism fully and yet remain highly skeptical of all things that do not fit the naturalist model. Reflecting on this debate, this project develops a position that does not assume that the autonomy of morality must be defended from within a naturalistic framework. Instead, it seeks to show that the most fundamental problems of ethics and ontology arise in the border regions between hermeneutical and naturalistic approaches.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Vanheeswijck Guy
• Co-promoter: Lemmens Willem
• Fellow: Meijer Michiel

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

We can feel pride about something we achieved or about an ability we have, whether that be about a good result on an exam, the way we handled a tricky situation, or a silly way in which we can move our ears. We can also feel pride of other people's achievements, like those of our children or of our friends. We can be proud of the country we belong to, a soccer team we cheer for, a religion we believe in, or not believing in any religion at all. Sometimes, these feelings of pride give us reasons to act in a certain way. We might want to dress up in the colours of our favourite soccer team on the night that they are playing against a dreaded competitor, or we might want to tell our friends about the great results our kids are getting in school. Our pride can drive us to do good actions. It may encourage us to donate to charity or to pursue ambitions that we cherish. But pride can have morally bad consequences as well. Those become apparent in contemporary issues like religious extremism or nationalist feelings that lead to discrimination. In order to understand the emotion of pride and how it affects our actions both in a positive and negative way, it is interesting and not without importance to come to a philosophical exploration of pride. This project investigates into what it means to be proud of something, and how that feeling relates to the notion of dignity and identity. Moreover, it investigates what role the recognition by others, in relation to pride, plays in our moral lives.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Vanheeswijck Guy
• Co-promoter: Schaubroeck Katrien
• Fellow: Claeys Martha

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The last decades our higher educational system has known some notable tendencies: growing specialization, functional reduction and dominance of instrumental reason. These evolutions risk to neglect an important aspect in its pedagogical mission which is traditionally linked to Bildung, the development of pupils and students as integral persons. Yet several stakeholders in education feel the need of rearticulating this important dimension. Bildung has been playing an significant -albeit contested- role. It has been developed in a specific context (1770-1830) and can be regarded as an educational answer to socio-political, religious and cultural questions about identity and citizenship. Raising the question about the future of Bildung is tantamount to asking what educational response would be appropriate in our time. Therefore, we need to examine the strains and tensions that our contemporary society and the modern self are facing. We will do this with Charles Taylor as our main guide. His work offers a critical analysis of our time in which he articulates both the failings and the achievements of our modern culture and the difficulties people experience in their quest for autonomy, authenticity and identity. First we will define the main reasons why Bildung has become a controversial concept. Second our aim is to develop a new conception of Bildung starting from Taylor's analysis of the self in modern society. From there we enter into discussion with other authors.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Vanheeswijck Guy

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The aim of this project is to examine contemporary theories of fiction and imagination with regard to the imaginative experience of interactive fictions such as videogames and virtual or augmented reality games, and to develop a comprehensive theory of fiction and imagination that is able to account for interactive fiction. Peculiar to interactive fiction is that the appreciator is also a participant in the story, as the narrative development depends on the actions of the appreciator who is granted agency within the story through identification with a fictional character. Consequently, the appreciator of interactive fiction feels present in the represented, fictional space. The existing, dominant fiction theories, such as Kendall Walton's make-believe theory and Peter Lamarque's thought theory, discuss traditional fictions like literature, theatre, and film. As such, these theories cannot explain the fact that we can be moved to act towards fictional representations. To analyse the strengths and problems of both fiction theories in explaining the imaginative experience of interactive fiction, they will be confronted with Paul Ricoeur's hermeneutic approach of fiction. In his fiction theory, Ricoeur makes use of the concept of re-figuration and of a notion of practice to describe the experience of literary fiction. These two notions will be analysed and used to avoid the problems of Walton's make-believe theory and to investigate whether and how Lamarque's thought theory can be expanded to account for interactive fiction. A central aspect in Lamarque's theory of fiction is the opacity thesis, which states that the imaginative experience of a reader of literary fiction is determined by the way the fictional events are presented within the work of fiction. The hypothesis in this project will be that Lamarque's opacity thesis can be expanded and reinterpreted to contribute to the explanation of interactive fiction experiences. A study will thus be conducted on whether and how the new aspects of interactive fiction experiences – agency, immersion, and identification – are dependent on the specific mode of presentation of the interactive, fictional narrative. Furthermore, we will investigate whether and how the concept of imagination that is dominant within contemporary fiction theories should be modified. Generally speaking, these theories assume that fiction-induced imagination can cause (quasi-)emotions, but not actions. To show that fiction-induced imagination can motivate actions towards fictional objects, this project will draw from contemporary studies on imagination within the field of the philosophy of mind and confront these studies with the phenomenological approach of imagination in the philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre. Sartre's approach, in which the constitutive contribution of the imagination to emotions and actions is analysed, might provide an interesting perspective to account for the connection between imagination, emotion, and action in the interactive fiction experience. Throughout these different steps, this project will gradually clarify and articulate the role of imagination in (interactive) fiction experiences. Lastly, the developed position will be evaluated by checking whether it is able to solve persistent problems within the philosophy of fiction (including the so-called paradox of fiction), and whether it is able to explain the phenomenological experience of interactive fiction.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Cools Arthur
• Co-promoter: Myin Erik
• Fellow: Arienti Marco

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The aim of this project is to develop a theory of fiction that accounts for the imaginative experience of interactive fictions such as videogames and virtual or augmented reality games. Peculiar to these kinds of fiction is that they are interactive, as their narrative development depends on the actions of the appreciator who is granted agency within the story through identification with a fictional character. Consequently, the experience of interactive fiction is often immersive in the sense that the appreciator feels present in the represented space. Existing fiction theories, such as Kendall Walton's make-believe theory and Peter Lamarque's thought theory, discuss traditional fictions like literature, theatre, and film. As such, these theories do not explain the fact that we can be moved to act towards fictional representations. Based on a critical examination of existing fiction theories, this project will develop a theory that accounts for the interaction with fictional objects.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Cools Arthur
• Co-promoter: Myin Erik
• Fellow: Van de Mosselaer Nele

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung. Monatsschrift (ALZ) was a short-lived monthly edited by Bruno Bauer and published between December 1843 and October 1844. Featuring philosophical essays and articles, in-depth reviews, correspondence, and short stories, the journal was mainly launched to cover the new developments in German philosophy. More particularly, with Bruno Bauer being one of the leading thinkers of the Young Hegelian movement at that time, it was established as vehicle for a specific current of Young Hegelian philosophy. In spite of its crucial role in the transformation of German philosophy during the Vormärz (1830-1848), the ALZ has remained relatively unexplored. The project's main intention is to change this situation by bringing support to a new scientific edition of the ALZ. The ALZ includes 31 anonymous articles. This means that the authentic authorship of almost half of the ALZ's articles was not revealed in the original publication. With respect to the new ALZ edition, the project's first objective is to provide extensive annotations to each of these articles, either supporting a precise authorship attribution or a lack thereof. The specific challenge is to strenghten new and existing stylistic, thematic and contextual analyses with natural language processing results. The project's second objective is to develop a novel and well-researched interpretation of the philosophical role and meaning of the ALZ, focusing on the journal's major themes and describing its proper part in the transformation of Young Hegelian philosophy.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: De Vriese Herbert

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This research project examines the shifting relationship between curiosity and religion and argues for curiosity's centrality in new 'naturalized' accounts of religion in the early modern period (1500- 1800). At once seen as a natural human propensity, central to scientific knowledge, and a sin by some theological thinkers, British philosopher Thomas Hobbes puts curiosity to new and transformative use, making it the foundation of his explanation of religion and, in doing so, providing the resources for a naturalized account of religion, or an account that appeals to psychological, cognitive, and social features of the human being. Religion begins to be seen as a human social practice like any other, not an exceptional, supernatural phenomenon. The project uses Hobbes as an anchoring figure and then turns to David Hume and others in the period, including Spinoza and Malebranche, and focuses primarily on curiosity and related concepts like anxiety and wonder. The project analyzes the shifting relationship between new understandings of curiosity and religion in the period and seeks to use these insights to take on questions encountered today, for example, questions about whether and how religion might be part of our humanness, how and why religion persists as it does, and, in light of changing perspectives on curiosity, how to make better sense of the relationship between religious and scientific knowledge.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Van Herck Walter
• Co-promoter: Lemmens Willem
• Fellow: MacMillan Alissa

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This project departs from the hypothesis that the difficulties and doubts all accounts on the political meaning of forgiveness and reconciliation get entangled in, go back to a moral interpretation of both terms, which neglects the crucial distinction between moral and political relationships. The central aim of the project is thus to develop a sheer political account on forgiveness and reconciliation, inspired by Hannah Arendt's conception of politics and her distinction between politics and morality. As is demonstrated by many critiques on Arendt's account, this explicit distinction between politics and morality is highly controversial. I intend to show however, that respecting the distinction may avoid many conceptual confusions and practical difficulties.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Van Eekert Geert
• Fellow: Van Peborgh Els

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

One of the most debated topics in the philosophy of literature is the relation between literature and truth. Philosophers have articulated this relationship in many different ways, but it is remarkable that they have often investigated this relation starting from the realist novel of the 19th century. Yet the novel has undergone an important transformation with the rise of the modernist novel. This means that many of the philosophical theories on the novel's truth-value are unable to give an account of the meaning of literary artworks of the 20th or 21st century. Therefore, this project aims to investigate the novel's truth-value starting from the modernist novel. In particular, this project focuses on hermeneutic and deconstructionist theories on (modernist) literature and its relation to truth.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Cools Arthur
• Co-promoter: Liska Vivian
• Fellow: Verheyen Leen

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

A contribution to a theological-philosophical hermeneutics that aims to do justice to the contemporary religious landscape. An investigation (1) into the reconceptualization of transcendence in post-theistic discourses, and (2) into the theological and philosophical consequences of religious atheism, religious naturalism, and post-theism, by studying to what extent those three discourses problematize dualistic concepts like 'belief' versus 'unbelief' and 'religious' versus 'atheistic'.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Van Herck Walter

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This research project intends to give a comprehensive account of Blanchot's relation to Kafka. Its main goal is to gain in-depth insight into the role and significance of Kafka's work in Blanchot's own fictional writings, literary theory and analyses of contemporary culture.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Cools Arthur
• Co-promoter: Liska Vivian

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This project departs from the hypothesis that the difficulties and doubts all accounts on the political meaning of forgiveness and reconciliation get entangled in, go back to a moral interpretation of both terms, which neglects the crucial distinction between moral and political relationships. The central aim of the project is thus to develop a sheer political account on forgiveness and reconciliation, inspired by Hannah Arendt's conception of politics and her distinction between politics and morality. As is demonstrated by many critiques on Arendt's account, this explicit distinction between politics and morality is highly controversial. I intend to show however, that respecting the distinction may avoid many conceptual confusions and practical difficulties.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Van Eekert Geert
• Fellow: Van Peborgh Els

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The monograph "Metaphors in Modern and Contemporary Philosophy" is a book that brings together valuable material on the role and function of metaphors in philosophy. Part I offers systematic approaches. Part II is historical. In several chapters the role of metaphors in modern and contemporary philosophers is analyzed.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Van Herck Walter

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project website

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

At first glance the question of responsibility seems to be a question of freedom: is one responsible for his/her actions, because she/he has chosen these actions freely? In a recent philosophical debate that has been inspired by the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas, responsibility is however understood as the result of a call: as a task that isn¿t the result of any free choice, but that is received in a passive way. This call is received by a singular person and has to be answered by this person only. Levinas¿ concept of responsibility has been put into question by some critics as Jean-Luc Marion and Paul Ricoeur, who doubt Levinas¿ claim that ethical responsibility (the call to do the good) can be singular. Ricoeurs and Marions criticisms point at the fundamental problem of an ethics of responsibility: how is it possible for a call that is addressed at any person, to ask for an answer that only I can give? This question will be the core of the following research project which goal consists in investigating how singularity can be considered as a condition of freedom. The project will carefully investigate the following three questions. 1.) Can the call for the good be singular (i.e. unique) so that it is possible to say that it singularizes me? 2.) Can a passive call for responsibility result in concrete ethical practice? 3.) In what sense does freedom depend on singular ethicalacting in practice?

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Cools Arthur
• Fellow: Dierckxsens Geoffrey

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Where are we? This is the main question that my research project wants to investigate and answer, through a phenomenological approach of the place and spatiality of man. Taking the phenomenologies of Husserl and especially Heidegger as its starting point, it aims at formulating a phenomenological topology that can offer an alternative for the scientific and objective treatment of space and place, since this perspective is not capable of grasping the essential charateristics of our spatiality and situatedness.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Van Eekert Geert
• Fellow: Van de Vijver Jasper

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Proposed by the University, the Francqui Foundation each year awards two Francqui Chairs at the UAntwerp. These are intended to enable the invitation of a professor from another Belgian University or from abroad for a series of ten lessons. The Francqui Foundation pays the fee for these ten lessons directly to the holder of a Francqui Chair.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Van Eekert Geert

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This is a fundamental research project financed by the Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO). The project was subsidized after selection by the FWO-expert panel.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Van Eekert Geert
• Fellow: Vanhaute Liesbet

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

At first glance the question of responsibility seems to be a question of freedom: is one responsible for his/her actions, because she/he has chosen these actions freely? In a recent philosophical debate that has been inspired by the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas, responsibility is however understood as the result of a call: as a task that isn¿t the result of any free choice, but that is received in a passive way. This call is received by a singular person and has to be answered by this person only. Levinas¿ concept of responsibility has been put into question by some critics as Jean-Luc Marion and Paul Ricoeur, who doubt Levinas¿ claim that ethical responsibility (the call to do the good) can be singular. Ricoeurs and Marions criticisms point at the fundamental problem of an ethics of responsibility: how is it possible for a call that is addressed at any person, to ask for an answer that only I can give? This question will be the core of the following research project which goal consists in investigating how singularity can be considered as a condition of freedom. The project will carefully investigate the following three questions. 1.) Can the call for the good be singular (i.e. unique) so that it is possible to say that it singularizes me? 2.) Can a passive call for responsibility result in concrete ethical practice? 3.) In what sense does freedom depend on singular ethicalacting in practice?

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Cools Arthur
• Fellow: Dierckxsens Geoffrey

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The electronic mass media, omnipresent in our contemporary world, are characterized by transparency. They disappear, to make something else appear, for instance a football match or the artificial environment of a game. This project tries to describe these mediated (or virtual) realities phenomenologically, thereby trying to gain new insight into the relation between virtual and non-virtual reality.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Van Eekert Geert
• Co-promoter: Myin Erik
• Fellow: Gooskens Geert

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The projects addresses questions regarding ways of accommodating religious opinions within a secular but radically pluralising social and cultural context and political discourse. A main theoretical-methodological invention of this research would be the consideration of the equally plural Indian context and related debates in political philosophy, and the ways of (re)inventing of certain elements of this Indian discourse within the European context, especially Bilgrami's ideas.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Van Herck Walter
• Fellow: Losonczi Peter

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Where are we? This is the main question that my research project wants to investigate and answer, through a phenomenological approach of the place and spatiality of man. Taking the phenomenologies of Husserl and especially Heidegger as its starting point, it aims at formulating a phenomenological topology that can offer an alternative for the scientific and objective treatment of space and place, since this perspective is not capable of grasping the essential charateristics of our spatiality and situatedness.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Van Eekert Geert
• Fellow: Van de Vijver Jasper

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Cools Arthur
• Co-promoter: Taels Johan
• Fellow: Van Den Bempt Petra

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Gianni Vattimo became known worldwide with two publications: Il pensiero debole (1983) that triggered the philosophical hype of post-metaphysical 'weak thought' and Credere di credere (1996) where he defends a nihilist Christianity without religion or metaphysics. The first publication develops a nihilist version of Heidegger's An-denken. This weak thought is compared with Derrida's development of Heidegger's thoughts on difference, as 'rival' paths that lead 'beyond' metaphysics. The second publication matches the decline of metaphysics with secularisation. This strongly kenotic interpretation of Christianity and indeed of the history of the world's religions is compared with Girard's anthropological reading of secularisation. To conclude, the aforementioned matching of philosophical and religious actuality by Vattimo is evaluated.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Vanheeswijck Guy
• Fellow: Meganck Erik

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The aim of the project is to publish a translation in Dutch of the main critical texts of Maurice Blanchot concerning the issue of the neutre. This issue is worked out by the author in discussion with the contemporary philosophical discourse (in sofar as it is inspired by the philosophy of Heidegger) and in relation to the modernist transformation of the narrative structure of the story.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Cools Arthur

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Against the background of the rationalization/secularization of modern society, the project will try to re-conceptualize the sacred and its manifold, displaced, and transformed forms in modern culture, particularly in urban spaces. The project verifies the program of the Collège de Sociologie and its principal concepts ('sacred-profane', 'magic', 'myth', 'symbol') as 'a theory of the sacred' in order to decipher the re-emergence of the sacred in contemporary urban spaces.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Van Herck Walter

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The confrontation between Gauchet and Taylor starts from the following research question : what is the cultural and social relevance and significance of the religious in the secular world? The aim of this question is to make explicit the tension which currently occurs between the religious experience which is circumscribed in terms of the sacred, the godlike and the transcendent on the one hand and the advancing process of secularisation on the other

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Vanheeswijck Guy
• Co-promoter: Van Herck Walter

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The electronic mass media, omnipresent in our contemporary world, are characterized by transparency. They disappear, to make something else appear, for instance a football match or the artificial environment of a game. This project tries to describe these mediated (or virtual) realities phenomenologically, thereby trying to gain new insight into the relation between virtual and non-virtual reality.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: De Graeve Peter
• Promoter: Van Eekert Geert
• Co-promoter: Myin Erik
• Co-promoter: Van Eekert Geert
• Fellow: Gooskens Geert

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Van Eekert Geert
• Fellow: Vanhaute Liesbet

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This project aims at an understanding of Heidegger's 'topology', his thinking of spatiality and place. It focuses in particular on the 'Kehre' in Heidegger's thought in the early 30's, which will be interpreted as a turning to topology. Allthough the topological question is not absent in the philosophy of the early Heidegger, it is quite clear that the 'place of place', especially in Sein und Zeit, is highly problematic. The reason for this is not only the primacy of temporality, but also the absence of an understanding of authenticity that takes into account the importance of place. Thus, the 'topological turn' (right) after Sein und Zeit goes together with a shift in Heidegger's understanding of authenticity that implies the recognition of the importance of spatiality and place for a true 'being-there'.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: De Graeve Peter
• Promoter: Van Eekert Geert
• Fellow: Van de Vijver Jasper

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

OUP asked me, together with the Canadian philosopher Mathieu Marion to publish the seventh part in the new edition of R.G.Collingwood's oeuvre (autumn 2009). OUP's specific request is to publish the manuscript Realism and Idealism (120 pages) together with three small manuscripts on metaphysics. Both Marion and I will edit these four manuscripts and provide a detailed introduction of more than hundred pages.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Vanheeswijck Guy

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This research project deals with the forgotten existentialism of Max Stirner (1806-1856). Its focus is twofold. First, the kinship between Stirners thought and that of atheistic existentialist philosophy is explored ¿ kinship that has been pointed out by a great number of Stirner critics, but has never been the subject of serious scientific endeavour. Secondly, the focus will be on the role Stirner's concept of 'der Einzige' can play in twentieth century (existentialist) debate concerning nihilism and authenticity.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Van Eekert Geert
• Fellow: Spiessens Jeff

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: De Graeve Peter
• Fellow: De Keersmaecker Patricia

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This research project deals with the forgotten existentialism of Max Stirner (1806-1856). Its focus is twofold. First, the kinship between Stirners thought and that of atheistic existentialist philosophy is explored ¿ kinship that has been pointed out by a great number of Stirner critics, but has never been the subject of serious scientific endeavour. Secondly, the focus will be on the role Stirner's concept of 'der Einzige' can play in twentieth century (existentialist) debate concerning nihilism and authenticity.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Van Eekert Geert

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The aim of this project is to rewrite SMW, and 'to rewrite' means: to interpret to evaluate and to make topical, not only in the light of the complete works of Whitehead plus the associated secondary literature, but also and especially, in the light of the evolution of Western civilization since 1926. Of course, the central factor in the complex product of civilization best known to Whitehead, and providing the thread for Whitehead when writing SMW, was natural science. The evolution of this cultural factor will also be our guide when rewriting SMW. But no matter how central natural science may be in this project our study of the historical development of mathematical physics is no aim in itself. Its ultimate goal is to reveal the cultural significance of SMW. Together with Whitehead, we want to turn the history of natural science into a diagnostics of modern civilization: that's the purpose of this project in a nutshell. Or to put it differentiy: we would like to reintroduce Whitehead as a cultural critic, looking at the history of modem civilization in the light of the history of natural science. Whitehead can be compared with cultural critics of the New Age brand, such as Lewis Mumford, Theodore Roszalç Robert Pirsig and Morris Berman. Whitehead certainly is as relevant a cultural critic as they are to contemporary readers, but he outstrips all of them when philosophical profundity is the criterion. In the gallery of philosophical jewels, SMW deserves a place next to Die Krisis der europaTschen Wissenschaften und die tranzendentale Phanomenologie, next to Die Zeit des Weltbildes, or next to Sources of the Self, for Whitehead matches cultural philosophers Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger and Charles Taylor.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Vanheeswijck Guy
• Co-promoter: Cloots André

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The "postmodern turn" in philosophy was initially characterized by fierce critique of religion, and more specifically the tradition of Christian faith. However, over the last three decades innovative reinterpretations and revaluations of the meaning of religion and Christian faith in a (post)modern cultural context emerged in the work of a number of prominent philosophical authors, Theft work wifi be analysed, compared and evaluated.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Vanheeswijck Guy

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The project aims at a scholarly translation into Dutch of Immanuel Kant's Die Religion innerhalb der Grenzen der blossen Vernunft, annotated and with a scholarly introduction. The translation will be published in autumn 2004.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Van Eekert Geert

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Especially in the philosophy of mind and in moralphilosophy there is an important theoretical tradition on passions and emotions. These theories were never applied to the specific domain of religious passions and emotions. By doing just that this research project wants to get clarity concerning the question whether emotions hinder, accompane or constitute the religious attidtude of the subject.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Van Herck Walter
• Co-promoter: Lemmens Willem

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The proposed research project studies two motifs which play a very important role in contemporary philosophy and are inextricably bound up with one another. The first motif is 'the end of metaphysics' in post-Hegelian philosophies of the history of philosophy and philosophies of history in general. The second motif is the self-perception and self-definition of several important post-Hegelian philosophers or philosophical tendencies as post-metaphysical. The first motif contains the idea that metaphysics, as a way of thinking, is not the product of a permanent 'metaphysical need', but that it is a definite phase in the development of humanity, andt that this phase has come to an end, or has to come to an end. The second motif complements and modifies the first one. It contains the idea that metaphysical thinking, as the 'hard core' of Western philosophical tradition up to and including Hegel, is inextricably bound up with the use of several fundamental strategies of thought. These strategies have become irreversibly problematic, and therefore must be at any cost avoided by means of new forms of thought that replace metaphysics.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Verrycken Koen
• Co-promoter: Van Eekert Geert
• Co-promoter: Vanheeswijck Guy

Research team(s)

• Center for European Philosophy

Project type(s)

• Research Project