Organized on behalf of the Network for Phenomenological Research, a monthly online forum of discussion on recent work in phenomenology.
Announcement of the next talk of the series:
MONTHLY PHENOMENOLOGY
An online forum of discussion on recent work in phenomenology
Description: This series of talks gathers together scholars interested in phenomenology and its relation to contemporary issues in philosophy, especially in the philosophy of mind. It establishes a forum of discussion where people can meet on a regular basis and present their work-in-progress or recent publications. The topics addressed will stretch from the history of early phenomenology to the systematic application of phenomenological insights in recent debates in analytic philosophy.
Schedule: The talks will take place once a month on a Friday from October to May. Time: 10:15am ET, 3:15pm GMT/GMT+1, 4:15pm CET. Talks last 90 minutes, including a 45 minutes Q&A.
Participation: Talks are held on zoom. To participate, please send an email to [email protected] with the heading “Registration Monthly Phenomenology”. A zoom link will be sent to you the day preceding each talk.
Programme:
Next talk
Ruth Rebecca Tietjen (Tilburg University)
The Politics of Loneliness
Friday, 17 January 2025
10:15am ET, 3:15pm GMT, 4:15pm CET
Abstract: In recent years, loneliness has received increasing attention in the academic, public, and political discourse. Examples include the nomination of the first British Loneliness Minister in 2018, the publication of the U.S. Surgeon General’s report on “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation” in August 2023, and the foundation of the World Health Organization’s “Commission on Social Connection” in 2024. While extremism scholars have connected loneliness to radicalization, thereby drawing on Arendt’s legacy, feminists have emphasized the connection between loneliness and marginalization. In my talk, I connect these two debates. I explore the relationship between loneliness and marginalization and investigate how our experiences of and reactions to loneliness mirror and potentially reinforce existing unjust relationships of power – but also offer opportunities for resistance. In doing so, I draw on selected contemporary autobiographical and autotheoretical accounts of loneliness in connection with and response to marginalization. The talk is structured in three parts. In the first part, I introduce and discuss my core example, Nagata Kabi’s manga “My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness” (2016). In the second part, I compare and contrast her account with that of the misogynistic online community of self-proclaimed “involuntary celibates” (incels). Drawing on the recent work on loneliness and ressentiment by Kaitlyn Creasy (forthcoming), I argue that our experiences of, reactions to, and narratives about loneliness are shaped by our social positionality. While members of the incel community, as Creasy demonstrates, (over-)politicize their loneliness, Nagata tends to focus on the personal and existential dimensions of her loneliness. At the same time, however, the act of writing and publishing her story can be interpreted as an act of resistance against its purely personal or existential interpretation, performatively acknowledging the socio-political relevance of her story. In the third part, I extend and deepen the analysis of how loneliness is a social and political phenomenon and reflect on the promises and limitations of my methodological approach.
Upcoming talks
Adriana Alcaraz-Sánchez (University of Edinburgh)
TBA
28 February 2025
Joan González Guardiola (University of the Balearic Islands)
A Contribution to Phenomenology of Spatial Orientation: A Phenomenological Description of Laterality Phenomena
28 March 2025
Julio De Rizzo (University of Vienna)
Husserl on Perception (1894–1907)
25 April 2025
Maja Spener (University of Birmingham)
Introspective Methods in Early Experimental Psychology
9 May 2025
Convenors:
Guillaume Fréchette (University of Geneva)
Marta Jorba (Pompeu Fabra University)
Alessandro Salice (University College Cork)
Hamid Taieb (Humboldt University Berlin)
Íngrid Vendrell-Ferran (Philipps University Marburg)
Organized on behalf of the Network for Phenomenological Research