Modal Metaphysics: Issues on the (Im)Possible (I)X
On June 7-8, 2023, the Institute of Philosophy, v.v.i. hosted an international conference entitled Modal Metaphysics: Issues on the (Im)Possible. Over the previous ten years, the conference attracted philosophers from all around the world, and its outputs shaped contemporary directions of philosophical research in analytic metaphysics in general, and questions regarding modality in particular.
In numbers, the conference invited five plenary speakers: Sondra Bacharach (Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand), John Divers (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland), Marie Duží (VŠB Technical University of Ostrava, Czechia), Graham Priest (The City University of New York, The United States), and David Shoemaker (Cornell University, The United States). While unforeseeable circumstances prevented Marie Duží from participating on the conference, the remaining plenary speakers delivered exciting talk about their cutting-edge research. The plenary lectures were balanced between practically oriented themes in ethics and aesthetics (David Shoemaker and Sondra Bacharach) and more abstract topics in metaphysics and logic (Graham Priest and John Divers). Accepted speakers covered institutions from 16 countries.
The conference was generously supported by the University of Oxford project “New Horizons for Science and Religion in Central and Eastern Europe” funded by the John Templeton Foundation (“Pavel Tichý on Individuals, Roles, and God” subgrant; www.tichyproject.com), VEGA 2/015/22 (“Responsibility and Modal Logic” project), and by the Slovak Philosophical Association.
More general information about the conference and this year's instalment, including the full list of speakers, can be found at www.metaphysics.sk.
Edited by Martin Vacek, Filozofický ústav SAV, v. v. i.
Foto: autor