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2014

2014 News and Events

Congratulations to Ken Farrell and Adam Gibbons! They have been Highly Commended for the Undergraduate Awards. Both graduated with Single Honours in Philosophy from UCD in 2014. Cited as the ultimate champion for high potential undergraduates, The Undergraduate Awards is the world’s only pan-discipline academic awards programme that identifies leading creative thinkers through their undergraduate coursework.
Congratulations again to Ken and Adam on their great achievement!

Prof Philip Pettit (Princeton) was in UCD in June 2014 for two workshops organised jointly by the UCD School of Philosophy and the UCD School of Politics and International Relations, "Common Minds" and "Collective Responsibility." While at UCD, Prof Pettit also gave the keynote address of the 2014 UCD Garret FitzGerald Summer School.


Dr Charlotte Blease, IRC Postdoctoral Fellow in UCD School of Philosophy, spoke at the TEDxFulbright event in Dublin on April 5th. Her talk is entitled 'The Medicine Game: Healthcare’s Dirty Secrets and What Everyone should Know about the Art of Medicine.'


TEDxFulbrightDublin comprises a full-day programme for 100 participants with 16 talks of between 5 and 18 minutes, 3 networking breaks, lunch, facilitated activities and a closing reception. Visionary, dynamic, and succinct talks were delivered by rising members, established alumni and friends of the Fulbright community based on the TED conference structure. Speakers are composed of researchers, entrepreneurs, designers, musicians, performers, and more. The video of her talk is available (opens in a new window)here.

Four UCD School of Philosophy students have received PhD scholarships at some of the top universities in the world.
Clare Moriarty (BA graduate) and Paul Doody (BA & MA graduate) received full AHRC funding to pursue a PhD at Kings College London. Claire works on philosophy of mathematics and Paul on belief and self-deception. Paul has also received an offer of AHRC funding for studying at Sheffield University's top ranked philosophy department.
Richard Teague (BA graduate) has received full funding to do a PhD at Johns Hopkins University in the United States.
Sean Murphy (MA graduate) has received full funding to complete a PhD at Indiana University in the US as well.
We wish them best of luck and will follow their progress with interest. They join the many UCD School of Philosophy students who have gone on to further study of philosophy at UCD and around the world.

Professor Dermot Moran, UCD Professor of Philosophy (Metaphysics and Logic) and President of FISP, was recently at Peking University, Beijing to sign a Memorandum of Agreement granting Peking University the opportunity to host the twenty-fourth World Congress of Philosophy in 2018.


Professor Maeve Cooke's interview/podcast on Freedom and Equality published on Friday 28th March 2014

The School of Philosophy is pleased to announced that Dr Elisa Magri will join the School of Philosophy and the International Centre for Newman Studies as the Catechetics Trust Newman Fellow in Philosophy of Religion for a two-year period beginning 1 September 2014.

Dr Elisa Magrì studied at the University of Pisa and at SNS (Scuola Normale Superiore), where she received her Ph.D in 2013 with a dissertation on Hegel's philosophy under the supervision of Professor Alfredo Ferrarin. She has been twice visiting student in Germany and has been involved in various international workshops and conferences on German Idealism. She is author of several articles on Kant, Hegel and the issues of causality, subjectivity and intersubjectivity. Her interests lie in the field of contemporary phenomenology with regard to the topic of embodiment and empathy. Dr Magri will pursue research on Edith Stein's account of empathy and its contemporary relevance for the philosophy of mind.

Elisa Magri


March. Christopher Cowley spoke at the Irish Bar Council on the subject of 'Ethics and Law'


Events in 2014

31 January. Philosophy and Literature Graduate Symposium. Topic: “Heroes”.

20-21 February. Conference: (opens in a new window)Is there a phenomenology of unconsciousness?. In association with the UCD International Centre for Newman Studies, the French Embassy in Dublin, and Ecole Normale Supérieure, Archives Husserl,  Paris.

28 February. Public Lecture by Prof Richard Kearney, 'Poetics of the Sacred‌'

7-8 March. (opens in a new window)3rd annual meeting of the Association of Adorno Studies. Newman House, 85/86 St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2.

29-30 March 2014. Dublin Graduate Philosophy Conference. See: (opens in a new window)tiny.cc/duality 

31 March - 2 April. Agnes Cuming Lectures in Philosophy by Prof J David Velleman (New York University) on "A Relativist Metaethics."

4 April at 4 pm. Public Lecture by Prof Bernard McGinn, 'Comprehending the Incomprehensible: John Scottus Eriugena as Mystic'. Prof McGinn is the Naomi Shenstone Donnelley Professor Emeritus of Historical Theology and of the History of Christianity, University of Chicago.  The lecture will take place in Newman House, 85/86 St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2.  Admission is free but space is limited.  Those wishing to attend should book a place with the (opens in a new window)UCD School of Philosophy.

5 April. Dr Charlotte Blease, IRC Postdoctoral Fellow in UCD School of Philosophy, is speaking at the (opens in a new window)TEDxFulbright event in Dublin. Her talk is entitled 'The Medicine Game: Healthcare’s Dirty Secrets and What Everyone should Know about the Art of Medicine.' (opens in a new window)TEDxFulbrightDublin will comprise a full-day program for 100 participants with 16 talks of between 5 and 18 minutes, 3 networking breaks, lunch, facilitated activities and a closing reception. Visionary, dynamic, and succinct talks will be delivered by rising members, established alumni and friends of the Fulbright community based on the TED conference structure. Speakers are composed of researchers, entrepreneurs, designers, musicians, performers, and more.

Please see the video of her talk in our "News" section.

30-31 May. International Conference on "Philosophy, Literature, America", organized by The American Voice Project ((opens in a new window)american-voice.org). Conference will take place at Newman House. Participation is free but space is limited. To confirm your attendance, or with any other enquiries, please email (opens in a new window)americanvoice@ucd.ie

4-6 June. University College Dublin will host the Royal Institute of Philosophy Annual Conference on 4-6 June 2014. The topic will be 'Supererogation'. See here for more details: RIP Supererogation Conference

18 June: Common Minds Workshop with Philip Pettit
20 June: Public Lecture by Philip Pettit: "The Infrastructure of Democracy"

             Please see the video of his talk in our "News" section.

21 June: Garret FitzGerald School with Philip Pettit
23 June: Collective Responsibility Workshop with Philip Pettit 

Philip Pettit Poster

Further details to be announced soon. Queries to (opens in a new window)iseult.honohan@ucd.ie

19-20 June. Conference on (opens in a new window)The Future of the Body: Phenomenology, Medicine, and the (Post)Human. Organised by Dylan Trigg (UCD) and Luna Dolezal (Trinity). Hosted by Trinity College Dublin.

24-26 June. Conference: (opens in a new window)Psychotherapy and the Placebo Effect: an Ethical Analysis.

27-28 June Conference: Hegel and Resistance

6 October. Second Annual (opens in a new window)Front Line Defenders Lecture.  In association with UCD School of Philosophy, UCD School of Politics & International Relations, UCD School of Law and TCD School of Law.
"Is it Possible to be Safe Online?" by Bruce Schneier, computer security expert.  Please click (opens in a new window)here for a video of his talk.
Click below for the video of his talk.

17-18 October. Workshop: 'Conscience, Conscientious Objection and Whistle-Blowing'. See the Conscience Project page for further details.

5-7 November: Conference (opens in a new window)Phenomenology of Cognitive Experiences.

13-15 November. Workshop: 'Forgiveness, mercy and pardons'. Organised by Christopher Cowley. 

21 & 22 November. Society for Women in Philosophy (Ireland) Annual Conference: 'Women's Bodies'.  (opens in a new window)Full programme. Registration is essential ((opens in a new window)here).

24 November.  As part of the President of Ireland's Ethics Initiative, the School of Philosophy will hold an open panel discussion at the RIA at 6pm on Monday 24 November. The event is free and open to all, but registration is essential. For further information see link. To register, email (opens in a new window)conscienceproject2014@gmail.com


20 November 2014. Dermot Moran, delivered an invited address, “Dialogue and Distrust: Is Intercultural Dialogue Possible?” to the Philosophy in the Public Space Conference to celebrate UNESCO World Philosophy Day, Institute of Philosophy, Russian Academy of the Sciences, Moscow, RUSSIA.

(opens in a new window)World Philosophy Day

UCD School of Philosophy

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UCD Philosophy is ranked among the Top 100 Departments of Philosophy worldwide (QS World University Rankings 2017, 2018, 2023 and 2024)