Commemorating Katalin Neumer

The Institute of Philosophy of the RCH, HAS, kindly invites you to the upcoming conference celebrating the life and work of Katalin Neumer:

Das Kulturerbe Mittel- und Osteuropas - Katalin Neumer zum Gedenken //
The Cultural Heritage of Central-Eastern Europe - Commemorating Katalin Neumer

Date of the event: 2015. 11. 20-21.

The detailed program of the conference is available here.

Talk by Martin Kusch

The Institute of Philosophy of the Research Centre for the Humanities of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences kindly invites you to the upcoming talk:

Prof. Martin Kusch (University of Vienna)
The Functions of the Social Sciences in Liberal Democracy

Date and Venue of the lecture: 11th November 2015, 4.00 pm, Institute of Philosophy, Research Centre for the Humanities, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 30. Országház Street, 2. floor, "Pepita" room.

Abstract
In this paper I criticize authors -- such as S. Turner, M. Burawoy, or P. Kitcher -- who seek to define the functions of the social sciences using a Rawlsian or Habermasian conception of liberal pluralism or ideal-deliberative democracy. I defend an alternative way to think about the functions of the social sciences; this way takes its lead from R. Geuss' realist political philosophy and C. Mouffe's "agonistic pluralism".

Talk by Andrew Huddleston

The History and Philosophy of Science research group of the Institute of Philosophy cordially invites you to a talk by Dr. Andrew Huddleston (Birkbeck College, University of London) entitled "Nietzsche on the Health of the Soul". The talk is scheduled at 4 pm on the 9th of November.

Abstract
Health (particularly of the soul [Seele]) is a central concept in Nietzsche’s work. Yet in the most philosophically-sophisticated secondary literature on Nietzsche, there has been fairly little sustained treatment of just what Nietzschean health consists in. In this paper, I aim to provide an account of some of the central marks of this psychic health: resilience, discipline, vitality, a certain positive condition of the will to power, a certain tendency toward integration, and so on. This exposition and discussion will be the main task of the paper. Then in the concluding section of the paper, I consider a line taken in some related secondary literature, which would suggest that health might ultimately be understood in formal or dynamic terms, relating to one’s will to power and/or the unity of one’s drives. I will present the beginnings of an argument against such an account of health. In focusing on the formal and dynamic side exclusively, it cannot get the full story. In particular, it seems to me to miss the normative dimension that is essential if we are to understand health properly. As I shall suggest, the core concept of Nietzschean health is not fully explicable except by reference to normative terms.

Seminar Series: Ottó Hévizi

Talk by Karl Ulrich Mayer

The History and Philosophy of Science research group of the Institute of Philosophy cordially invites you to a talk by Prof. Karl Ulrich Mayer (Yale University / Max-Planck-Institut für Bildungsforschung) entitled "From Weber's "Science as Vocation" (1917) to Horizon 2020". The talk is scheduled at 4 pm on the 13th of October.

Abstract:
With articles 179 to 190 of the Treaty of Lisbon of 2010 the European Union received a general mandate in the area of scientific research and for the formation of a European Research Union. Its main current carrier is the 8th framework for funding research, better known as “Horizon 2020” providing more than 70 billion Euros of funds for a period of 7 years. Almost one hundred years ago Max Weber provided an analysis of how the organisation of science impinges upon the motives of researchers and how the latter are related to its quality. What are the purposes of the European programs and how do they concern the motives of the individual researchers and the quality of EU-funded research today? In my lecture I will contrast Max Weber`s sociological view of science with its modern “European” counterpart and - on that basis – raise some fundamental critical concerns. EU science suffers from an overload of goals, bureaucracy and policies , a consequent waste of resources and is lacking an adequate institutional structure. What we need are institutional designs for European research funding which allow for three things: first, clarity of purpose; second, protection from direct political influence; and third, an institutional commitment to the values of science.

Seminar Series: Tibor Schwendtner

Talk by Stefan Heßbrüggen-Walter

The History and Philosophy of Science research group of the Institute of Philosophy cordially invites you to a talk by Dr. Stefan Heßbrüggen-Walter (Higher School of Economics, Moscow) entitled "Answering the Newtonian Challenge: Lambert, Tetens, and Kant on the Reform of Metaphysics". The talk is scheduled at 5 pm on the 18th of September.

Seminar Series: Gábor Gángó

The Institute of Philosophy of the Research Centre for the Humanities of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences kindly invites you to the upcoming talk of its seminar series

Gábor Gángó:
G. W. Leibniz's pamphlet on the Polish Kingdom in the context of campaign and diplomacy (given in Hungarian)

Date and Venue of the lecture: 15th September 2015, 4.00 pm, Institute of Philosophy, Research Centre for the Humanities, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 30. Országház Street, 2. floor, "Pepita" room.