UNDERGRADUATE PHILOSOPHY WINTER SCHOOL    

Organised by the AAP Undergraduate Committee, the Undergraduate Philosophy Winter School is a one day hybrid event held simultaneously with the AAP Conference and in the same location. Undergraduates majoring in philosophy in an Australasian University are welcome to attend.

There is no cost for undergraduates who are AAP members attending the Undergraduate Winter School. Non-member undergraduates are required to join the AAP at a cost of $22 upon registration. More information about AAP membership HERE.

Further information and a registration form HERE  

Tim Flanagan

“The Leaves at Herrenhausen”

According to an anecdote of which Leibniz was fond, in the Herrenhausen Gardens a courtier once tried to show the Electress Sophie of Hanover (1630–1714) that he could find two leaves which were exactly alike. For Leibniz, the courtier’s failure to do so was significant because this adduced at once the complexity and order of nature.

In tracing this anecdote, the following paper proposes to show how a key aspect of Leibniz’s thought not only draws upon classical metaphysical problems of identity and difference but, so too, how this figures empirically in ongoing considerations in the philosophy of science. As an early illustration of this claim, the paper engages the work of Émilie du Châtelet (1706 – 1749).  

I work on philosophical aesthetics and the place of metaphysics in post-Kantian thought. My (2021) book Baroque Naturalism in Benjamin and Deleuze: The Art of Least Distances examined how the sense of agitation and hallucination so emblematic of the seventeenth-century sensibility serves both to situate and to orient our thinking in a complex world.

In more general terms, my research charts certain developments within the history of ideas. I’m interested to see how classical problems such as the ‘mind/body’ relationship or the ‘organisation of matter’ have previously been understood – and the ways in which an ongoing consideration of them might yet inform our understanding of the nature of experience. My current work is oriented by the rethinking of ontology by logology following Barbara Cassin.  

Before starting work at Murdoch, I held a range of sessional teaching roles following the completion of my PhD (Dundee) under the UK’s Overseas Research Students Awards Scheme.

I work with collaborators in cognate fields, within and beyond the University, and am the co-editor of a book series on Process Philosophy. Alongside a number of postgraduate supervision projects, I coordinate the following undergraduate classes:  

PHL131 Critical Thinking: How to Win Argument

PHL208 Is the World Real? (And How Could We Really Know, Anyway?)

PHL213 The Meaning of Life

PHL222 Science, Knowledge and Misinformation

PHL301 Love, Sex and Friendship

Jacqueline Boaks

“What Should Philosophy Have to Say About Leadership?”

In the 1970s James Burns wrote that “Leadership is one of the most observed and least understood phenomena on earth.” (Burns,1979). In popular discourse, leadership is taken to be a benign and often positive force, echoing Joanne Ciulla’s notes that in such usage the term ‘leader’ is ‘ an honorific’.

Leadership has been written about at length (and ad nauseum) since the start of the 20th century, yet almost nothing has been written on leadership by philosophers.

My own research has focused on what philosophy can and should bring to the study of leadership. It includes critical analysis of the dominant narratives around leadership in our contemporary lives as well as bringing to bear on the topic of leadership what philosophers since Plato’s Republic have focused at length about what makes power legitimate.

My work has argued that both the methods and the content of philosophy have much to say about leadership and a vital role to play in improving the way we all understand leadership and the many operations of power that we refer to as leadership. This includes, vitally, how the concepts of leadership are used to create narratives around power and power structures, the role of the good in how power is used and what it is used for.

Burns, James MacGregor. 1979. Leadership. New York: Harper Torchbooks.

Ciulla, Joanne. (2005). The state of leadership ethics and the work that lies before us. Business Ethics: A European Review. 14. 323 - 335. 10.1111/j.1467-8608.2005.00414.x.

Dr Jacqueline Boaks is a Senior Lecturer in ethics at the School of Management and Marketing at Curtin University in Western Australia. Jacqueline holds a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Western Australian and a Graduate Certificate in Higher Education from Curtin University. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (UK).

She teaches ethics at postgraduate, undergraduate, and Executive Education levels. Prior to that, she taught ethics and leadership at University of Western Australia, Notre Dame University and Curtin University.

Jacqueline is Vice President of the Executive Committee of the Australian Association of Professional and Applied Ethics, the founder of the WA Ethics Outside Philosophy group, the co-editor of Leadership and Ethics (Bloomsbury) and has published widely on democracy, ethics and leadership. She also sits on the Equity and Inclusion Committee for the Association of Practical and Professional Ethics (USA).

Jacqueline is editor of the journal Ethical Issues in Organisations (Emerald) and serves on the editorial board of the journal Philosophy of Management (Springer).

In 2023 Jacqueline was awarded the Teacher of the Year Award for Curtin’s Faculty of Business and Law and was the winner of the Teaching Excellence category award in Curtin’s Excellence and Innovation in Teaching Awards.

Her current research areas include leadership, applied ethics, business ethics, and the impact of Artificial Intelligence on ethical decision making in areas such as Corporate Social Responsibility.

Heath Williams

“The Many Faces of Phenomenology.”

My presentation will detail the ‘many faces of phenomenology.’ I will cover the following areas of phenomenological research:

• Husserl and his influence.

• Analytic philosophy and phenomenology.

• Naturalised phenomenology.

• Qualitative phenomenology methods.

• Phenomenology and the Catholic Intellectual tradition.

The purpose of my presentation is to demonstrate that phenomenology is a critical, active, and lively research area that offers many opportunities for scholarly contributions and employment.

After discovering philosophy at Notre Dame in 2001, I completed my undergrad at Murdoch in 2014 and my PhD at the UWA in 2018. During my PhD I spent time at the Centre for Subjectivity Research in Copenhagen. I have worked at several universities in Perth and was also as a postdoc at Sun-yat Sen University in Zhuhai, China. I am currently a Lecturer at Notre Dame University in Fremantle.

I have broad research interests. I have historically focused on Husserl and intersubjectivity. My PhD addressed the relation between phenomenological empathy and mirror-neuron based embodied simulation. I am interested in the many faces of phenomenology, including its intersection with the Catholic intellectual tradition, contemporary cognitive science, analytic philosophy, and qualitative psychology. Other interests include philosophy of psychology and of mind, especially the hard-problem of consciousness and the contemporary resurgence of panpsychism. I have recently edited and contributed to a special issue of Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences that reassess the relationship between phenomenology and explanation.

I am a passionate educator/scholar who genuinely enjoys learning and teaching and is always interested in embarking on new projects or taking on research supervision (should time permit!). In my spare time I enjoy hiking, triathlons, Vivaldi, and mid 90’s hip-hop.

Lucia Neco

Lucia is not giving a presentation, only participating in the panel.

Dr Lucia Neco is a biologist, ethologist, and philosopher. She is a recent graduate and currently the Project Coordinator and Research Associate for the "Keeping Kinship in Mind" Project, coordinated by Prof. Rob Wilson at the University of Western Australia. She is fascinated by the philosophical underpinnings of the biological, cognitive, and social sciences, especially in the realms of social behavior and culture. Additionally, she actively contributes to the Philosophical Engagement for Public Life (PEiPL) network and engage in initiatives related to Philosophy for Children (p4c) in Perth, Australia.

Lucia's fascinating journey takes her from the world of spiders to delving into the intricate nature of social relationships among different species. With a fresh perspective, she effortlessly combines knowledge of biology, psychology, and philosophy to create a comprehensive framework for comprehending social phenomena. Lucia sheds light on the essence of social systems by breaking down the concept of sociality, emphasizing the importance of interactions, relationships, and individual cognition. Her research sheds light on the deep interconnectedness of life on Earth, from the selective behavior of plants caring for their offspring to the emerging evidence of cognitive abilities in bacteria.

Undergraduate Subsidy 

The AAP makes available a total fund of $3000 AUD for AAP Undergraduate members attending the full week of the conference to support travel and accommodation costs. Subsidies are available to Undergraduate members of the AAP majoring in philosophy at at an Australasian University - Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, who are registered for the AAP Conference and also attending the Undergraduate Philosophy Winter School.

Applications for travel subsidy are now CLOSED.

Deadline: 10 May 2024, 8pm AEST

Undergraduate Membership

Joining the Association is a great way to stay in touch with the Australasian philosophical community. The AAP offers a discounted rate for Undergraduate students.