News

We at the AAP would like to acknowledge the serious concerns raised regarding one of the talks scheduled at our upcoming conference at the University of Wollongong.

By tradition and by policy, the AAP conference accepts all contributions received from academic philosophers in Australasia. Aside from the Presidential address and our keynote speakers, the contributors to the conference are not invited speakers, and as an organisation we do not endorse the content of any paper presented at the conference. Indeed, we encourage respectful but critical responses towards all papers presented at the conference, especially if they defend views that conflict with our commitment to support diversity in philosophy.

The statement of aims on the conference website expresses our expectations for the conduct for all participants: “We aim to encourage a relaxed, professional, and safe atmosphere for the exchange of ideas and presentation of arguments. We ask all participants - whether they be speakers, chairs, or attendees - to take responsibility for creating a space where all feel accepted, respected, and heard.” We recognise that the aim of encouraging the discussion of arguments and ideas can conflict with the aim of creating a space where everyone is able to participate. We take this seriously, both in terms of the need to engage with arguments and in terms of the need for awareness of the impact those arguments can have. We value all members of the philosophy community, and we expect all participants in the conference to share these commitments.

Professor Susan Dodds, Chair

Professor Graham Oppy, Chief Executive Officer

The American Philosophical Association and the American Sociological Association issued an open letter in response to President Bolsonaro’s proposal to defund philosophy and sociology programs in Brazil. The AAP is a signatory.

https://www.apaonline.org/news/449877/APA--ASA-Issue-Open-Letter-on-Brazils-Plans-to-Cut-Philosophy--Sociology-Programs-in-Brazil-.htm

The AAP would like to recognise the passing of Emeritus Professor Lauchlan Chipman: https://bond.edu.au/news/61111/emeritus-professor-lauchlan-chipman-bond-university-dies-aged-78

Congratulations to Jeff Malpas and Jacqui Broad on their election to the Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Humanities. Congratulations also to Pamela Tate on her election to the Honorary Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Humanities.

MEDIA RELEASE

Australasian Association of Philosophy response to revelations of Ministerial Interference with Humanities Research

The Australasian Association of Philosophy is gravely concerned by the political interference with Australian Research Council (ARC) recommendations uncovered during Senate Estimates by Senator Kim Carr. 11 Humanities and Social Sciences research proposals, which had been recommended by the Australian Research Council for funding, were rejected by Minister Birmingham in 2017 and 2018.

The proposals – 6 Discovery Projects, 3 Discovery Early Career Researcher Awards and 2 Future Fellowships – were rigorously reviewed by expert peer reviewers, including international experts, and were deemed to be both eligible under the ARC funding rules and of outstanding quality before being recommended for funding. No reasons for the rejection of the recommendations were given. On what basis would the Minister be able to determine that these 11 proposals did not merit funding? It is unthinkable that the Minister would intervene in a similar way with proposals assessed by experts in physics or chemistry. Why would a Minister claim to be better able to assess the merits of humanities and social sciences proposals than the peer reviewers and panel experts in these fields?

This interference with the ARC’s independence and its robust processes is a direct threat to Australian higher education, to research, to intellectual freedom and to our community, given that the outcomes from research inform public policy and our understanding of ourselves as a nation and our place in the world. Researchers accept that governments shape the funding priorities of funding bodies, like the ARC and NHMRC. Nonetheless, they rightfully expect that political interests should not impede the robust and independent peer review process. Such interference threatens the core of academic research, independent peer review.

The impact of such interference on the careers of researchers whose proposals have been rejected after recommendation for funding from the ARC significant. DECRA and Future Fellowships support career-establishing and -sustaining projects undertaken by Australia’s brightest researchers. At least one of the DECRA applicants whose proposal was rejected has left Australia; a direct loss of research capacity for what was once hailed as a Knowledge Nation.

The Australasian Association of Philosophy is dismayed by the arbitrary and unjust actions of the Minister.

Professor Graham Oppy

Chief Executive Officer, Australasian Association of Philosophy

pdf to download 

The 25th World Congress of Philosophy will be held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in July 2023. It will be hosted by the Australasian Association of Philosophy. 

The decision to bring the World Congress to Melbourne was made at the General Assembly of FISP (the International Federation of Philosophy Associations), during the 24th. World Congress of Philosophy, held in Beijing in August 2018.

The AAP wishes to express its appreciation to the Melbourne Convention Bureau -- and, in particular, to Marko Sanovic -- for support for the Melbourne bid. It also acknowledges the hard work of the members of the Local Organising Committee: Alan Hajek, Stuart Brock, Tan Sor Hoon, Karyn Lai, and Monima Chadha.

More details about WCP25 will be made available in the coming months, including the precise dates. Please do put this into your calendar.

Applications for the AAP Postgraduate Fund will open in September.

The AAP Postgraduate Conference Fund is created to support conferences,
workshops, seminars, and other similar events on philosophical topics that
are organised by postgraduate members of the Association.  Such events can
be directed at an audience of philosophers or at a wider public.

Applicants must submit a proposal to the Association which includes a
description of the proposed conference, a draft budget, Department
declaration of support and nomination by a Faculty sponsor. In addition,
Faculty sponsors should provide a brief confidential evaluation of the
proposed conference. A Faculty sponsor will often be the applicant’s
supervisor, but need not be.

Applications will be evaluated and ranked by an Evaluation Panel on their
philosophical merits, and funding from the Fund will be distributed in line
with these rankings. The total fund in 2018 is AUD4000 - no successful
proposal will be allocated more than 50% of the Fund.

Full details and Eligibility here: https://aap.org.au/conference-fund

A seperate call for proposals will go out when applications open in
September.
Deadline for applications: Tuesday 16th October 2018

Congratulations to Jennifer M. Morton, Winner of AJP Best Paper 2017

“Reasoning under Scarcity”, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 95(3): 543-559

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00048402.2016.1236139

Congratulations to Jennifer Windt, Monash University, 
Winner of the 2018 Annette Baier Prize! 

View citation

"Predictive brains, dreaming selves, sleeping bodies: how the analysis of dream movement can inform a theory of self-and world-simulation in dreams"

Synthese 195.6 (2018): 2577-2625.

Congratulations to Helen Ngo Deakin University, of Deakin University. 
2018 Annette Baier Prize Commendation.
"Simulating the Lived Experience of Racism and Islamophobia: On ‘Embodied Empathy’ and Political Tourism"
Australian Feminist Law Journal (2017) 43:1, 107-123, DOI: 10.1080/13200968.2017.1321090