The Department of Philosophy

INTRODUCTION

The Department of Philosophy in Maribor was founded in 1993. It employs several excellent experts, all of whom are also active in research and have educated many generations. The Department cultivates a wide variety of disciplines and provides knowledge related to many fields of philosophy, ranging from the history of philosophy, ontology, epistemology, logic and ethics, to aesthetics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, social and political philosophy, philosophy of religion, didactics of philosophy, and many others.

Members of the Department participate in national and international research projects and aim to involve the most budding students. At the same time, we believe that philosophical knowledge can be complementary to other sciences and disciplines, and that it is by no means a solitary endeavour of fanatics. We thus also study global philosophical trends from the perspective of interdisciplinarity. We edit two scientific journals, the Analysis journal in Slovene and the internationally-acclaimed Acta Analytica in English. Both journals focus primarily on the analytic tradition and analytic philosophy, and have a strong interest in areas such as philosophy of language, philosophy of science and metaphysics, as well as interdisciplinary research areas, such as bioethics and cognitive science. Members of the Department; however, are also open to all other trends and perspectives.

We offer a much more individual approach to students than perhaps other, larger departments of philosophy. This means that we can offer more flexibility in terms of time management and the study process, and we maintain an open attitude towards all students, fostering a dialogue that is traditionally found at the heart of the philosophical endeavours. We also encourage reflection, intellectual engagement and discussion, as well as a critical and analytical view of philosophy.

MEMBERS OF THE DEPARTMENT

PROJECTS AND PROGRAMME GROUPS

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

Members of the Department of Philosophy collaborate with several philosophical and other related institutions and universities both at home and abroad. The universities in Central and Eastern Europe (especially in Ljubljana, Koper, Graz, Rijeka, Zagreb, Belgrade) are particularly notable in terms of the intensity of their cooperation. This cooperation is achieved through teaching staff mobility and involvement in research work in project groups, membership in editorial boards, participation in conferences and seminars, summer schools, etc.

We cooperate intensively with the Central European University (CEU), which was until recently based in Budapest, but has since moved its primary location to Vienna. Dr Nenad Miščević, a member of the Department, has been working as a lecturer at CEU for many years and, with our encouragement and professional and scientific cooperation, several students have decided to pursue their doctoral studies at this institution.

The Department of Philosophy encourages participation in international exchanges, such as Erasmus+ and CEEPUS. Such exchanges allow teaching staff and students alike to learn more about a foreign cultural and social environment, and offers them a new level of autonomy. The experience of studying abroad also provides these individuals with an insight into the diversity of approaches to philosophical problems from the different perspectives of different departments. In addition to this, the Department co-organises an annual international scientific philosophical conference in Bled, which is currently funded by the ARRS as part of a bilateral project entitled Thought Experiments and Society: Applied Epistemology and Ethics, in cooperation with the University of Georgia. In recent years, we have collaborated with the University of Arkansas (2015–2016, Slovenian Principal Investigator Dr Nenad Miščević, US Principal Investigator Dr Jack Lyons; 2017–2018, Slovenian Principal Investigator Dr Nenad Miščević, US Principal Investigator Dr Jack Lyons) and the University of Georgia (2019–2021, Slovenian Principal Investigator Dr Smiljana Gartner, US Principal Investigator Dr Sarah Wright) in the form of a bilateral collaboration. Some examples of philosophical conferences in Bled in which we have participated in recent years are: The Intersection of Epistemology and Philosophy of Mind, 2015 (Jack C. Lyons, Danilo Šuster), Ethical Issues, 2016 (Justin Weinberg, Friderik Klampfer), Epistemic Virtues and Epistemic Skills, 2017 (Sarah Wright, Smiljana Gartner),  Ethical Issues: Theoretical and Applied, 2018 (Justin Weinberg, Friderik Klampfer), Social Epistemology and the Politics of Knowing, 2019 (Sarah Wright, Smiljana Gartner).

The Department is also active in research within national and international research projects. We are currently undertaking a 5-year research period within ARRS, which focuses on thought experiments in philosophy across various philosophical fields, such as ethics and political philosophy, ontology and philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, epistemology, literature, art, etc. We are also working on a project focusing on artificial intelligence and its impact on the pedagogical process, as well as on a project focusing on epistemological failures.

The Department of Philosophy traditionally organises lectures and conferences with renowned philosophers from all over the world. In recent years, we have hosted Michael Devitt (CUNY), Pierre Jacob (Institut Jean Nicod in Paris), Terry Horgan (University of Arizona), Yujin Nagasawa (University of Birmingham), Duncan Pritchard (University of California), and many other individuals of note.

The Department also organises an annual International Student Philosophy Symposium, which is open to students of all years of study. The Symposium hosts dozens of participants each year from a wide range of prestigious universities from around the world, and provides an excellent introduction to writing and presenting professional papers to an audience, as well as an opportunity to discuss and share knowledge with international philosophy students.

STUDENT AND EXTACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

Research and professional activities of students of philosophy include:

• participation in international exchanges such as Erasmus+ and CEEPUS;
• participation in PKP (Creative Path to Knowledge) and SIPK (Student Innovative Projects for Social Benefit) projects;
• participation in other local, regional, national, and international projects;
• independent or co-authored professional and scientific journalistic contributions;
• tutoring activities;
• activities within the Philosophical Association for the Development of the Humanities (zofijini.net);
• networking and active cooperation with local, regional, and other schools of varying educational levels and other organisations employing philosophers or with potential employers;
• the organisation and co-organisation of Slovenian and international symposia or professional events.

Several societies are active within the field of Philosophy:

SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL AND PUBLISHING

Members of the Department participate in and edit the journal Analysis, whose Editor-in-chief is Dr Božidar Kante, a member of the Department. Analysis is a scientific journal focusing on analytic philosophy, and emphasises a rational, argumentative approach to philosophical problems from a theoretical and practical perspective. Members of the Department also work as editors of Acta Analytica, an international journal for philosophy in the analytic tradition. The Editor-in-chief of this journal is Dr Danilo Šuster, a member of the Department. Both journals are published several times a year, and bring forward new scientific findings in philosophy and related disciplines.

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