A few moments after birth we begin to use our lungs for the first time. From then on, we must continue breathing for as long as we are alive. And although this mostly happens unconsciously, in a society plagued by anxiety, climate change, environmental racism, and illness, there are more and more instances that “teach us about the privilege that is breathing.”

Every discussion of sexual ethics revolves around consent, but is this notion enough to help us understand good sex? How does the dominance of consent help or prevent us from negotiating the complexities of intimacy and pleasure? In this event, Quill R Kukla argues that the idea that consent is the gatekeeper between the realms of good and bad sex does not give us the tools we need to navigate pleasure and intimacy.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is everywhere, yet it causes damage to society in ways that can’t be fixed. Instead of helping to address our current crises, AI causes divisions that limit people’s life chances, and even suggests fascistic solutions to social problems.

Machine learning algorithms are transforming the ethics and politics of contemporary society. Algorithms can be conceptualized as ethico-political entities entangled with the data attributes of people, that give incomplete accounts of themselves, learn through relations with human practices, and exist in ways that exceed their source code.

In this event, Kathleen Higgins and Kate Warlow-Corcoran will reflect on the ways aesthetics aids people experiencing loss. Some practices related to bereavement, such as funerals, are scripted, but many others are recursive, improvisational, mundane—telling stories, listening to music, and reflecting on art or literature.

Romanticism is often reduced to nostalgic pastoralism and solitary contemplation of the sublime. But a radical strand of Romantic writers and thinkers offered sweeping political, ecological, and religious critiques of capitalism, racism, settler colonialism, and environmental destruction.

This event will focus on the historical marginalisation of women and women's writing in philosophy and science. Three experts in women's writing in philosophy and science - both past and present - will discuss how and why women were marginalised and excluded from these disciplines, challenges and obstacles faced by those taking on the task of recovering women's work, and the vital importance of developing historical narratives centering on women.

There is a lot of violence in politics right now. Israel’s war on Gaza has resulted in thousands of children and innocent civilians being killed, Russia is continuing to pound Ukraine with impunity, while the United States has experienced the return of political assassinations.

Capitalism is typically treated as a force for relentless commodification. Yet it consistently fails to place value on vital aspects of the nonhuman world, whether carbon emissions or entire ecosystems. In this event, Alyssa Battistoni will explore capitalism’s persistent failure to value nature.

What does it mean to be intelligent? Is it something unique to humans - or do we share it with other beings? Recent years have seen rapid advances in 'artificial' intelligence, which increasingly appears to be something stranger than we ever imagined.