Dr. Suki Finn

December 12, 2022 - February 28, 2023

Affiliation: Royal Holloway University of London

Research for a study about:

The Reality of Gender

Dr Finn works on applied metaphysics, and at the IVC will be researching the reality of gender. Her project will make a second-order metametaphysical argument about what it means for gender to be real (rather than a first-order metaphysical argument about what gender is), utilising a Quinean indispensability argument. She will argue that for as long as there is gender-based oppression then we have an indispensable need for gender-based concepts: gender is thus essential for strategic political purposes, albeit contingently and not essentially defined.

Nothing

Date:  Monday, 30.01.2023

Time: 4.45–6.15pm (CET)

Lecture series: Logic Café

Meetings are usually held on Mondays from 16:45 to 18:15 in room 3D (D0316), 3rd floor at the Institute of Philosophy.

Die Treffen finden in der Regel an Montagen von 16:45 bis 18:15 Uhr im Raum 3D (D0316), 3. Stock am Institut für Philosophie statt.

Online Plattform: https://univienna.zoom.us/j/99422395420?pwd=UHFySmJST3I4RDQ1WE5nL1E1SDhQZz09

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Abstract:

This talk will be about Nothing. It is not the case that there will be no thing that I will be talking about, nevertheless I will indeed talk about absence of referents as well as reference to absence. Nothing is said to have many extraordinary properties, but in predicating anything of Nothing we contradict its nothingness. In trying to avoid such misleading descriptions, Nothing could be theorised as ineffable, apart from perhaps being effed as a dialetheia. Since Nothing quickly explodes into infinity, and having only restricted finite time, this talk marks just the early stages of my journey into the void. Attendees can therefore expect introductory thoughts on material from a variety of disciplines and traditions, including on the empty set, the vacuum, zero, negation, nonexistents, and holes, from which I hope you will get something from Nothing.

Report

I worked on my project at the Institute Vienna Circle, affiliated with the University of Vienna and the Philosophy Department, from 12th December 2022 until 27th February 2023. I was provided with access to a computer in a very comfortable communal office space in the city where I could conduct my research, and access to archives and libraries with a University card. I spent my time in Vienna doing a lot of reading (more than I have ever been able to set aside time for), thinking, writing, and talking to faculty members and other research fellows at the institute. On the 30th January 2023 I gave a talk at the Logic Café Lecture Series which is organized jointly by the Philosophy Department and the Institute Vienna Circle, where I received extremely helpful feedback from members of the audience. I have implemented this feedback into the written version of the talk which I am preparing for publication, and my informal communications with academics and administrators in Vienna have also proven invaluable. A key outcome and aim of my project was raised awareness and understanding of diverse academic perspectives on the topics I was engaged in and a greater capacity among researchers to undertake this task. Achieving this was aided through presenting my work and resulting published outputs. I would have been unable to embark on this research project without the fellowship from the Institute Vienna Circle, for which I am very grateful. I do hope that others (and perhaps myself) can benefit from this programme again in the future. Thank you!