Department of Philosophy, University of York UK

This week, Louise Richardson will be speaking at a conference in Berlin entitled "The Physical World and Its Perception: Phenomenology and Analytic Philosophy." Louise will be speaking about "Structural Features and Naïve Realism." See details here: https://philevents.org/event/show/150209

York has been ranked 9th in the UK for philosophy in the Complete University Guide league tables (2027). Read the full results here: https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings/philosophy, and our story about it, here: https://www.york.ac.uk/philosophy/about/news/2026/philosophy-cug-2027/

As part of York's Festival of Ideas, Sophie White and Mia Gane participated at the HRC Family Fun Afternoon. Sophie presented on Margaret Cavendish's Mind Lab, and Mia presented on "What's your dream home?" The future philosophers loved it!

As part of York's Festival of Ideas, Isobel Standen hosted an interactive activity session called 'Can you teach a robot right from wrong?' during the Family Fun Day event. The session introduced children to the ethics of AI and robotics, and how we can use philosophical techniques to solve problems faced (or created) by technology.

With Calum Imrie from the Centre for Assuring Autonomy, Isobel presented four scenarios to the children in which they guided the robot through challenges such as task prioritisation, dealing with exceptions to a rule, and defining the robot’s responsibilities in simulated emergencies (e.g. the user falling over).

Some photos!

Sam Dickson, Daniel Garcia Saavedra, and Robin Pawlett-Howell have just published a paper in Analytic Philosophy about epistemic malevolence. In it, they critique the received definition and propose their own, which captures more intuitive instances of the phenomenon, and helps suggest ways of addressing it.

Read it here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/phib.70013

We’re looking for returning Philosophy and Philosophy joint honours undergraduates to mentor first-year students in the 26/27 academic year. This is a chance to support new students as they settle into university life and begin their philosophy studies. If you’re interested, just fill out the application form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeH4SBtKPVEJ4EhsCs4yc7BeT2t_i4WoHEuzhJEfMsLqjTF-w/viewform?usp=header

Next week, James Clarke is giving a talk at the University of Fribourg: https://philevents.org/event/show/149869

The title of James's talk is "J. B. Erhard on Enlightenment and Revolution".

Registration is now open!

Styles of Perception: From Historical Perspectives to the Digital Age
📅 30 June – 1 July 2026
📍 University of York

How are our perceptual experiences shaped by history, culture, society, and technology?

This two-day interdisciplinary workshop brings together researchers working on perception from a wide range of perspectives, including philosophy, psychology, aesthetics, history, media studies, and related fields.

The programme features four keynote speakers and presentations from postgraduate researchers and early-career scholars from across the UK and beyond.

The workshop will also include:
• A career development session for postgraduate researchers
• Conference lunches, refreshments, and a conference dinner
• Opportunities for discussion and networking

Registration is free, but places are limited.
🔗 Registration and programme:
https://sites.google.com/view/stylesofperception/registration

We would be very grateful if you could share this announcement with colleagues and students who may be interested.
We look forward to welcoming you to York!

Styles of Perception - Registration To attend the event, please register your presence in the module. Registration is free of charge. The event will take place at the University of York, ENV/005 Lecture Room. For the audience, lunch will be provided.

Sarah Wood has published a new paper in Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences. It's called "Illuminating experiences of grief and loss in people with dementia," and it's accessible here: https://rdcu.be/fooXg

Abstract:

This paper investigates experiences of grief amongst people with dementia. This is a topic that has largely been neglected, with most research focusing on the experiences of caregivers. I draw on this research, as well as first-person testimonies from people with the condition, to highlight important and as-yet unacknowledged parallels between the two groups. In both cases, there is a combination of what has been referred to as ‘anticipatory grief’ and ‘ambiguous loss’. Inextricable from these experiences are efforts to delay and compensate for loss through utilization of scaffolding. Ultimately, my aim in this article is to present a phenomenological account of how both groups analogously make use of this scaffolding to try to sustain and disambiguate possibilities. In doing so, I provide a deeper understanding of how grief, loss and adaptation unfold within the lived experience of dementia.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11097-026-10172-0

Illuminating experiences of grief and loss in people with dementia - Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences This paper investigates experiences of grief amongst people with dementia. This is a topic that has largely been neglected, with most research focusing on the experiences of caregivers. I draw on this research, as well as first-person testimonies from people with the condition, to highlight importan...

Here are three photos from Shanghai Jiao Tong on 18 May, where Tom Stoneham gave a lecture on 'Existential Risk as an Ethical Problem' and engaged in a roundtable on differences between UK and Chinese approaches to AI regulation and governance.