Summer School "The Problem of Skepticism"

Both Kantian and post-Kantian Idealism emerged out of an engagement with problems of skepticism. Kant was famously led to develop his critical philosophy after being awoken from his ‘dogmatic slumbers’ by Hume’s empiricist skepticism, whilst his practical philosophy continually wrestles with the problem of how to respond to skeptical demands to prove the validity of the moral law – and of whether we need to. His idealist successors then worried that Kant’s own philosophy itself entailed skeptical consequences: a restriction of cognition to appearances, the relegation of metaphysical truths to the realm of faith and a banishment of moral worth from the realm of the knowable. These problems, they thought, were symptomatic of Kant’s remaining within a framework shaped by the problematic of modern skepticism. To be a true science, they thought, philosophy had to confront and overcome the radical challenge of ancient skepticism. Assessments of their success or failure in doing so went on to determine the course of German philosophy.

This year’s summer school engages with this complex of issues, which will be explored through a series of workshops and keynote lectures. The summer school will be led by Markus Gabriel and Michael Forster, with keynote speakers including Karl Schafer (UT Austin), Jessica Berry (Georgia State), Dietmar Heidemann (Luxembourg), Nick Stang (Toronto), and others.

Date: August 11-22, 2025

Location: International Centre for Philosophy NRW, Poppelsdorfer Allee 28, 53115 Bonn.

If you wish to attend, please submit an application consisting of a CV (max 2 pages) and a statement of interest (max 1 page) combined in one document to Alex Englander (alexeng@uni-bonn.de) by June 10th. 

For students who require financial assistance to cover travel and accommodation expenses, there will be a small number of stipends available. If you require a stipend, please indicate this in your statement of interest.

A request

Dear colleagues:

If you happen to hear of any available academic positions—permanent or temporary—in philosophy or related areas, I would be grateful if you let me know. My native language is Spanish, but I’m fluent in English and French. Thank you in advance for any information or suggestions you might have.

I’ve collaborated with many of you over the years, but for those who don’t know me, my complete CV is available here.

The New Academy

A new book on the skeptical Academy appeared in French earlier this year:

Enzo Godinot, La Nouvelle Académie. Paris: Hermann, 2025.

Further information is available here.

Academic Skepticism in Contemporary Philosophy

In case you're interested, my article “The Contemporary Reception of Academic Skepticism” has just been published online as part of the volume Cicero’s Academici Libri, edited by Francesco Verde (Berlin: De Gruyter). At the moment, it can be read for free here.

Issue 15.1 of IJSS

Issue 15.1 of the International Journal for the Study of Skepticism has just been published. It contains two articles, one discussion note, and two book reviews. It can be found here.

Issue 14.4 of IJSS

Issue 14.4 of the International Journal for the Study of Skepticism has now been published. The contents can be found here.

Popkin and Skepticism

The following book on Richard Popkin has just been released:

Jeremy Popkin, Asher Salah, and Giuseppe Veltri (eds.), A Sceptical Jew. Richard H. Popkin’s Private Republic of Letters. Maimonides Library for Philosophy and Religion, Volume: 8. Brill, 2025.

Richard H. Popkin (1923–2005) was a pioneer in the field of Jewish studies. His numerous books and articles broke new ground in the study of Jewish-Christian relations in the early modern period and in the exploration of the impact of Jews and Judaism on philosophy and religious thought. A Sceptical Jew: Richard H. Popkin’s Private Republic of Letters brings together selections from Popkin’s private correspondence and other documents to illuminate the sources of his interests and the nature of his contributions to the fields in which he worked.

For more information, click here.

Skepticism in the 16th Century

There's a new book by Emmanuel Naya (École Normale Supérieure de Lyon):

Lire le scepticisme au xvie siècle: Le phénomène pyrrhonien. Paris: Classiques Garnier, 2024.

“How did skeptical thinking emerge during the Renaissance? This cannot be understood in the light of modern studies on such an ancient current. Scholars of the sixteenth century were readers dependent on the interpretation of printer-booksellers, whose key role is studied here.”

For more information, click here.

Error Theory and Fictionalism

There's a new book by Richard Joyce on moral error theory and moral fictionalism:

Richard Joyce, From Error to Fiction. Oxford University Press, 2024.

This is a topic on which he has published extensively, and so I'm curious to see what new insights he has to offer in this work. For further information, visit here.

Book on Disagreement

My short book, Disagreement (CUP, 2024), has just been released and is available for free download for the next four weeks. While it focuses primarily on the skeptical implications of disagreement, it also touches on other related themes.

Translation of The Modes of Scepticism

A few months ago, a French translation by Dimitri Cunty of the classic book on the Ten Modes of Aenesidemus, The Modes of Scepticism (CUP, 1985) by  J. Annas & J. Barnes's, was published. For more information, go here.

Issue 14.3 of IJSS

Issue 14.3 of the International Journal for the Study of Skepticism has now been published. The contents can be found here.

Book on the Skeptical Criterion

I've just discovered this French collective volume on ancient and modern skepticism:

Enzo Godinot et Lucas Pétuaud-Létang (eds.), Le Critère sceptique: Approches anciennes et modernes. Paris: Classiques Garnier, 2024.

More information can be found here.

Conference "The Significance of Skepticism"

This week, from the 21st to the 24th of July, the Maimonides Centre for Advanced Studies is hosting the conference (related to the summer school) “The Significance of Scepticism in Philosophy, Judaism, and Culture.” The full program can be found here.