Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, WKAP talks can currently take place only in a virtual meeting room. We are in the process of organising the talks that had to be postponed in the spring and summer.

The Colloquium has two aims: It is meant to bring interesting contemporary philosophers to our Institute in Vienna so that they can present aspects of their work. It is also supposed to provide an opportunity for us and the invited philosophers to discuss the presented material in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, even if seriously and with controversy.

In each session, the invited philosopher will start by giving a 45-50 min talk. After a 5-minute break, the invited philosopher will respond to questions, comments and objections. We explicitly invite and ask all participants to contribute: no question is too dumb. After the talk the invited philosopher is taken out for dinner. Again, alle participants are invited to join. In our email announcements of the talks, we will also announce where we are planning to go for dinner, and we will ask those who want to join to let us know in advance, so that we can make a reservation.

The label “analytic philosophy” in the name of the colloquium might deserve some explanation. There are several different characterizations of the notion of “analytic philosophy”— some see it as a historically classificatory notion, or perhaps in the history of ideas, others view it as defined by some core principles. The organisers of the Colloquium do not have a definite position in these controversies. Instead we mean the label to indicate a loose collection of methodological traits and values: e.g. an emphasis on justifying philosophical theses through argument and on the careful examination of such justifications; an emphasis on clarity and precision, in so far as precision is possible and useful; and also on methodological reflection. Since any philosophy can feel committed to such methods and values, and since there are philosophers of all ages and schools of thought who feel and have felt thus committed, the label is not meant to exclude anyone. It is merely intended to place these values in the centre of attention.

The Colloquium was initiated in 2017–8 by the research area „Analytic Philosophy and Philosophy of Language”. In 2018–19 session, the Colloquium is organised conjointly by three research areas:
„Analytic Philosophy and Philosophy of Language“ (Max Kölbel)
“Thics and Political Philosophy“ & ERC-project “The Normative and Social Foundations of Group Agency” (Herlinde Pauer-Studer)
“Political and Social Philosophy“ (Hans-Bernhard Schmid)