2023 is a special year for The Philosopher. Not only is it our 100th anniversary but we are also publishing our first book!

We hope you can join us for our first in-person event since November 2019, featuring three brilliant speakers:

“What does it mean to ‘perform’ gender?”
Finn Mackay (University of the West of England, Bristol)

Contrary to popular belief, Judith Butler did not invent queer theory or the idea that gender is performative. In a society shaped by the gender ideology of the mainstream majority, the media and a diversity of groups are currently scrutinising trans and transgender minorities, in what appears to be a trans moral panic. Looking at the context of the so-called “gender wars”, Finn Mackay will correct some prevalent and harmful misunderstandings of gender and identity.

“Psychiatric Classification and the ‘Mental Health Epidemic’”
Mohammed Abouelleil Rashed (King’s College London)

According to epidemiologists, 26% of us suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder each year. Mental health conditions have become more visible and more accepted. Attitudes about mental health have changed significantly, and what was once a rare thing (having a mental illness) is now very common. How can we make sense of these numbers? Does it relate to the exponential increase in mental disorder categories from 128 in the first edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (1952) to 541 in the fifth edition (2013)? This talk will consider the extent to which these numbers an artefact of cultural change in how we think of ourselves and identities, as well as what can philosophy contribute to these questions.

“The Right To Know: What it is and why we need it now”
Lani Watson (University of Oxford)

We all have rights to knowledge, information, truth, and so on – what Lani Watson calls “epistemic rights”. The right to know the results of a medical test, to information about the activities of certain political figures, or to accurate reporting in the media – these are all epistemic rights. Many of these rights go largely unrecognised in our social and political lives, and are insufficiently protected by the law. Arguably, however, these rights are more important than ever in an age that is increasingly dominated by the availability and spread of information and misinformation. In this talk, Watson will discuss what epistemic rights are and explore why we so urgently need them.

This event will take place in the Brockway Room at Conway Hall. Doors will open at 6pm and the first talk will begin at 6.30pm.

Our new book, What Matters Most: Conversations on the Art of Living, is published later this month by Agenda Publishing. Discounted copies will be available at the event.