2026–27 · updated twice monthly

Boston Philosophy Docket

A single running list of philosophy talks, workshops and conferences across the Boston-area departments — Harvard, MIT, Tufts, Boston University and others as they post. Each speaker carries a line of research keywords, so you can tell at a glance whether a talk is in your area.

Compiled and maintained by Aaron Berman, Department of Philosophy, Boston University.

Compiled 15 Oct 2026 59 events · 4 of 9 departments reporting
■ Harvard ■ Boston University ■ Tufts ■ MIT

Every talk below lands in your own calendar and updates itself as new events are posted — nothing to sign up for. Any other calendar app: subscribe to this feed URL. Prefer to pick and choose? Every talk below has its own Google and Apple button — the Apple one is a standard .ics file, which Outlook and most other calendar apps read too.

Fall 2026

43 events
  1. 01 Fri11 Sep Philip Pettit & Victoria McGeer Princeton “Two Kinds of Agents: From Psychology to Politics” / “Empathy Internalized: On the Scaffolding Power of Self-Directed Emotion” republicanism and freedom as non-domination · group agency · moral responsibility · empathy and mindshaping · philosophy of psychology Annual Hugo Bedau Lecture · Eaton 260 · 3:30–6:00 pm Tufts Google Apple
  2. 02 Fri11 Sep Patrick Connolly Johns Hopkins “Newton’s Matter Theory: Between Mechanism and Hylomorphism” 17th–18th-century philosophy · Locke · history of science · philosophy of religion · Indigenous philosophy of the Americas History of Philosophy Workshop · Emerson 211 · 3:00–5:00 pm Harvard Google Apple
  3. 03 Fri11 Sep Cat Saint-Croix Minnesota formal epistemology · social and feminist epistemology · attention · ethics of belief · philosophy of gender, race and sexuality Colloquium · 32-D461 · 3:00–4:00 pm MIT Google Apple
  4. 04 Tue15 Sep Cinzia Arruzza Boston University “The Second Sex in Plato’s Timaeus” ancient Greek and Roman philosophy · Plato’s political thought · Marxist and feminist theory · social reproduction · critique of capitalism Work in Progress in Ancient Philosophy · 4:00–6:00 pm BU Google Apple
  5. 05 Tue15 Sep Ken Wharton San José State retrocausality · quantum foundations · time symmetry · interpretations of quantum mechanics · Lagrangian approaches Boston Network for History & Philosophy of Physics · 4:30–6:30 pm BU Google Apple
  6. 06 Fri18 Sep Matt Brewer philosophy of earth sciences · scientific models and representation · analogy in science · explanation and theory change Dissertation defense · 2:00–4:00 pm BU Google Apple
  7. 07 Wed23 Sep Denicia Finney “The Loss of Friendship in the Common Interpretation of Naruto” early modern philosophy · Spinoza · German philosophy · animal ethics · feminist theory Philosophy Seminar Series BU Google Apple
  8. 08 Fri25 Sep Tom Parr Warwick “Markets, Firms, and the Gender Pay Gap” applied ethics · social and political philosophy · distributive justice and wealth · labour and the workplace · public shaming Colloquium · Emerson 305 · 3:00–5:00 pm Harvard Google Apple
  9. 09 Wed30 Sep Jacob Joyce “Tolerating Metaphysical Difference: Political Coercion and the Freedom to Philosophize in the Enlightenment” early modern metaphysics · Leibniz and Wolff · Kant’s Paralogisms · the metaphysics of the soul · Christian mysticism Philosophy Seminar Series BU Google Apple
  10. 10 Fri02 Oct Dana Miranda UMass Boston Africana philosophy · political philosophy · existentialism · antiblack racism and mental health · psychosocial studies Friday Colloquium · 4:00–6:00 pm BU Google Apple
  11. 11 Tue06 Oct Cody Turner Bentley philosophy of technology · ethics of artificial intelligence · virtue epistemology · the extended mind · virtual and augmented reality AI Ethics Lab · 1:30 pm BU Google Apple
  12. 12 Wed07 Oct Eve Wiseman “Reason, Empathy, and Contingency: An Alternative Solution to the Moral Problem” metaethics · moral psychology · empathy · moral motivation Philosophy Seminar Series · 12:30 pm BU Google Apple
  13. 13 Fri09 Oct Cinzia Arruzza Boston University “The Abolition of the Family and Women’s Eudaimonia in Plato’s Republic 5” ancient Greek and Roman philosophy · Plato’s political thought · Marxist and feminist theory · social reproduction · critique of capitalism Fall Colloquium Series · Eaton 201 · 3:30–5:30 pm Tufts Google Apple
  14. 14 Fri09 Oct Sean Greenberg UC Irvine “Prolegomena to a Future Systematic Interpretation of Malebranche” early modern philosophy · Leibniz · Malebranche · freedom of the will · theodicy and the problem of evil History of Philosophy Workshop · Emerson 211 · 3:00–5:00 pm Harvard Google Apple
  15. 15 Wed14 Oct Michaela McSweeney Boston University “Cognitive Surrender, Self-Handicapping, and Self-Deception” metaphysics · philosophy of logic · epistemology and understanding · feminist philosophy · philosophy of mental health Philosophy Seminar Series · 12:30 pm BU Google Apple
  16. 16 Fri16 Oct Carol Hay UMass Lowell feminist philosophy · oppression and resistance · Kantian ethics · autonomy · public philosophy Fall Colloquium Series · Eaton 201 · 3:30–5:30 pm Tufts Google Apple
  17. 17 Fri16 Oct Kareem Khalifa UCLA scientific explanation and understanding · epistemology · philosophy of social science · science and values · naturalized social ontology Colloquium · 32-D461 · 3:00–4:00 pm MIT Google Apple
  18. 18 Tue20 Oct Vanessa de Harven UMass Amherst “Substantial Confusion: Why Stoic ousia Is Not Matter” ancient Greek and Roman philosophy · Stoicism · metaphysics · corporealism and the void · determinism Work in Progress in Ancient Philosophy · 4:00–6:00 pm BU Google Apple
  19. 19 Tue20 Oct Yang Peng Guizhou University “Heidegger’s Auditory Thinking” 20th-century continental philosophy · phenomenology · philosophy of language · philosophy of science · logic Boston Phenomenology Circle Workshop · STH 625 · 5:00 pm BU Google Apple
  20. 20 Wed21 Oct Céline Leboeuf Florida International Book release: The Tyranny of Thinness feminist philosophy · critical philosophy of race · phenomenology of the body · beauty standards · Beauvoir Book release · Porter Square Books · 7:00–8:30 pm Harvard Google Apple
  21. 21 Wed21 Oct Daniel Star Boston University “Aesthetic Appreciation and Well-being” normative ethics · metaethics · reasons and oughts · epistemology · aesthetics Philosophy Seminar Series · 12:30 pm BU Google Apple
  22. 22 Thu22 Oct Laure Barillas New Hampshire “What Is Powerlessness? A Philosophical Exploration” continental and French philosophy · feminist philosophy · race, gender and social justice · powerlessness and agency Invited talk · 5:00–7:00 pm BU Google Apple
  23. 23 Fri23–25 Oct Boston Cavell Conference Stanley Cavell centenary conference · three days Conference · Howard Eichenbaum Colloquium Room, Kilachand Center · 8:30 am Fri – 1:00 pm Sun BU Google Apple
  24. 24 Fri23 Oct Lauren Kopajtic Fordham “Sentimental Education: Adam Smith and the Value of Literature” 18th-century moral philosophy · Hume · Adam Smith · emotion regulation and self-control · gender and aesthetics History of Philosophy Workshop · Emerson 211 · 3:00–5:00 pm Harvard Google Apple
  25. 25 Wed28 Oct Sam Berrettini “Boasting, Rashness, and Vanity in the Nicomachean Ethics” ancient Greek philosophy · Plato · ancient scepticism and the Pyrrhonists · Socrates and Xenophon · Aristotle’s ethics Philosophy Seminar Series · 12:30 pm BU Google Apple
  26. 26 Fri30 Oct Kathleen Creel Northeastern ethics and philosophy of AI · algorithmic monoculture · arbitrariness and fairness in automated decisions · transparency · philosophy of science Colloquium · Emerson 305 · 3:00–5:00 pm Harvard Google Apple
  27. 27 Mon02 Nov Faculty Work in Progress Workshop Faculty WIP Workshop · 1:00 pm BU Google Apple
  28. 28 Wed04 Nov A. Rose Levi philosophy of language · social and political philosophy · phenomenology · theories of meaning and reciprocity · metaphor and figurative speech Philosophy Seminar Series · 12:30 pm BU Google Apple
  29. 29 Thu05 Nov Susan Brison Dartmouth trauma and personal identity · sexual violence · feminist philosophy · free speech and hate speech · narrative and the self Fall Colloquium Series · Mugar 200 · 4:30–6:30 pm Tufts Google Apple
  30. 30 Fri06–7 Nov Society for German Idealism and Romanticism Annual conference · two days Conference BU Google Apple
  31. 31 Fri06 Nov Shelly Kagan Yale normative ethics · death and the value of life · animal ethics and speciesism · desert and well-being · moral responsibility Colloquium · 32-D461 · 3:00–4:00 pm MIT Google Apple
  32. 32 Tue10 Nov Peter Osorio Harvard “Plato’s Authority and Plato the Author in Cicero’s Tusculan Disputations” ancient Greek and Roman philosophy · Hellenistic and later ancient philosophy · Stoicism · Cicero and Roman philosophy · classical philology Work in Progress in Ancient Philosophy · 4:00–6:00 pm BU Google Apple
  33. 33 Wed11 Nov Zhiwei Min “Heidegger’s Existential Analytic as an Ontological Inversion of Aristotle’s Ethics” phenomenology · hermeneutics · Husserl · Heidegger · 20th-century continental philosophy Philosophy Seminar Series · 12:30 pm BU Google Apple
  34. 34 Thu12–14 Nov North American Nietzsche Society Annual conference · three days Conference BU Google Apple
  35. 35 Fri20 Nov Alex Worsnip UNC Chapel Hill structural rationality and coherence · epistemic normativity · political epistemology · disagreement · practical reason Colloquium · Emerson 305 · 3:00–5:00 pm Harvard Google Apple
  36. 36 Fri20 Nov Cian Dorr NYU metaphysics · philosophy of language · formal epistemology · logic and modality · philosophy of physical science Colloquium · 32-D461 · 3:00–4:00 pm MIT Google Apple
  37. 37 Mon30 Nov Faculty Work in Progress Workshop Faculty WIP Workshop · 1:00 pm BU Google Apple
  38. 38 Tue01 Dec Mauro Bonazzi Bologna “Reason and Action in Plato’s Psychology” history of ancient philosophy · Platonism and Middle Platonism · Hellenistic philosophy · scepticism and the Academy · the reception of Plato Work in Progress in Ancient Philosophy · 4:00–6:00 pm BU Google Apple
  39. 39 Wed02 Dec Keaton Jahn “Phenomenology & Anthropology: Criteria of Comparison of Bodily Feelings in Emotional Experiences Across Cultures” phenomenology of values · ethics · Scheler and Hartmann · Merleau-Ponty · moral perception Philosophy Seminar Series · 12:30 pm BU Google Apple
  40. 40 Fri04 Dec Sally Haslanger MIT social ontology · ideology and social structure · race and gender as social kinds · critical social theory · ameliorative analysis Fall Colloquium Series · Eaton 201 · 3:30–5:30 pm Tufts Google Apple
  41. 41 Fri04 Dec Claire Kirwin Northwestern value theory · Nietzsche · the creation of value · metaethics · 19th-century German philosophy Friday Colloquium · 4:00–6:00 pm BU Google Apple
  42. 42 Fri04 Dec Sara Aronowitz Toronto epistemology · philosophy of cognitive science · learning and memory · decision theory · philosophy of artificial intelligence Colloquium · 32-D461 · 3:00–4:00 pm MIT Google Apple
  43. 43 Wed09 Dec Caroline Wall “The Determinacy of Life-Form” 19th- and 20th-century philosophy · contemporary ethics · Nietzsche · Murdoch and Cavell · ethics and aesthetics Philosophy Seminar Series · 12:30 pm BU Google Apple

Spring 2027

16 events
  1. 44 Fri05 Feb Rafeeq Hasan Amherst social and political philosophy · Kant’s political thought · republicanism and structural domination · Rawls · freedom and poverty Friday Colloquium · 4:00–6:00 pm BU Google Apple
  2. 45 Fri12 Feb Vida Yao UCLA moral psychology · philosophy of love · moral character · moral emotion · normative ethics Colloquium · Emerson 305 · 3:00–5:00 pm Harvard Google Apple
  3. 46 Fri12 Feb Nick Riggle San Diego aesthetics · social aesthetics and style · value theory · art and personal expression · aesthetic community Colloquium · 32-D461 · 3:00–4:00 pm MIT Google Apple
  4. 47 Fri19 Feb Janum Sethi Michigan Kant’s metaphysics and epistemology · Kant’s aesthetics · judgment and the imagination · 17th–18th-century philosophy History of Philosophy Workshop · Emerson 211 · 3:00–5:00 pm Harvard Google Apple
  5. 48 Fri26 Feb Calvin Normore UCLA medieval philosophy · Ockham and late scholastic logic · free will · history of ethics · metaphysics of modality Spring Colloquium Series · 3:30–5:30 pm Tufts Google Apple
  6. 49 Fri05 Mar Nick Riggle San Diego aesthetics · social aesthetics and style · value theory · art and personal expression · aesthetic community Colloquium · Emerson 305 · 3:00–5:00 pm Harvard Google Apple
  7. 50 Fri12 Mar Maya Krishnan Chicago Kant · philosophy of religion and theology · metaphysics · intelligibility and rational reference · moral philosophy Colloquium · 32-D461 · 3:00–4:00 pm MIT Google Apple
  8. 51 Fri19 Mar Anja Jauernig NYU Kant · Leibniz · transcendental idealism · early modern metaphysics · the moral status of animals Friday Colloquium · 4:00–6:00 pm BU Google Apple
  9. 52 Fri26 Mar Emily Kress Brown Aristotle · Plato · causation and explanation in ancient Greek philosophy · teleology · agency in natural processes History of Philosophy Workshop · Emerson 211 · 3:00–5:00 pm Harvard Google Apple
  10. 53 Fri02 Apr Barbara Herman UCLA Kantian ethics · moral judgment and practical reason · the value of humanity · moral literacy · obligation Colloquium · Emerson 305 · 3:00–5:00 pm Harvard Google Apple
  11. 54 Fri02 Apr John MacFarlane Berkeley philosophy of language · logic and philosophy of logic · relativism and assessment sensitivity · epistemology · ancient Greek philosophy Colloquium · 32-D461 · 3:00–4:00 pm MIT Google Apple
  12. 55 Fri09 Apr Jason Brennan Georgetown social and political philosophy · democratic theory and epistocracy · normative ethics · political economy · business ethics Colloquium · 32-D461 · 3:00–4:00 pm MIT Google Apple
  13. 56 Fri16 Apr Rachel Fraser MIT epistemology · narrative and testimony · feminist philosophy · language and gossip · social epistemology Friday Colloquium · 4:00–6:00 pm BU Google Apple
  14. 57 Fri23 Apr Jon McGinnis Toronto Arabic and Islamic philosophy · Avicenna · medieval natural philosophy · classical and medieval science · causation Spring Colloquium Series · 3:30–5:30 pm Tufts Google Apple
  15. 58 Thu29–30 Apr David Chalmers NYU philosophy of mind · consciousness and the hard problem · metaphysics · philosophy of language · virtual reality and artificial intelligence Whitehead Lectures · Emerson 210 Harvard Google Apple
  16. 59 Fri30 Apr Lucy Campbell Warwick philosophy of action · epistemology · self-knowledge and practical knowledge · philosophy of mind · knowing how Colloquium · 32-D461 · 3:00–4:00 pm MIT Google Apple
Listings and corrections welcome. This is compiled from what departments post publicly, so it lags anything announced only by mailing list — and a talk that moves rooms or dates may show the old details here. If your department has events that belong on it, or something above is wrong, send them along via aaronlberman.com/contact and they will go in at the next update.