Over 300 philosophers gathered at the Australian National University (ANU) in early July for the Australasian Association of Philosophy (AAP) Conference.

The week-long conference features prominent international and ANU academics including Professor David Chalmers, Professor Phillip Pettit, Professor Geoff Brennan and Professor Frank Jackson.

ANU academics feature heavily in the conference themes, with entire tracks devoted to Professor Brennan and Professor Jackson.

Head of the ANU School of Philosophy Professor Alan Hájek says that hosting the conference is an opportunity to showcase the University’s strength in this field.

“The annual conference is one of the best of its kind, a major five-day event attracting and showcasing the work of Australian and New Zealand philosophers in the first instance, but also philosophers from around the world,” says Hajek.

The Australasian Association of Philosophy promotes the study of philosophy in Australasia, and the exchange of ideas among philosophers.

Major themes on the agenda include the ethics of war, the interaction between philosophy, politics and economics, and advances in the philosophy of the cognitive sciences and psychology.

This is the second time ANU has hosted the annual event, which is hosted by a different university each year.

One of the main features of the conference each year is the Alan Saunders Memorial Lecture, hosted jointly by the AAP and ABC Radio National.

This year the lecture, A brief history of liberty and its lessons, was delivered by Professor Philip Pettit, L.S. Rockefeller University Professor of Politics and Human Values at Princeton University and Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at ANU. The lecture was recorded by ABC Radio National and filmed by ABC TV. 

More information about the lecture is available on the ABC RN website