Philosophy Across Divides examines how philosophical practices and the study of its history engage with and respond to the complex social and political contexts of our time. Featuring reflections and interviews with scholars from diverse regions, this section explores the role philosophy can play in a rapidly changing world, including the hidden and overt challenges it faces as a discipline. While philosophical inquiry aspires to foster dialogue, understanding, and common ground across differing perspectives, is it truly bridging divides across epistemic beliefs or is the reality more complicated?
By Mane Tatulyan
A spectre haunts the world — the spectre of philosophy. The spectre of a philosophy that died only barely interpreting the world, but never actually changing it. Philosophy is today a doomed shade that must carry its unbearable, stale being, trying to convince everyone of its relevance, of its utility, of its right to exist, of its once-existing title of ‘Mother of the Sciences’.
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By Isabel Inzunza Gomez
Philosophy Across Divides it’s a space for those who believe that thinking is not a luxury but a form of care; a way of keeping the lights on when the world starts flickering. Philosophy, when it’s alive, doesn’t sit quietly in a corner; it notices, interrupts, interferes.
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By Isabel Inzunza Gomez
April 2025 – I met this scholar, whom I’ll call Sophia (a name chosen to preserve her anonymity), over Zoom, very early in the morning her time. Despite the hour, the sun was already pouring through both of our windows, casting long shadows and bathing our screens in a kind of fierce clarity. It felt oddly symbolic. There we were, two people in different corners of the world, brought together by a shared concern, a shared vocation, and a shared commitment to keeping difficult conversations alive.
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By Sarah Virgi
December 2024 – How is artificial intelligence reshaping the way we think, create, and engage with ideas? How will it impact on the way in which we practice philosophy and teach it? For Martin Puchner, exploring AI and what we can do with it has become a way to ponder these questions. Initially driven by sheer curiosity, he has delved into AI’s philosophical potential, by building custom chatbots that bring historical figures like Socrates and Montaigne into interactive dialogue with modern audiences.
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By Sarah Virgi
November 2024 – Following recent budget reductions in higher education, several Dutch universities, including Utrecht and Leiden, are preparing to cut or consolidate programs within their humanities faculties. These changes could impact a wide range of fields, from African and Latin American Studies to German, French, Italian, Arabic, Islamic studies, and Religious Studies. In this interview, Pooyan Tamimi Arab, a faculty member at Utrecht University, discusses the rationale behind these restructuring efforts and their implications for students, researchers, and the future of humanities education in the Netherlands. He sheds light on how Utrecht University is navigating these financial adjustments and what this means for preserving specialized knowledge in a rapidly evolving academic landscape.
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IPM Monthly 