Research lines
Metaphysics and Theory of Knowledge
The line focuses on both exegetical and systematic questions of the theory of knowledge and metaphysics, in the different periods of the history of philosophy (ancient, medieval, modern and contemporary philosophy), and also discusses the link between classical questions of metaphysics and reflection on the conditions of knowledge. There are at least four relevant centers which characterize the production of professors bound to the line: a research group in epistemology in antiquity, another centered on the unfolding of modern rationalism, a group focused on epistemological and metaphysical questions around Kant's philosophy and idealism post-Kantian and a group dedicated to research in phenomenology and its ability to contribute to the reflection on the classical themes of metaphysics and the theory of knowledge. Thus, some of the major philosophers discussed by members of the line Metaphysics and Theory of knowledge are: Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Spinoza, Leibniz, Kant, Fichte, Schelling, Hegel, Bergson, Husserl, Heidegger, Bachelard, Levinas and Edith Stein.
Academic Staff:
Anderson Borges
Cristiano Novaes de Rezende
Fábio Ferreira de Almeida
Hans Christian Klotz
José Ternes
Martina Korelc
Márcia Zebina de Araújo
Thiago Suman Santoro
Wellington Damasceno de Almeida
Logic and Philosophy of Language
The line focuses on two main strands. The more formal aspect begins with the crisis of foundation, the Theory of Types, the Sets, the Theory of Proof, to Theory of Categories. Still within this strand we find researches who seek to extract the semantic and metaphysical consequences of the new logic. The discussions around the notion of "reference" with the resurgence of modal logic are also included.
The second strand comprises the pragmatic reaction, launched by the second Wittgenstein and continued by the philosophy of speech acts. As a reaction to logical empiricism we also find the idea of "radical interpretation" of Quine and Davidson and, more recently, Recanati's contextualism. Investigations of the notion of 'subjectivity', from the 'private language argument', to discussions of Evans's notions of 'thinking' and Burge and Davidson's Externalism are also part of it.
Academic Staff:
André da Silva Porto
Araceli Rosich Soares Velloso
Filipe Lazzeri Vieira
Guilherme Ghisoni da Silva
José Gonzalo Armijos Palácios
Ethics and Political Philosophy
This line will focus on the issues of practical philosophy − ethics, political philosophy, philosophy of law − within the scope of modern and contemporary philosophy, mainly but with openness to the ancient and medieval periods, as well as to the contemporary reception of classical issues. Research, within the framework of political philosophy, on legitimacy of power and division of powers, state, democracy, freedom, sovereignty, peace, fundamental rights, critical theory, totalitarianism, biopolitics, among other basic topics, end up establishing, despite often in flagrant opposition, a course of continuity with respect to classical issues. As far as ethics is concerned, it is important to point out the survival of the central questions concerning action and judgment to contemporary criticism of traditional metaphysics. The various theories of action and judgment operate in the articulation both between the various branches of practical philosophy and of them with the other lines of research.
Academic Staff:
Adriana Delbó Lopes
Adriano Correia Silva
Carla Milani Damião
Helena Esser dos Reis
José Gonzalo Armijos Palácios
Rafael Rodrigues Pereira
Renato Moscateli
Ricardo Bazilio Dalla Vecchia
Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art
The line focuses on research concepts and theories related to the creation, experience, interpretation and criticism of art. The investigations relate 'Aesthetics' and 'Philosophy of art', with respect to different traditions of philosophical thought. The emphases of the investigations are: Theories on tragedy and the tragic; Theories of Taste; Image Theories; Philosophy of Photography; Philosophy and Film; Philosophy and Literature; Aesthetics, Feminism and Race; Analytical and Continental Aesthetic.
Academic Staff:
Carla Milani Damião
Fábio Ferreira de Almeida
Guilherme Ghisoni da Silva