Existentialist Society

Monthly lectures from previous years


7 Feb 2017
Dr. Gordon Preece (Centre for Research in Religion & Social Policy, University of Divinity)
"Re-Tayloring the Secular Towards Transcendence: Charles Taylor's 'A Secular Age'"
Lecturer contact details

7 Mar 2017
Dr. Maurita Harney (Historical and Philosophical Studies, University of Melbourne)
"Anticipatory Being: Re-thinking the Concept of Agency"
Lecturer contact details

4 Apr 2017
Assoc. Prof. Janice Richardson (Author, 'Law and the Philosophy of Privacy')
"The Philosophy of Privacy"
Lecturer contact details

2 May 2017
Dr. Nick Trakakis (Philosophy, Australian Catholic University)
"Existentialist Vs. Idealist Philosophy"

6 Jun 2017
Dr. Pierre Van Osselaer
"Michel Foucault and the Quandary of the Body"
June 2017 lecture transcript (Adobe Acrobat format, 75 kB)

4 Jul 2017
John Ebel (Existentialist Psychotherapist)
"Sleepwalking Towards a Nuclear Holocaust: A Sartrean and de Beauvoirian Perspective"

1 Aug 2017
Dr. Lachlan Ross (Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne)
"The Neglected Emphasis on 'Alienation' in Marx's Mature Works"
August 2017 lecture transcript (Adobe Acrobat format, 262 kB)

5 Sep 2017
Dr. Colin Goodwin (Independent Scholar)
"The Existentialism of Sir John Eccles, Neurophysiologist and Philosopher"

3 Oct 2017
Dr. Vaughan Rapatahana (Writer, Poet, Critic)
"Colin Wilson as Existential Outsider"
October 2017 lecture transcript (Microsoft Powerpoint format, 1.1 MB)

7 Nov 2017
Melbourne Cup Day Lecture
Les Allan (RationalRealm.com)
"Is Morality Objective?"

3 Dec 2017
Dr. Kevin Orrman-Rossiter (Research, Innovation and Commercialisation, University of Melbourne)
"The Problem of Scientism"
Lecturer contact details


6 Feb 2018
Howard Dossor (Author, 'Colin Wilson: The man and his mind')
"Man Ascendant"
February 2018 lecture video

6 Mar 2018
Assoc. Prof. Millicent Vladiv-Glover (School of Languages, Cultures & Linguistics, Monash University)
"Dostoevsky and Roberto Mangabeira Unger: An Approach to Time"
Lecturer contact details

3 Apr 2018
Assoc. Prof. Hans Baer (Social & Political Sciences, University of Melbourne)
"A Radical Response to the Impending Socio-Ecological Crisis"

1 May 2018
Dr. Debra Campbell (Psychologist. Author, 'Lovelands')
"How Childhood Wounds Colour Adult Relationships"
Lecturer contact details

5 Jun 2018
Assoc. Prof. Kim Sawyer (Historical and Philosophical Studies, University of Melbourne)
"Karma: The Unobservable of Existence"
June 2018 lecture transcript (Adobe Acrobat format, 292 kB)

3 Jul 2018
Dr. John Lenarcic (Business, IT and Logistics, RMIT University)
"The Social, Political and Philosophical Implications of Technological Advancements"

7 Aug 2018
Assoc. Prof. Purushottama Bilimoria (Deakin/Melbourne & University of California)
"Aestheticizing Dharma's Pathos: Mahabharata to Tagore's Paintings and Poems"
Lecturer contact details

4 Sep 2018
Assoc. Prof. Janice Richardson (Law Faculty, Monash University)
"Feminist Theory and Spinoza"

2 Oct 2018
Jon Rubin (Melbourne School of Continental Philosophy)
"Freedom, Passion and Politics in Spinoza's Philosophy"

6 Nov 2018
Melbourne Cup Day Lecture
Dr. Colin Goodwin (Independent Scholar)
"The Universe and Human Beings: The Atheistic Existentialism of Stephen Hawking"

4 Dec 2018
Dr. Mammad Aidani (Historical and Philosophical Studies, University of Melbourne)
"Perplexity as the Origin of Philosophy"


5 Feb 2019
Dr. Pierre Van Osselaer
"Paul Virilio and the Philosphy of Speed"
February 2019 lecture notes

5 Mar 2019
Dr. Binoy Kampmark (Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University)
"The Non-Person Category and the Global Refugee Problem"
Lecturer contact details

2 Apr 2019
Dr. Emma McNicol (Melbourne Centre for Feminist Philosophy)
Lecturer contact details
"Simone de Beauvoir: Woman as a Philosophical Problem"

7 May 2019
John Noack (Carl Jung Society)
"Can Existentialism be both Atheistic and Religious?"

4 Jun 2019
Tim Harding (Australian Skeptics)
"The Rejection of Expertise"
The Rejection of Expertise

2 Jul 2019
Dr Inna Semetsky (Institute for Edusemiotic Studies)
"Tracing Esoteric Philosophy in Popular Culture"

6 Aug 2019
Dr. Andrew Inkpin (Historical and Philosophical Studies, University of Melbourne)
"Heidegger, Authenticity and the Narrative Self"
Lecturer contact details

3 Sep 2019
Dr. Francis Macnab (Professor Emeritus, Cairnmillar Institute)
"Bid me strike a match: Existentialism has thrown a new light on Psychotherapy"

1 Oct 2019
Dr. Valery Vinogradovs (Crossing Avenues)
"A Sophist on the Crisis in Academic Philosophy"

5 Nov 2019
Melbourne Cup Day Lecture
Assoc. Prof. Kim Sawyer (Historical and and Philosophical Studies, University of Melbourne)
"The Descent of Man"
Lecturer contact details

3 Dec 2019
Assoc. Prof. Patrick Stokes (Philosophy, Deakin University)
"The Prospects of Digital Immortality"

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