ACU CONFERENCE: FREUD, WITTGENSTEIN, AND THE UNCONSCIOUS WHERE: 28-29 July, 2025 WHEN: Level 18, Tenison Woods House, 8-10 Napier Street, North Sydney.
THE EVENT IS FREE BUT REGISTRATION REQUIRED, by email: [email protected] For those outside of Sydney - a Zoom link can be provided by email. This conference takes up the Wittgenstein-Freud connection from a conceptual rather than an historical point of view. Wittgenstein famously criticized Freud's notion of the unconscious as part of his general critique of scientism. In this conference we explore three main questions and other themes related to the unconscious: 1. Is a viable notion of the unconscious salvageable from Wittgenstein's criticisms of Freud's formulations of the unconscious? And, if so, what is its role in philosophy, psychoanalysis, or social critique? 2. What further insights about philosophy of psychology can be gleaned from rethinking Wittgenstein's critique of Freud? 3. Can Wittgenstein's own work be seen as presupposing or dependent upon a notion of the unconscious? If so, what importance does that have for his philosophy? KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: Naomi Scheman (Minnesota); Stephen White (Tufts) CONFERENCE SCHEDULE: MONDAY, JULY 28 9:30-10:00 Registration 10:00-11:15 Naomi Scheman (Minnesota) - How Could You Not Have Known? Wittgenstein and the epistemology of ignorance. 11:15-11:30 Coffee 11:30-12:45. David Macarthur (Sydney) - Wittgenstein on Reasons and Causes: Reassessing Wittgenstein's critique of Freud. 12:45-2:00 Lunch 2:00-3:15 Richard Colledge (ACU) - The Unconscious and Hermeneutics: Disagreement and philosophical incommensurability reappraised. 3:15-4:30 Dorit Lemberger (Bar Ilan) - As If I Could Read the Darkness: Wittgenstein's conceptual reframing of the unconscious 4:30-4:45 Coffee 4:45-6:00 Sophie-Grace Chappell (Open University, UK): Paying Attention TUESDAY, JULY 29 10:00-11:45 Stephen White (Tufts) - Freud, Wittgenstein, and the Chinese Room 11:15-11:30 Coffee 11:30-12:45. Talia Morag (ACU) - From "secret room" to "free association": the unconscious as patterns of inattention 12:45-2:00 Lunch 2:00-3:15. Justin Clemens (Melbourne) - Language on Holiday: Freud Contra Wittgenstein 3:15-3:30 Coffee 3:30-4:45 Matthew Sharpe (ACU) - Philosophy in reverse: Algorithms, primary processes, and collective regression in the age of social media. THIS CONFERENCE IS FUNDED AND SUPPORTED BY THE INTERNATIONAL PSYCHOANALYTICAL ASSOCIATION. -- Dr Talia Morag Senior Lecturer, School of Arts and Humanities Australian Catholic University | North Sydney NSW 2060
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