Conference: The Crisis of Philosophy in the 1930s

Reconsidering the development of analytic philosophy, Neo-Kantianism and hermeneutics at the end of the Weimar Republic

Opening Conference of the International São Paulo (FAPESP) and Switzerland (SNF) joint project "The Crisis of Philosophy in the 1930s", together with a roundtable of the "New Ueberweg" on Hermeneutics in 20th century philosophy

 

University of Geneva December 10-12, 2025
Espace Colladon, Rue Jean-Daniel Colladon 2, 1204 Geneva

December 10, first part (9-12:30)
Chair: Hannah Kirchner (University of Geneva)

09:00-09:15: Welcome and Introduction
Guillaume Fréchette (University of Geneva)

9:15-10:45: Pascale Roure (Yildiz Technical University)
Value and Fact. Wolfgang Köhler's Answer to European Anti-Intellectualism in the 1930s

10:45-11:00: Coffee Break

11:00-12:30: Henriikka Hannula (University of Geneva)
Varieties of Psychology in Lebensphilosophie: Klages and Misch

December 10, second part (14:30-18)
Chair: Bruno Poli (University of Geneva)

14:30-16:00: Thomas Uebel (University of Manchester)
Crisis -
 which Crisis? The Vienna Circle in the Mid-1930s

16:00-16:30: Coffee Break

16:30-18:00: Sander Verhaegh (Tilburg University)
American Philosophy's Identity Crisis and the Reception of Logical Empiricism, 1930-1950

December 11, first part ( 9-12:30)
Chair: Lucas Baccarat (University of Geneva)

9:00-10:30: Rudolf Meer (Ruhr University Bochum)
The Rise and Crisis of Scientific Philosophy: From Conceptual Ambition to 1930s Disillusionment

10:30-11:00: Coffee Break

11:00-12:30 Guillaume Fréchette (University of Geneva)
Phenomenology vs. Analytic Philosophy: The Parting of the Ways Revisited

December 11, second part (14:30-18)
Chair: Julia Franke-Reddig (University of Geneva)

14:30- 16:00: Mario Porta (PUC São Paulo)
The Crisis of Philosophy: A Comparison Between Cassirer and Husserl Regarding the Situation of Philosophy Around 1930

16:00-16:30: Coffee Break

16:30-18:00: Brenda Soares (PUC São Paulo)
Exploring the Crisis in Philosophy in 1930 Through Husserl's and Cassirer's Perspectives on Subjectivity

 

Ueberweg Roundtable

Hermeneutics, Existential Philosophy and Lebensphilosophie in 20th Century Philosophy

 

December 12, first part(9-12:30):

09:00-09:15: Welcome and Introduction
Guillaume Fréchette (University of Geneva)

09:15-10:00: Laurent Cesalli (University of Geneva)

Outline of the Ueberweg Project

10:00-10:45 Guillaume Fréchette (University of Geneva)
Philosophy in the 19th Century "Europa in Weltbezügen"

10:45-11:15: Coffee Break

11:15-12:30 Christian Berner (Univeristy of Paris - Nanterre)

Hermeneutics and the Overall Structure of the Project

December 12, second part (14:00-18:15)
Chair: Julia Franke-Reddig (University of Geneva)

14:00-15:15: Dennis Sölch (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf)
Existential Philosophy

15-15:30: Coffee Break

15:30-16:45: Caterina Zanfi (CNRS)
Lebensphilosophie

16:45-18:15: Open Discussion