Announcements
Death of Peter Bieri
Peter Bieri (1944–2023) passed away on 27 June 2023 at the age of 79. Bieri was influential in the development of analytical philosophy in the German-speaking world, among other things through his Analytical Philosophy of Mind (Hain 1981) and Analytical Philosophy of Cognition (Athenäum 1987). He has also been critical of certain developments in analytic philosophy. Due to the too strong orientation towards formal argumentation, philosophy sometimes reminds one of »hobby mathematics« and philosophical questions sound like mere »Logeleien« (see his essay »Was bleibt von der analytischen Philosophie?« in the DZPhil of 2007). In 1993 Bieri was appointed as a professorship in philosophy at the Freie Universität Berlin, which he gave up in 2007. Under the pseudonym »Pascal Mercier« he has published numerous novels, including Perlmanns Schweigen (Albrecht Knaus 1995) and Nachtzug nach Lissabon (Hanser 2004). On philpublica.de there are links to obituaries honouring Peter Bieri's achievements. For the FU Berlin and the GAP, Holm Tetens has written an obituary.
july 14, 2023
GAP statement on the draft law amending the Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz (German Act on Temporary Academic Contracts)
On March 17, 2023, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) presented the key points of a draft bill to amend the Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz (WissZeitVG). In response to the vehement criticism of this, not least from #ichbinhanna and #profsfuerhanna, the BMBF has already announced that it wants to discuss the question of the maximum duration of post-doc qualification time limits once again with representatives of trade unions, employee initiatives, universities and research institutions.
The Executive Board of the GAP very much welcomes this invitation to dialogue, because the amendment does not offer any decisive improvement: a maximum fixed-term for the post-doc phase of three years (as in the BMBF’s proposal) is, for example, too short for qualification for a university professorship. Regulations on the duration of fixed-term contracts also cannot guarantee what is needed above all: that the federal states and the universities create more permanent mid-level positions and/or tenure-track professorships.
Instead of new compromise solutions in the WissZeitVG, a joint federal, state, and university initiative would be desirable to provide the financial and legal means for this. Paradigm shifts could also be considered here, such as those already presented by the GAP (in a joint paper with the German Society for Philosophy DGPhil). The paper can be found here (in German).
The GAP statement from July 3, 2023 on the BMBF's draft bill in connection with the WissZeitVG can be viewed here.
march 25, 2023 (updated on 8 july, 2023)
On the 100. Geburtstag von Wolfgang Stegmüller (1923–1991)
June 3, 2023, was the centenary of the birth of Wolfgang Stegmüller, full professor of philosophy, logic and philosophy of science at the LMU Munich and important 20th century philosopher of science. Stegmüller was one of the main figures responsible for analytical philosophy regaining a foothold in Germany after the war, after the generation of the Vienna Circle had been driven out by the Nazis. In his honour, the Society for Analytic Philosophy awards the Wolfgang Stegmüller Prize every three years for outstanding work in analytic philosophy. Information on the prize winners can be found here.
More information on Wolfgang Stegmüller and his significance for Analytic Philosophy can also be found in the Opening Speech by GAP President Elke Brendel at the symposium on the 100th birthday of Wolfgang Stegmüller »Quo Vadis? Analytische Philosophie in Deutschland dreißig Jahre nach Wolfgang Stegmüller« (LMU Munich, June 29, 2023).
june 10, 2023
Death of Ernst Tugendhat
Ernst Tugendhat (1930–2023) passed away on March 13, 2023, at the age of 93. Tugendhat made an important contribution to the new beginning of analytical philosophy in Germany after National Socialism. Stefan Gosepath has written a short obituary in appreciation of Ernst Tugendhat’s achievements.
Working Group on Ecological Sustainability
The working group on ecological sustainability has developed a Best Practices Guide to help make academic work in philosophy more climate-friendly. The document can be found here (in German).
Photo gallery from GAP.11 is online
September 30, 2022. Here can find photos from our congress “Philosophy and the Public” here (Photographer: Philipp Plum).
Death of Friedrich Kambartel
On April 25, 2022, Friedrich Kambartel passed away at the age of 87. Kambartel was among the GAP’s founding members. Here is an obituary that honors his philosophical lifetime achievement, written by Pirmin Stekeler-Weithofer (in German).
Logic4Peace
The ILLC Amsterdam is hosting the fundraising event »Logic4Peace«. All registration fees will be donated to Ukraine. GAP has joined the board of contributing institutions.
PhilPublica: The First Year
One year ago, GAP and DGPhil launched the web portal PhilPublica. An interim report can be found here (in German).
Franz von Kutschera turns 90
Today, March 3rd, 2022, our honorary member Franz von Kutschera turns 90. With his more than 30 monographs, von Kutschera has expanded the spectrum of analytic philosophy in impressive ways. He has been an honorary member since 1997. The university of Regensburg is hosting a symposium in his honor in July. A laudation by Wolfgang Lenzen can be found here (in German).
The Frege Prize goes to Martine Nida-Rümelin
Martine Nida-Rümelin (Université de Fribourg) receives the Frege Prize in 2022. Every three years, GAP honors a German-speaking philosopher for outstanding achievements in the field of analytic philosophy with this prize. Previous laureates were Wolfgang Künne (2009), Rüdiger Bittner (2012), Wolfgang Spohn (2015), and Dieter Birnbacher (2018). Martine Nida-Rümelin is being honored for her outstanding and internationally influential work in the philosophy of mind and consciousness. The prize will be awarded on September 14 during the CAP Congress in Berlin. The laudation will be delivered by Terence Horgan (University of Arizona). It will be followed by a colloquium in honor of the laureate, with the participation of Martine Nida-Rümelin, Terence Horgan, Marie Guillot (University of Essex), and Philip Goff (Durham University).
Submission of contributions for GAP.11
As of today, our conference software ConfTool has been activated for the submission of section presentations to GAP.11. There are 17 sections at the congress (September 12–15, 2022) for which all interested persons can submit abstracts. More detailed submission information can be found on the congress website gap11.de or directly in this document.
For submission you have to register here in ConfTool. You will also need this registration to enroll for the congress later on (starting from March 1st, 2022). The submission deadline is January 31, 2022.
The congress organizers and the section leaders are looking forward to a strong response!
For open and critical academic discussion
Professor Kathleen Stock has resigned from her position at the University of Sussex after facing years of attacks from inside and outside the university. The attacks included public demands that Stock be removed from her post. After careful consideration, the executive committee of GAP has decided to issue a statement. You can find it here (in German).
GAP.11 Satellite Workshops
Following the GAP.11 Congress, there will again be so-called satellite workshops. The 16th and 17th of September are reserved for this.
Satellite workshops can benefit in many ways from a connection to GAP.11 - vice versa, of course. If you would like to organize a satellite workshop following GAP.11, please send us your proposal via email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by December 15, 2021. The proposal should outline the topic and include information on duration and expected number of participants. The organizing committee will respond to your proposals expeditiously. Unfortunately, the CAP cannot provide funding.