Jury decision on the 2025 joint essay prize of the GAP and GPS

The Society for Analytic Philosophy (GAP) and Grazer Philosophische Studien (GPS) are pleased about the interest in the essay question: How does hope matter for our actions?

36 submissions were received (16 of which were from women). A jury consisting of ten experts thoroughly considered the contributions, which were rendered anonymous. After careful deliberation, the jury has awarded the prizes to:

• 1nd Prize: Emilia Kleo Mertens (FU Berlin): »Möglichkeitsräume des Handelns und Grenzen der Hoffnung« (abstract)
• 2nd Prize: –
• 3st Prize: Severin Rohrer und Jan Stettler (Universitäten Wien und Zürich): »On the Perils of Hope Under Oppression« (abstract)
• 3st Prize: Sofus Jonathan Messell (University of Oxford): »How does hope matter for our actions?« (abstract)

Members of the jury were Claudia Blöser, Nadja El Kassar, Martina Fürst, Jakob Huber, Regina Schidel, Lisa Schmalzried, Sebastian Schmidt, Dennis Sölch, Razvan Sofroni and Titus Stahl.

The winning essays will be published in the Grazer Philosophische Studien in the second half of 2026. We congratulate the winners and thank all participants for their contributions!

february 2, 2026

GAP Workshop for Doctoral Researchers 2026

on Philosophy of Language & Philosophy of Normativity

Bielefeld, 25–26 June 2026, organized by Benjamin Kiesewetter and Christian Nimtz in cooperation with the German Society for Analytical Philosophy (GAP). You can find the poster for the call for applications here.

The workshop is aimed at doctoral researchers and prospective doctoral researchers in philosophy who are working on a project in the philosophy of language or the philosophy of normativity (metaethics and metaepistemology, reasons and rationality, foundational questions in moral philosophy and other normative areas of philosophy). Beyond this, there is no thematic restriction. All topics within either of the two areas are welcome.

Participants will have the opportunity to exchange ideas with one another and with established philosophers about their projects and research results. The invited experts are: Singa Behrens (Frankfurt), Katharina Felka (Münster), Tim Henning (Mainz), Benjamin Kiesewetter (Bielefeld), Christian Nimtz (Bielefeld), and Sebastian Köhler (Frankfurt). Each participant will give a substantive presentation on a topic of their choice related to their doctoral project (25 minutes presentation + 20 minutes discussion) and will have an in‑depth individual feedback session with two of the supervising experts.

To apply, please send (1) a text describing your dissertation project (max. 1000 words) and (2) an academic CV to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Applications may be submitted in German or English. Please send your application as a PDF file named after your last name. The application deadline is 1 May 2026. If accepted, we will ask you in advance for a more detailed project description, provided you have one. Acceptance and rejection notices will likely be sent out by mid‑May 2026.

The workshop itself is free of charge. We aim to cover accommodation and travel expenses equivalent to a second‑class train ticket (preferably with a BahnCard) for all participants who are unable to obtain funding from other sources.

New Executive Committee

Since January 1, 2026, the new presidency and the new board of the GAP have been in office. It consists of the following members: Joint Presidents: Christine Bratu and Hans Rott, executive management: David Löwenstein, treasury: Anna Schriefl, vice presidents: Silvia Jonas, Stephan Schmid, Markus Schrenk, Moritz Schulz.

Further information will soon be available on the new website of the GAP society.

January 7, 2026

2,500 Contributions Now Indexed on PhilPublica

Most GAP members are already familiar with PhilPublica – the joint platform by GAP and DGPhil that collects media contributions by academic philosophers in German-speaking outlets. When we launched it four and a half years ago, we had no idea how diverse philosophy’s public presence would be.

The 2,500th entry was recently published: a video in the #explained series on our GAP YouTube channel, created in collaboration with the BMBF-funded project “Bildersturm”. The series introduces key philosophical concepts like happiness, knowledge, fake news, and moral perception.

We’d like to take this small milestone as an opportunity to thank you – especially for your contributions to the section “Was ich noch sagen wollte”, which now includes 80 entries.

To stay updated, you can subscribe to the PhilPublica newsletter here. And if you spot a media piece we’ve missed, please let us know at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

november 3, 2025

Ansgar Beckermann Turns 80

On 20 June 2025, Ansgar Beckermann, honorary member of the GAP and its president from 2000 to 2006, turned 80. Congratulations from the executive board of the GAP! Ansgar Beckermann's Bielefeld colleague Christian Nimtz, together with Peter Schulte, Romy Jaster and Hanjo Glock, have written a laudatory speech, which can be found here (in German).

June 20, 2025

Jury decision on the 2024 joint essay prize of the GAP and GPS

The Society for Analytic Philosophy (GAP) and Grazer Philosophische Studien (GPS) are pleased about the interest in the essay question: Can we be responsible for something that is not up to us?

34 submissions were received (18 of which were from women). A jury consisting of ten experts thoroughly considered the contributions, which were rendered anonymous. After careful deliberation, the jury has awarded the prizes to:

• 1. Preis: Ufuk Özbe (FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg): »Moral Luck, Blameworthiness and mens rea« (abstract)
• 2. Preis: Preis: Samuel Fautz (Ruhr-Universität Bochum): »Skill, Control und Moral Luck« (abstract)
• 3. Preis: –

Members of the jury were Hanna Altehenger, Jonas Blatter, Singa Behrens, Francesca Bunkenborg, Martina Fürst, David Heering, Susanne Mantel, Jean Moritz Müller and Sebastian Schmidt.

The winning essays will be published in the Grazer Philosophische Studien in the second half of 2025. We congratulate the winners and thank all participants for their contributions!

Sustainable Invitations with PhilRadar

Wouldn't it be nice to know which philosophers are nearby when planning a lecture series, a workshop, or other philosophical events? PhilRadar can indeed provide us with this valuable information—especially when hosts of philosophers share their details on the platform. You can learn how to do this from the flyers created by the AG Nachhaltigkeit of GAP and DGPhil, which are available through these links in both German and English. GAP encourages you to utilize this tool and help make philosophy as sustainable as possible. Thank you!

PhilPublica-Workshop 2025 (in German)

»Philosophy in the Public Sphere: How to Write for Philosophy Blogs«
July 23–25, 2025, Tutzing, with Gottfried Schweiger (praefaktisch.de), Sarah Rebecca Strömel (praefaktisch.de) and Lars Weisbrod (DIE ZEIT). Further information can be found here.

Doctoral workshop 2025

on political philosophy and social philosophy, organised by Luise Müller and Stefan Gosepath in collaboration with the GAP, 21–22 June 2025 at the Free University of Berlin. Additional experts: Jakob Huber, Tamara Jugov, Kristina Lepold and Mirjam Müller.