Digest Week 1 Michaelmas Term 2026
MT26, Week 1 (11 October - 17 October)
If you have entries for the weekly Digest, please send information to admin@philosophy.ox.ac.uk by midday, Tuesday the week before the event.
For events occurring at the Institute for Ethics in AI, see here.
Notices
Other Philosophy events, including those taking place elsewhere in the university and beyond
Avicenna Reading Group
Convenor: Ibrahim Safri
Date: Tuesday, 13 October, 2–3:30pm
Venue: Magdalen College, McFarlane Library
The theory of time remains one of the most complex and significant subjects of inquiry, central to both philosophical and physical discourse globally. Throughout the history of world philosophy, this concept has been continually refined, spanning Late Antiquity and Neoplatonism through to Islamic, Medieval, and Early Modern philosophical traditions. Within the global corpus of Arabic philosophy, diverse interpretations of time have emerged, shaped by three primary perspectives that influenced Islamic medieval conceptions of this theory. This reading class will focus on Avicenna’s The Physics of The Healing, in which he presents various notions of time before establishing his own account.
This MT26, and following a comprehensive introduction to the concept of time in global Arabic philosophy, we will continue with Chapter 11, on the Essence of Time.
Text: Avicenna, The Physics of The Healing; a Parallel English-Arabic Text. Translated by: Jon McGinnis. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 2009.
A Workshop on David Enoch’s book manuscript Liberalism: A Battle Cry (forthcoming from Polity).
With commentary by: Rae Langton, Mona Simion, Matt Sleat, and Helen Ghosh.
Date: Friday, 16 October, 2-5pm
Venue: 10 Merton St. Lecture Theatre
Liberalism: A Battle Cry is an attempt to present and defend – in a way accessible to a fairly wide audience – a version of liberalism that is simultaneously robust and self-confident in its underlying principles, and maximally pragmatic in its implications for policy and institutional design. Such liberalism – "Shameless Liberalism" – is better suited to facing current challenges to liberalism and democracy than versions of liberalism that are these days more influential in academia and in public discourse.
The workshop will consist of a short overview of the book, comments by the commentators, replies, and open discussion.
If you are interested in attending, please register by sending an email to plp@law.ox.ac.uk by noon, 30 September 2026. Those who register will receive a copy of the book manuscript with the understanding that it is not to be distributed further.
Registration is required for catering, including any dietary requirements.
Workshop Schedule
2:00: Welcome by Ruth Chang
2:10p.m.: David presents the main themes of the book
2:30p.m.: Comments by Rae Langton
2:40p.m.: Comments by Mona Simion
2:50 p.m.: David responds
3:00: Open discussion
3:45: Comments by Matt Sleat
3:55: Comments by Helen Ghosh
4:05: David responds
4:15: Open discussion
5:00: High Tea and Drinks Reception in the lobby of 10 Merton Street