
Philosophy is both an inspiring discipline and an everyday practice that can transform societies. By fostering an appreciation of diverse intellectual traditions, philosophy promotes intercultural dialogue, critical thinking, and the reasoned exchange of ideas. It also contributes to building more tolerant and respectful societies and helps us understand and respond to the major challenges of our time.
World Philosophy Day is celebrated annually on the third Thursday in November, where we underline the enduring value of philosophy for the development of human thought, for each culture and for each individual. In recognition of this day, we are pleased to organize the MDPI Philosophy Day Webinar to facilitate intellectual exchange and discussion within the philosophical community.
We hope you will be able to join us in celebrating World Philosophy Day.
Date: 19 November 2026
Time: 14:00 (CET) | 08:00 (EST)
Webinar ID: 842 9999 4123
Webinar Secretariat: webinar@mdpi.com
Department of Philosophy, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Spain ;Jordi Vallverdú, Ph.D., is Full Professor of Philosophy at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). His research focuses on epistemology, philosophy of science, cognitive science, philosophy of computing, and artificial intelligence, with particular attention to how humans and machines construct, justify, and use knowledge. His academic interests also encompass emotions, ethics, bioethics, and the philosophical implications of emerging technologies. He holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy and a master's degree in the History of Science from UAB, as well as degrees in Philosophy and Music. He has undertaken research stays at the Glaxo-Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, Harvard University's Kennedy School, and Kyoto University. He has authored and edited numerous books and academic publications addressing scientific controversies, computational epistemology, statistical reasoning, causality, and artificial cognition. His philosophical work also explores the diversity of Western and Asian traditions, the plurality of ontological frameworks, and the relationships between metaphysics, values, and the social authority of knowledge.
Institute for Logic, Language and Computation and Institute of Physics, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands;Sebastian De Haro is Associate Professor in Philosophy of Science at the University of Amsterdam. He works in philosophy of physics, philosophy of science, and philosophy of technology. After obtaining his PhD in theoretical physics at Utrecht University, De Haro worked as a research associate at the University of California, Los Angeles; the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Potsdam; and King's College, London. While teaching physics and philosophy at Amsterdam University College, he obtained his PhD in philosophy of science at Trinity College, University of Cambridge. Together with Jeremy Butterfield, he is the author of The Philosophy and Physics of Duality (Oxford University Press, 2025).
Institute for Logic, Language and Computation and Institute of Physics, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands ;Robert van Rooij is a professor of Logic and Cognition (with special attention to the analysis of language) at the Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC), at the University of Amsterdam. He works on the formal semantics (e.g., generics, comparatives, questions, and dynamic semantics) and pragmatics (e.g. conversational implicatures, presuppositions) of natural language, philosophy of language (e.g. propositional attitudes, reference), philosophical logic (e.g. conditionals, vagueness, and truth) and cognition (causality, categorization, decision making, learning, bounded rationality, and persuasion). In his research he mainly uses logic, (probabilistic) causal models, and decision and (evolutionary) game theory as formal tools. He has always been interested in the history of logic.
School of Philosophy, Wuhan University, China;CHEN Bo, PhD (Renmin University of China, 1994), is now a chair professor of humanities and social science, School of Philosophy, Wuhan University (from September 2021). He is a titular member of IIP: Institut International de Philosophie (Paris, 2018, election) and a titular member of AIPS: Académie Internationale de Philosophie des Sciences (Bruxelles, 2021, election). He was a full professor for 23 years at Department of Philosophy, Peking University (1999–2021). He was a visiting scholar at University of Helsinki, Finland, August 1997–August 1998, invited by Professor Georg Henrik von Wright; a CSCC Fellow at University of Miami, USA, February 2002–February 2003, awarded by the American Council of Learned Societies, the National Academy of Sciences, the Social Science Research Council, invited by Professor Susan Haack; an academic visitor at University of Oxford, UK, August 2007–August 2008, invited by Professor Timothy Williamson; and a visiting scholar at Nihon University, Japan, invited by Professor Takashi Iida, the whole year of 2014. His specialty and competence cover logic and analytic philosophy, especially philosophy of logic, philosophy of language, history of logic, theory of knowledge, American pragmatism, Hume, Frege, Russell, Quine, and Kripke. He also does comparative study of Chinese philosophy with Western philosophy. His most important Chinese academic books include: Dialogue, Communication and Participation: Stepping into International Community of Philosophy (2020), Analytic Philosophy: Critique and Construction (two volumes, 2018), Studies on Paradoxes (2014), Studies on Philosophy of Logic (2004, the revised and enlarged edition, 2013), and Studies on Quine’s Philosophy: From Logical and Linguistic Points of View (1998). He also published several influential logic books in China (popular and textbook). He has published more than 200 Chinese referred papers in good Chinese journals.
Department of Philosophy, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;Jean-Yves Beziau is a Swiss logician, philosopher, and mathematician who holds doctorates in mathematics and philosophy. He has lived and worked in France, Brazil, Poland, Corsica, California (UCLA, Stanford, and UCSD), and Switzerland. He is currently a professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), historically known as the University of Brazil, where he previously served as Director of Graduate Studies in Philosophy. He is also a former President of the Brazilian Academy of Philosophy. He created World Logic Day, celebrated annually on January 14 and recognized by UNESCO, and the World Logic Prizes Contest. He is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Logica Universalis (Springer) and the South American Journal of Logic, editor of the book series Logic PhDs and Studies in Universal Logic (Springer) and the logic area editor of the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. He also serves on the editorial boards of Philosophies and Logics (MDPI)—the latter established at his suggestion—Frontiers in Psychology (Frontiers Media), and the Journal of Logic and Computation (Oxford University Press). He has published more than 200 research papers and edited 30 books and journals’ Special Issues. Over the past 25 years, he has organized approximately 100 academic events worldwide, in locations as diverse as Easter Island, the Vatican, Paris, Beirut, Xi’an, Varanasi, Cairo, Sinaia, Lisbon, Cusco, Corsica, Rio de Janeiro, Costa Rica, Las Vegas, Crete, and Montreux.
Department of Philosophy, Sun Yat-Sen University, China;Dr. Yong Li (PhD, Saint Louis University) is a Professor of Philosophy at Sun Yat-Sen University. Dr. Li works primarily in ethics and political philosophy and focuses on Confucian ethics and comparative political philosophy. He serves as a book review editor for Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy, an associate editor for Journal of Social and Political Philosophy, co-editor for the Book Series Routledge Studies in Contemporary Chinese Philosophy. His recent research monographies include Confucian Comparative Political Philosophy (Routledge, 2025) and Moral Partiality (Routledge, 2023).
|
Speaker |
Presentation Title |
Time in CET |
Time in EST |
|
MDPI Host |
Webinar Introduction |
14:00 - 14:05 |
08:00 - 08:05 |
| Prof. Dr. Jordi Vallverdú |
If Metaphysics Is a Choice, What Is Philosophy For? Ontology, Axiology, and the Authority of Belief |
14:05 - 14:25 |
08:05 - 08:25 |
| Q&A |
14:25 - 14:30 |
08:25 - 08:30 |
|
| Dr. Sebastian De Haro |
Towards a Theory of Technological Understanding |
14:30 - 14:50 |
08:30 - 08:50 |
| Q&A |
14:50 - 14:55 |
08:50 - 08:55 |
|
|
Prof. Dr. Robert van Rooij
|
An Orthodox Semantics of Aristotle’s Modal Syllogisms: Extension and Comprehension |
14:55 - 15:15 |
08:55 - 09:15 |
| Q&A |
15:15 -15:20 |
09:15 - 09:20 |
|
|
Prof. Dr. Chen Bo
|
Truth-Oriented Moderate Pluralism: An Alternative Framework for Evaluating Philosophical Progress |
15:20 - 15:40 |
09:20 - 09:40 |
| Q&A |
15:40 - 15:45 |
09:40 - 09:45 |
|
|
Prof. Dr. Jean-Yves Beziau
|
What is it? That's the Question! |
15:45 - 16:05 |
09:45 - 10:05 |
| Q&A |
16:05 - 16:10 |
10:05 - 10:10 |
|
|
Prof. Dr. Yong Li
|
Confucian Philosophy of Family: A Contemporary Reconstruction |
16:10 - 16:30 |
10:10 - 10:30 |
| Q&A |
16:30 - 16:35 |
10:30 - 10:35 |
|
|
MDPI Host |
Closing of Webinar |
16:35 - 16:40 |
10:35 - 10:40 |
"Philosophy in the Quantum Technologies Era: Rethinking Knowledge, Reality, and Society Beyond Quantum Theory"
Guest Editors: Prof. Dr. Jordi Vallverdú and Dr. Gemma Rius
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 December 2026
"Logic in Traditional Chinese Academic Study"
Guest Editors: Prof. Dr. Bo Chen and Prof. Dr. Jincheng Zhai
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026