International Conference
24–26 September 2026
University of Messina – Department of Ancient and Modern Civilization (DICAM)
Viale Giovanni Palatucci, 13 – 98168 Messina, Italy
The international conference “The Course of Affectivity. Affect Theories and Affective Practices with and beyond Paul Ricœur” brings together scholars from different countries to explore the role of affectivity within Paul Ricœur’s philosophy and its possible developments beyond the Ricœurian framework.
Across three days of keynote lectures, parallel sessions and discussion, the conference will address the relationship between affectivity and some of the central themes of contemporary philosophy: identity, agency, embodiment, vulnerability, recognition, suffering, imagination, ethics, otherness, narrative identity, technology and new affective practices.
The programme also includes the announcement of the first edition of the Ricœur Prize 2026 and the related Ricœur Prize Lecture.
Programme highlights
The conference opens on Thursday, 24 September with institutional greetings and introductory remarks, followed by the Ricœur Prize Lecture by Jean Greisch, “La nuit claire de l’angoisse”: une approche phénoménologique-herméneutique. The first keynote lecture, “Grammars of the Affects: Back to Paul Ricœur”, will be delivered by Carla Canullo.
The afternoon sessions will focus on affectivity, agency and will in Ricœur, as well as on affective anthropology, embodiment and ethical resources. The first day will conclude with a Café Philo, coordinated by Paola Ricci Sindoni.
On Friday, 25 September, the keynote lectures will address the relationship between affectivity, imagination and healthcare, with Geoffrey Dierckxsens; the problem of punishment and justice, with Francesca Brezzi; and Ricœur’s interpretation of Jaspers, with Francesco Miano.
Parallel sessions will explore emotions and hermeneutics, vulnerability, recognition and suffering, affectivity and otherness, and the capable human being, with contributions devoted also to friendship, plasticity, neuroscience and the challenge posed by chatbots.
The conference concludes on Saturday, 26 September, with sessions on narrative identity and hermeneutics and on technology, architecture and new affective practices. The final keynote lectures will be delivered by Martino Feyles, on affectivity in Ricœur’s phenomenological writings, and Stefanie Arel, on fragility, affectivity and the roots of violence.
Keynote speakers
Jean Greisch
“La nuit claire de l’angoisse”: une approche phénoménologique-herméneutique
Carla Canullo – University of Macerata
Grammars of the Affects: Back to Paul Ricœur
Geoffrey Dierckxsens – Interdisciplinary Research Lab for Bioethics
Affection and Imagination: Paul Ricœur and the Hermeneutics of Healthcare
Francesca Brezzi – Roma Tre University
Perché punire? Il sole nero nel frammentato continente della giustizia
Francesco Miano – University of Naples Federico II
Ricœur interprete di Jaspers
Martino Feyles – eCampus University
Affectivity in Ricœur’s Phenomenological Writings
Stefanie Arel – Institut Protestant de Théologie, Montpellier
The Fear of Fragility: A Ricœurian Examination of Affectivity and the Root of Violence
Venue
University of Messina
Department of Ancient and Modern Civilization – DICAM
Viale Giovanni Palatucci, 13
98168 Messina, Italy