Workshop: Political Philosophy of the City

The topic of the workshop is the city as a research subject of political philosophy. For this context, the political is understood in the broad sense of coordinating ways of living together in as just manner as possible. The questions asked are: What is specific about the political form of the city by contrast for example to the nation-state? How do cities shape the common life and how can collectives shape cities? What are the ways in which urban forms of life can ideally contribute towards human (and non-human) flourishing?

We will address two recent philosophical publications from 2023: The City of Equals (Oxford University Press) by Jonathan Wolff and Avner de Shalit and Urban Enlightenment (Routledge) by Shane Epting that deal with these questions each in their own way. The participants will discuss these two books with the authors in addition to presenting their own research that references one or both of these recent publications.

The discussions will take the two recent publications mentioned above as a starting point and will address them from the research perspectives of the participants, from diverse angles such as feminism, recognition theory, Hannah Arendt's philosophy, urbanism in the Global South, technological issues such as the use of artificial intelligence in urban settings and other relevant topics.