Speaker Series 2026-27
This is the preliminary schedule for the 2026-2027 Philosophy Department Speaker Series.
ALL TALKS ARE FROM 4:00-5:30 PM.
Titles and abstracts will be posted here 1-2 weeks in advance of the event.
Locations vary. For talk locations, or other details about upcoming events, email rbell09@uoguelph.ca.
Wednesday, September 23: Regina Müller, Institute for Philosophy at the University Bremen
Title: Toward a Structural Ethics: The Responsibility of Bioethicists to Address Structural Injustice in Health Care
Abstract: Bioethicists encounter forms of injustice that cannot be adequately understood as the result of individual actions or isolated institutional decisions. Health disparities, unequal access to care, and the systematic marginalization of particular groups are often shaped by structural processes. This raises questions about the role and responsibility of ethicists: Does the professional role of ethicists itself entail a specific responsibility to address structural injustices in health care? This talk argues that it does. Yet this claim exposes a significant conceptual and methodological gap within ethics. Although the notion of structural injustice has become increasingly prominent, we still lack a clear account of what makes a phenomenon structural, how structural phenomena should be evaluated in ethical terms, and which ethical theories are appropriate for addressing them. I therefore propose developing a Structural Ethics: an ethical framework designed to address and assess structural phenomena from an ethical perspective.
Thursday, October 22: Gwen Bradford, University of Toronto
Thursday, December 3: Neri Marsili, University of Turin
Friday, February 5: Scott Metzger, University of Guelph/University of Toronto
Friday, March 12: Jennifer Nagel, University of Toronto