PD Dr. Rico Gutschmidt  – Talks

2023

Verstörung und Vertrauen. Negative Theologie in Existenzphilosophie und Psychologie [Disturbance and Trustfulness. Negative Theology in Existentialism and Psychology], at the Congress “Disturbances of the Normal” of the German Society for Phenomenological Research, Heidelberg, September 2023 (peer reviewed) 

Certitudo vs. Securitas. Faith as a Form of Groundless Trust in Luther and Wittgenstein, at the conference “Religious Hinges”, University of California, Irvine, September 2023 (invited, online presentation)

Mysticism and delusions: A new understanding of mystical aspects in delusion and its therapeutic significance, at the 8th Reichenau Summer School, Reichenau Centre of Psychiatry, August 2023 (invited) 

Philosophie als Praxis der Transformation. Wittgensteins geistige Übungen [Philosophy as a Practice of Transformation. Wittgenstein's Spiritual Exercises], at the conference “Philosophy as a Way of Life – Self-Perfectioning”, Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Berlin, June 2023 (invited) 

Abgrund und Schweben. Angst in der Philosophie [Abyss and Floating.  Anxiety in Philosophy], lecture in the context of a professional training event at the Reichenau Centre of Psychiatry, June 2023 (invited) 

Reconceiving Subject-Object-Divisions. Transformative Experience and Paradigm Shifts, at the Interdisciplinary Symposium “Embedded Bodies. Transformations of the Subject-Object-Distinction”, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, May 2023 (invited) 

Mystik und Ekstase. Eine philosophische Interpretation von Zuständen der Entgrenzung [Mysticism and Ecstasy. A Philosophical Interpretation of States of Unboundedness], lecture in the event series “Ecstasy” of the Philosophische Gesellschaft Zürich, University of Zurich, April 2023 (invited) 

Georg Cantor und die negative Theologie des absolut Unendlichen [Georg Cantor and the Negative Theology of Absolute Infinity], Guest Lecture at the Studienkolleg, University of Tübingen, February 2023 (invited) 


2022

Performanz und transformative Erfahrung. Negative Theologie bei Eckhart und Heidegger [Performativity and Transformative Experience. Negative Theology in Eckhart and Heidegger], at the Annual Conference of the Meister-Eckhart-Society, University of Vienna, October 2022 (invited)

Radikale Fraglichkeit und grundloses Getragensein [Radical Questionableness and Groundless Supportedness], at the congress “Zurück zu den Sachen selbst. Die Praxis der Phänomenologie” of the German Society for Phenomenological Research, Jena, September 2022 (peer reviewed)

Verstörung und Vertrauen. Negative Theologie in Existenzphilosophie und Psychologie [Disturbance and Trustfulness. Negative Theology in Existentialism and Psychology], Guest Lecture at the Studienkolleg, University of Tübingen, July 2022 (invited) 

(with Irida Altman) The Philosophic Performative: Rethinking Metaphysics through a Palimpsestic Principle, at the conference “Performance Philosophy Problems. How does performance philosophy collaborate?”, University of the Arts Helsinki, June 2022 (peer reviewed)

Gelassenheit und philosophischer Glaube. Heidegger im Kontext atheistischer Religiosität [Releasement and Philosophical Faith. Heidegger in the Context of Atheistic Religiosity], at the Lecture Series “Heidegger und die Lebenskunst”, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, May 2022 (invited) 

Weisheit. Neue Zugänge zu einem uralten Begriff [Wisdom. New approaches to an age-old concept], Panel discussion with Michael Hampe, Aleida Assmann, and Jan Assmann, University of Konstanz, January 2022 (presented online, invited)

Nothing Changes. Negative Theology and Transformative Experience, at the conference “Defining Nothingness”, HSE School of Philosophy and Cultural Studies, Moscow, January 2022 (presented online, invited)


2021

Cavell and Theology. Skepticism and the Fallen State of Mankind, at the conference “Stanley Cavell: A Retrospective”, Universitá San Raffaele, Milan, September 2021 (peer reviewed)

Transformative vs. Quietist Dissolution of Skepticism. The Case of the External Standpoint, at the conference “The Varieties of Anti-Skepticism”, Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, September 2021 (peer reviewed)

Transformative Erfahrung in der Philosophie [Transformative Experience in Philosophy], at the XXV. German Congress of Philosophy, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, September 2021 (presented online, peer reviewed)

Grenze und Transformation. Zum epistemischen Status philosophischer Erfahrungen [Limits and Transformation. The Epistemic Status of Philosophical Experience], at the workshop “Philosophie als transformative Praxis? Historische und systematische Perspektiven”, Universität Göttingen, August 2021 (presented online, peer reviewed)

Failing to think God. Transformative Experience in Negative Theology, at the 2021 Annual Conference of The Mystical Theology Network & The Association for Continental Philosophy of Religion: “Thinking About Nothing: Negation, Philosophy, & the Mystical”, Liverpool Hope University, July 2021 (presented online, peer reviewed)

Mystik und Psychose. Negative Theologie im Spannungsfeld von Religion, Philosophie und Psychologie [Mysticism and Psychosis. Negative Theology in Religion, Philosophy, and Psychology], Digital Colloquium of the research group “Philosophie & Psychologie”, March 2021 (presented online, invited)


2020

The Epistemic Status of Transformative Experience in Philosophy, Centre for Cultural Inquiry at the University of Konstanz, November 2020  (presented online, invited)

Verstörung und Vertrauen. Zur philosophischen Bedeutung der negativen Theologie [Disturbance and Trustfulness. The Philosophical Significance of Negative Theology], at the Lecture Series Philosophy and Religion, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, November 2020 (presented online, invited) 

Verstörung und Vertrauen. Zur philosophischen Bedeutung der negativen Theologie [Disturbance and Trustfulness. The Philosophical Significance of Negative Theology], at the Colloquium of the Department of Philosophy, University of Konstanz, May 2020 (presented online, invited)

Beyond Quietism. Transformative Experience in Pyrrhonism and Wittgenstein, at the Research Colloquium of Philosophy, ETH Zurich, April 2020 (presented online, invited)

Transformative Experience in Skepticism. The External Standpoint and the Finitude of the Human Condition, at the School of Philosophy Invited Speaker Seminar, University College Dublin, February 2020 (invited)

(with Merlin Carl) Acknowledging Incomprehensibility. Cantor, Infinity, and Negative Theology, at the 19th meeting of the “Rheinisch-Westfälisches Seminar zur Geschichte und Philosophie der Mathematik”, Siegen, January 2019 (invited)


2019

Failing to think God. Transformative Experience in Negative Theology, at the conference “Engaging the Contemporary 2019: The Philosophical Turn Towards Religion”, University of Malta, November 2019 (peer reviewed) 

Beyond Quietism. Transformative Experience in Pyrrhonism and Wittgenstein, at the conference "Philosophical Reasoning as Transformative Experience", Konstanz, July 2019 (invited)

Skeptizismus und negative Theologie. Endlichkeit als transformative Erfahrung [Skepticism and Negative Theology. The Transformative Experience of Finitude], Guest Lecture at Jens Halfwassen's colloquium, Heidelberg, May 2019 (invited)

Objectivity, Skepticism, and Post-Modernism. Concepts of Truth in Politics, at the conference "Philosophy and the Public Sphere", Leipzig, May 2019 (invited)

Failing to think God. Paradoxical Images and Transformative Experience in Negative Theology, at the conference "Imagining Christianity: A Phenomenological Discussion", Gaming, Austria, May 2019 (peer reviewed)

Reduction and Neighboring Theories. A New Classification of the Inter-theoretic Relations in Physics, at the Third International Conference of the German Society for Philosophy of Science, Cologne, February 2019 (peer reviewed)


2018

The Transformative Experience of Negative Theology and the Epistemic Status of Non-Understanding, at the conference "Negative Knowledge", Aix-en-Provence, November 2018 (peer reviewed)

Failing to think God. Paradoxical Images and Transformative Experience in Negative Theology, at the conference "Image, Phenomenon, and Imagination in the Phenomenology of Religious Experience", Prague, November 2018 (peer reviewed)

An Attitude of Humility. Heidegger's Critique of Metaphysics and the Dwelling in the World, at the conference "Civilisation - Nature - Subjugation. Variations of (De-)Colonisation", Halle, October 2018 (invited)

Krise des Vertrauens. Skeptizismus als psychologisches Problem [A Crisis of Trust. Skepticism as a Psychological Problem], at the conference "The Historical Development of the Relation of Philosophy and Psychology", Erlangen, September 2018 (peer reviewed)

Skeptizismus und negative Theologie. Endlichkeit als transformative Erfahrung [Skepticism and Negative Theology. The Transformative Experience of Finitude], Early Lunch Philosophy, University of Konstanz, May 2018 (invited)

Skepticism as a Practice of Epistemological Transformation, at the conference "Rethinking Transformation", Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, March 2018 (peer reviewed)

Skeptical Practice and a Performative Understanding of the Finitude of the Human Condition, Guest lecture and workshop at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Chile, January 2018 (invited)


2017

Illusion or Insight? Skepticism and the External Standpoint, Guest lecture at the Sociedad Argentina de Análisis Filosófico, Buenos Aires, November 2017 (invited) 

Being without Ground. The Late Heidegger and a Post-Theistic Account of Religiosity, at the workshop "Traditions of Phenomenology" as part of the meeting of the German Society for Phenomenological Research, Hagen, September 2017 (peer reviewed)

Skepticism and Negative Theology. Philosophy as a Transformative Practice, Workshop at the Maimonides Centre for Advanced Studies, Hamburg, July 2017 (invited)

Groundlessness and the Unhappy Consciousness. Transformations in Wittgenstein and Hegel, at the conference "Wittgenstein and Hegel – Reevaluation of Difference", Dresden, June 2017 (invited) 

Beyond Quietism. Skeptical Practice and a Performative Account of Understanding, at the 6th Symposium of the International Ludwig Wittgenstein Society "Wittgenstein and Applied Epistemology", Lisbon, June 2017 (peer reviewed) 

The Late Heidegger and a Post-Theistic Understanding of Religion, at the conference "Issues in Contemporary Phenomenology", Warsaw, March 2017 (peer reviewed)

Performing Skepticism. Practice, Transformation, and the Finitude of the Human Condition, at the conference "Skepticism as a Form of Philosophical Experience", Chicago, February 2017 (invited)


2016

The Status of Skepticism. Practice, Experience, and Transformation, Wittgenstein Workshop at the Department of Philosophy of the University of Chicago, November 2016 (invited)

The Late Heidegger and a Post-Theistic Understanding of Religion, Annual Meeting of the Society for Phenomenology and the Human Sciences, Salt Lake City, October 2016 (peer reviewed)

The Late Heidegger and a Post-Theistic Understanding of Religion, 50th Annual Meeting of the Heidegger Circle, Chicago, September 2016 (peer reviewed) 

Releasement, Groundless Trust, and the Human Condition. Heidegger in a Religious Context, North Texas Heidegger Symposium, Dallas, April 2016 (invited)

Skepticism, Metaphors and Vertigo. Wittgenstein and Cavell on the Human Condition, Guest lecture at the Department of Philosophy of the University of California at Riverside, March 2016 (invited)

Releasement, Groundless Trust, and the Human Condition. Heidegger in a Religious Context, Lecture at the Colloquium of Jean-Luc Marion, Chicago, February 2016 (invited)


2015

Towards the Center of Heidegger's Philosophy. The Inversion of the Human and a Post-Theistic Account of Religiosity, at the conference "Heidegger's Black Notebooks 1931-1948", Rome, November 2015 (invited)

Skepsis als Praxis der Irritation. Pyrrhon und der Neopyrrhonismus [Skepticism as a Practice of Puzzlement. Pyrrho and Neo-Pyrrhonism], Guest lecture at the Institute of Philosophy at the Kiel University, November 2015 (invited)

Umwendung und Gelassenheit. Religiöse Bezüge im Spätwerk Martin Heideggers [Inversion and Serenity. Religious References in the Later Works of Martin Heidegger], Guest lecture and workshop at the Collaborative Research Centre 1015"Otium/Leisure: Concepts, Spaces, Figures", Freiburg, November 2015 (invited)

Lebenswelt und Ereignis. Heideggers Metaphysikkritik und der Begriff der Welt [Life World and Event. Heidegger's Critique at Metaphysics and the Concept of the World], Contribution to a workshop at the international conference of the German Society of Phenomenological Research "Life World and Life Form", Landau, September 2015 (peer reviewed)

Neither Context nor Foundation – Wittgenstein and Cavell on Acknowledgement in Skepticism, Guest lecture at the Department of Philosophy at the University of Bergen, Bergen, May 2015 (invited) 

Glaube als Haltung. Gelassenheit und grundloses Vertrauen beim späten Heidegger [Faith as Attitude. Serenity and Groundless Trust in the Late Heidegger], at the conference "Transcendence, Sense, God – Non-metaphysical Interpretations of Religious Language", Dresden, March 2015 (invited) 


2014

Ludwig Wittgensteins praktische Gewissheit zwischen Skeptizismus und Antiskeptizismus [Ludwig Wittgenstein's Practical Certainty between Skepticism and Anti-Skepticism], XXIII. German Congress of Philosophy, Münster, September 2014 (peer reviewed)

Unhintergehbarkeit des "Seinsgeschicks" und post-theistische Religiosität [The Inevitability of the Destiny of Being and Post-Theistic Religiosity] 5th International Heidegger-Conference in Meßkirch "Freedom and Destiny", Meßkirch, May 2014 (peer reviewed) 

The Late Heidegger and a Post-Theistic Understanding of Religion, Guest lecture at the New School for Social Research (New York Phenomenology Research Group), New York, May 2014 (invited)

The Late Heidegger and a Post-Theistic Understanding of Religion, North Texas Heidegger Symposium, Dallas, April 2014 (invited) 

Die post-theistische Religiosität im Spätwerk Martin Heideggers [The Post-Theistic Religiosity in Heidegger's Later Works], Lecture at the Colloquium of Günter Figal, Freiburg, February 2014 (invited)


2008 - 2013  (Selection)

Sprachphilosophie und philosophische Sprache bei Heidegger. Eine Verhältnisbestimmung vor dem Hintergrund negativer Theologie und mit Blick auf Wittgenstein [Philosophy of Language and Philosophical Language. An Investigation of their Relation against the Background of Negative Theology and with Regard to Wittgenstein], at the meeting of the Heidegger-Society "Martin Heidegger: Poetry and Language", Tübingen, November 2013 (peer reviewed)

Mathematik als quasi-empirische Wissenschaft – Mill, Quine und Lakatos [Mathematics as a Quasi-Empirical Science – Mill, Quine, and Lakatos, Guest lecture at the project "Mathematics and Society" at the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Dresden, December 2012 (invited) 

Heideggers Seinsphilosophie und die religiöse Haltung [Heidegger's Philosophy of Being and the Religious Attitude], XXII. German Congress of Philosophy, München, September 2011 (peer reviewed)

Umgang mit Technik als Symptom. Von der Wandlung des Menschen in der Spätphilosophie Heideggers [Dealing with Technology as Indication. The Inversion of the Human in Heidegger's Later Philosophy], 4th International Heidegger-Conference in Meßkirch "Heidegger. Nature – Art – Technology", Meßkirch, May 2011 (peer reviewed) 

Heideggers Spätphilosophie vor dem Hintergrund philosophischer Theologie [Heidegger's Later Philosophy against the Background of Natural Theology], at the Colloquium of the Institute of Philosophy at the Technische Universität Dresden, April 2011 (invited)

Theorien der Gravitation und das Reduktionsproblem in der Physik [Theories of Gravitation and the Problem of Reduction in Physics], XXI. German Congress of Philosophy, Essen, September 2008 (peer reviewed)

Reduction and Reductionism in Physics, 6th European Congress of Analytic Philosophy, Krakow, August 2008 (peer reviewed)

Reduction and Reductionism in Physics, 31st International Wittgenstein Symposium, Kirchberg, August 2008 (peer reviewed)