Students of the Bachelor ‘Philosophy, Politics & Society’ (PPS) ask for a more diverse curriculum. To achieve this, PPS becomes a ‘site for unlearning’ in this action research project. Unlearning refers to a transformative process which increases the receptivity for different perspectives by questioning dominant norms and practices. Teachers and students work together in an Unlearning Collective, making use of experimental, creative, and arts-based techniques to revise core courses in the programme. Successful interventions are collected in an ‘Unlearning Toolbox’ which gives other educational professionals concrete tools to embark on the process of unlearning in their own setting.

Het vroege christendom wordt vaak gezien als een sleutelmoment in de ontwikkeling van het denken over menselijke gelijkheid, aangezien iedereen christen kon worden ongeacht etnische achtergrond. Maar in hoeverre betekende dit dat mensen met een andere etnische achtergrond als gelijken werden gezien en etnische vooroordelen en stereotypes werden verworpen? Dit project analyseert de typering van mensen met een andere etnische identiteit en de mate waarin vroegchristelijke literatuur etnische (on)gelijkheid propageert. Gezien de enorme invloed van deze teksten in latere eeuwen levert dit project een belangrijke bijdrage aan ons begrip van de historische ontwikkeling van ideeën over etniciteit en ‘ras.’

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What can the word "community" still mean today? Processes of globalization could be taken to show that this term has definitively become obsolete, except as referring to the global community of mankind. Other developments however indicate that a less universalistic understanding of belonging has not lost all appeal or legitimacy. This suggests that the term "community" has not become outdated but that renewed reflection on the complex nature of this concept is required: how to account for the simultaneous transience and persistence of belonging? My project takes on this topical question in four consecutive steps. I start by analyzing a discussion in contemporary continental philosophy: thinkers like Jean-Luc Nancy have recently proposed to think community in unreservedly open terms, which has lead critics to argue that this cannot fully account for the continued importance of belonging. I then turn to Stanley Cavell, a thinker from a somewhat different tradition who may be said to combine an emphasis on the transience of belonging with a clearer recognition of its persistence. After tracing the thoughts on coexistence that are scattered throughout Cavells oeuvre, I bring him into explicit conversation with Nancy. By focusing on the topic of national identity, I examine whether Cavells more substantial interpretation of terms like "common" does not end up jeopardizing the porousness of community so resolutely defended by Nancy. Lastly, I return to the debate of part one to consider under what conditions the two-fold demand on a contemporary theory of community can be met. Is there a way of reconciling the transience and persistence of belonging, or is it rather a matter of keeping the tension between them intact, and what can we learn from both Cavell and Nancy in that respect? My project thus develops conceptual tools for making sense of human coexistence today.

At the Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies of Radboud University, there are two chairs that co-operate in the domain of the study of early-modern concepts of the state. In authors such as Hobbes, Locke, Hume or Rousseau, the notion of the ‘body politic’ is connected to contemporary ideas concerning the human body with its organs and physiological functions, on the one hand, and concerning the state of nature, on the other. In the same way in which we still speak of the ‘head of state’ or the ‘arm of law’, comparing government functions with body parts, so a direct link was also often made between the health of nations and notions of bodily health, growth, illness and decay. These themes link the work of members of the Department of Political and Social Philosophy with that of members of the Center for the History of Philosophy and Science. This collaboration has found expression in work on Thomas Hobbes (conducted, e.g., by Marin Terpstra and Cees Leijenhorst from the two departments), in the KNAW visiting professorship of Vasilios Syros in the academic year 2017-18, with Syros being hosted by both departments, and in jointly organized conferences such as The Body Politic and Social Harmony: from the Middle Ages to the Present, which was organized by the two departments earlier this year and which will result in joint publications. Professor Avramescu’s visit will strengthen this collaboration further. His highly successful book on the history of the political connotations of cannibalism show why he belongs to both the history of political thought and the history of science. At the same time, Professor Avramescu’s visit will strengthen the collaboration of our Faculty with the University of Bucharest, which has already resulted in a series of joint degrees (the last being those of Dr. Doina-Cristina Rusu and Dr. Mihnea Dobre).