Fatema Amijee is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia. Much of her research concerns, in one form or another, the principle of sufficient reason, which holds that everything has an explanation. She publishes widely in metaphysics, early modern philosophy, feminist philosophy, the philosophy of religion (especially Islam), and the history of analytic philosophy. She is currently completing Metaphysical Inquiry and the Reach of Reason, a monograph to be published by Oxford University Press. Her previous work has appeared in the Australasian Journal of Philosophy, the British Journal for the History of Philosophy, Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Religion, and many other journals and volumes. She has also edited the Bloomsbury Handbook on Émilie du Châtelet, and is co-editing with Michael Della Rocca the volume Principle of Sufficient Reason for Oxford University Press.
Explanatory inquiry seeks explanations for facts. I argue no amount of evidence can support an entitlement to the possibility of successful explanatory inquiry. Yet, absent this entitlement, no inquirer can rationally close their inquiry, a result that is devastating for our practices, epistemic and otherwise. I show that avoiding this sceptical conclusion requires a non-evidential epistemic entitlement to the possibility of successful explanatory inquiry. In particular, it requires that for any inquirer and any target of inquiry, the inquirer is epistemically entitled to the claim that their target has a knowable explanation, namely, one that is within her cognitive reach.
Our meetings usually take place in Senate House, University of London, Malet St, London WC1E 7HU. See top of page for specific location.
The Society’s philosophy talks take place every fortnight on Mondays throughout the academic year. Each talk starts at 18.15 and lasts for 45 minutes. The remainder of the time is dedicated to discussion, which ends at 19.45
All of the Society’s philosophy talks are catered with fairtrade teas, coffees, and biscuits.
In line with the Society’s mission to make philosophy readily available to the general public, all talks are free and membership is not required.
Following over a century of tradition, draft papers for all the talks are available in advance. Please note that draft papers can only be cited with the authors permission (see below for final publication and subscription details). The draft paper for a talk is available approximately one week prior to its schedule delivery.
For the past 146 years, the Proceedings has featured widely respected papers delivered by a range of prominent philosophers, such as Alfred North Whitehead, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Bertrand Russell, A.J. Ayer, P.F. Strawson, Karl Popper, Elizabeth Anscombe, Bernard Williams, Hubert Dreyfus, Alexander Nehamas, and Onora O’Neill. Final drafts of the papers – including discussion notes and exemplary graduate papers – are published in the Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society.
The venue at Senate House is wheelchair accessible and there are disabled toilet facilities on the ground floor. If you require a disabled parking space, or a hearing loop, please contact anna.stelle@aristoteliansociety.org.uk in advance, so that we can reserve these for you. Service animals are also welcome.
