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Colloques 14/11/2024 | The Emergence of ConsciousnessInterdisciplinary colloquium organized by ESPHIN (UNamur's Espace Philosophique), with the collaboration of the Centre Universitaire Notre-Dame de la Paix (cUNDP), the Louvain Institute of Biomolecular Science and Technology,and Louvai4evolution (UCLouvain).This free colloquium is aimed at:Specialists, students or PhD students from various disciplines: neuroscience, biology, anthropology, medicine, psychology, philosophy, ethics, computer science, robotics, mathematics, ...People with a passion for interdisciplinarity;Humanists and the curious.Location : Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, rue Grafé 1, Local L22Learn more Ecology of life" seminars It's obvious to anyone paying attention to the paths taken by a growing number of 21st century thinkers: these paths lead to the living! Whether it's called "ecophilosophy", "ecoanthropology", "ecosophy" or "ecopolitics", this way of thinking about the living is occupying a growing place not only in the media and publications of all kinds, but also in concrete actions in a variety of fields.Fashion? Ephemeral trend? Collateral effect of "transitionism" tinged with ambient catastrophism? A new attempt at ecological rebellion? The seminars to which we invite you are intended to be a meeting place - an ecosystem - at the heart of which we will resonate with founding texts of this current that integrates nature, environment, milieu, human and non-human, and straddles the worn-out dualisms of our modern tradition. In other words, we propose to read together some key texts by authors who have attempted to draw lessons from their authentic encounters with other living beings.Program 2024-2025 | At the Roots of the HumanOn December 13 2024 from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm (intervention, discussions and convivial moment). Quentin HIERNAUX will introduce plant philosophy and tell us about Humboldt's "Tableau physique des Andes" and his equinoctial geography of plants.On February 28, 2025 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm (intervention, discussions and convivial moment), Jean-Baptiste VUILLEROD will address the following theme: Naturphilosophie du végétal : Goethe, Schelling, Humboldt.OnApril 11, 2025from 2:00 to 4:00 pm (intervention, discussions and convivial moment), Roland CAZALIS will share his biologist's point of view on the plant world.Introducing the subjectIf we were to take stock of the history of mankind, one trend would certainly stand out: that of a utilitarian relationship with the non-human that continues to grow, and consequently that of a widening gap between the human and the rest.Humanity, however, has its roots in a living environment that cultivates many other relationships than those we currently privilege, which are dominated by instrumental rationality. Sounding out these forgotten relational universes, without which it is increasingly difficult to think about the human, is one aim of this seminar, which this year will invite you to encounter the plant.Last year we turned our attention to the communal dimension of living things, starting with the work of Aldo Leopold. In particular, the American forester challenged us with a question from which we should never stray: "just what and whom do we love?". His answer, in the middle of the last century, already confirmed the trend evoked above: "Certainly not the soils, which we allow to be scavenged towards the estuaries. Certainly not the waters, which we assume have no other function than to power turbines, carry barges and carry away garbage. Certainly not plants, whose entire communities we exterminate without batting an eyelid. Certainly not the animals, from which we have already extirpated many of the largest and most magnificent species.". In the face of this lack of consideration for what is not us, the earth ethic proposed by Leopold "modifies the role of homo sapiens, who, from conqueror of the earth-community, becomes a full member and citizen of it". It is thus an ethic that "implies respect for other members as well as for the community as such", and "man is ultimately only a member of a biotic team" ("The Ethics of the Earth", in Almanac of a Sand County).To help us rediscover this vital sense of community, this year we'll turn to plant lifestyles: those living things that maintain intimate relationships with light, air, water and everything we call "soil". How can we let ourselves be instructed by the plants without which we could not exist? "By making possible the world of which they are part and content, plants destroy the topological hierarchy that seems to reign in the cosmos. They demonstrate that life is a breaking of the asymmetry between container and content. When there is life, philosopher Emanuele Coccia continues, the container lies within the content (and is therefore contained by it) and vice versa. The paradigm of this reciprocal imbrication is what the ancients already called breath (pneuma). To blow, to breathe, means in effect to have this experience: that which contains us, the air, becomes contained within us and, conversely, that which was contained within us becomes that which contains us." (The Life of Plants).The Tableau Physique (1807) by Alexander von Humboldt:

Board members President: Nicolas Monseu-Van CleemputVice-president: Marie d'Udekem-GeversPhilosophy department representative: Laura RizzerioScience-Philosophies-Society Department representative: Geoffroy de BrabanterAssociate member representative: Bertrand HespelSecretariat: Vénonique OroseWebsite manager: Nathanaël Laurent See all members

Several sessions are scheduled: November 5, 12, 19 and 26 from 5pm to 7pm. Sign up

Several sessions are scheduled: November 5, 12, 19 and 26 from5pm to 7pm. Sign up

Several sessions are scheduled: November 5, 12, 19 and 26 from 5pm to 7pm. Sign up

Several sessions are scheduled: November 5, 12, 19 and 26 from 5pm to 7pm. Sign up

From October 14 to 16, the University of Namur had the honor of taking part in the State Visit to France, alongside King Philippe and Queen Mathilde. The visit strengthened the ties between Belgium and France, particularly in the academic and scientific fields.

It's a point of pride for UNamur: the Centre de Recherche en Économie du Développement (CRED) of the Institut DeFIPP at the University of Namur maintains close links between several of its researchers and James A. Robinson, recently awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics. Robinson, renowned for his groundbreaking work on institutions and economic development, has collaborated on several occasions with CRED members, strengthening academic exchanges and scientific advances in this field.

Actions in favor of the reception, protection and training of (candidate) refugees illustrate the University of Namur's commitment to defend and promote its fundamental values of openness, freedom, sustainability and excellence that place people at the heart of priorities.This approach follows the principles of a hospitable university, more welcoming, inclusive and attentive to specific needs to transform the institution into a place of caring and support for all.Discover current projects and actions here.

The early 21st century has seen a reinvigoration of space exploration both by private and state actors that seek to explore, exploit, settle, and own outer space and its celestial bodies.According to scholars and scientists alike, this reinvigoration warrants labeling our time as the "Second Space Age". Key actors of this Second Space Age have framed the exploration and colonization of outer space as not only progressive and desirable, but also as inevitable to ensure the survival of humanity in face of the multiple crises of the Anthropocene (climate change, over/underpopulation, resource scarcity etc.). Within this "astrofuturist" framework, outer space has become a utopian space that allows for a transformative posthuman experience for all of humanity, for humanity's escape from its terrestrial limitations, for breaking with humanity's terrestrial history, and even for human immortality. The way that outer space is a key ingredient for utopian vision of humanity's future highlights that outer space is a cultural construct negotiated in an interplay between science, technology and culture. These "astrocultural objects", which are central to ascribing meaning to outer space and to stirring the collective imagination, underline the cultural embeddedness both of outer space and our practices of exploring it. A critical engagement with space exploration must therefore go beyond questions of mere technological feasibility then, and instead also interrogate, for example, the prevalence of visions Mars colonization as a remedy for climate change, the politics of race/class/gender in privatized outer space, the continuities of capitalist-colonial structures in the private space industry, or the dominance of specifically US-American frontier discourses of renewal and expansion in allegedly utopian visions of humanity's future in space.If the exploration of outer space is to play a key role in humanity's future beyond our planetary crises, the humanities have to play a key role in critically engaging with our visions for that future.Keynote by Jens Temmen (HHU Düsseldorf)Panel: André Füzfa (UNamur)Moderator: Christina Stange-Fayos (UToulouse)Keynote in EnglishContact: UNIVERSEH - universeh@unamur.be More info about UNIVERSEH and the General Meeting

The observations acquired from space and Soviet landers strongly suggest that Venus' crust is primarily basaltic (akin to Earth's oceanic crust). Yet, some of the most intriguing features of Venus are its crustal plateaus, characterized by heavily deformed terrains, which cover about 7% of its surface and have long been suggested to bear a superficial resemblance to Earth's continental crust and mountain ranges.On Earth, melting of the mantle overlying subduction zones (in the presence of hydrous fluids) followed by fractional crystallization is believed to be the primary mechanism generating the large volumes of intermediate to felsic rocks (rich in SiO2) that make up the continental crust (e.g., granites). The possibility that Venus' highland plateaus are dominated by intermediate to felsic rocks will be reevaluated by the EnVision and Veritas missions, in the hope of providing evidence for the presence of water oceans and, therefore, habitable conditions in Venus' distant past.The speaker will discuss alternative igneous processes that could have produced intermediate to felsic rocks on Venus and the "geologic observations" that would be needed to suggest that more hospitable conditions prevailed on early Venus.Keynote by Max Collinet (UNIVERSEH - UNamur)Panel: TBAModerator: Anne-Sophie Libert (UNamur)Keynote in EnglishContact: UNIVERSEH - universeh@unamur.be More info about UNIVERSEH and the General Meeting