London Event Today!

Talks on gender, mental health, and social epistemology

Today we are hosting our first in-person event since 2019 in the Bertrand Russell room at Conway Hall in London. If you are in or around London, it would be great to see you in person! Doors are at 6pm, with the first speaker at 6.30pm. You can find out more and buy tickets (including concessionary ones) here.

The event will feature three brilliant speakers:

“What does it mean to ‘perform’ gender?”
Finn Mackay (University of the West of England, Bristol)

Contrary to popular belief, Judith Butler did not invent queer theory or the idea that gender is performative. In a society shaped by the gender ideology of the mainstream majority, the media and a diversity of groups are currently scrutinising trans and transgender minorities, in what appears to be a trans moral panic. Looking at the context of the so-called “gender wars”, Finn Mackay will correct some prevalent and harmful misunderstandings of gender and identity.

“Psychiatric Classification and the ‘Mental Health Epidemic’”
Mohammed Abouelleil Rashed (King’s College London)

According to epidemiologists, 26% of us suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder each year. Mental health conditions have become more visible and more accepted. This talk will consider the extent to which these numbers an artefact of cultural change in how we think of ourselves and identities, as well as what can philosophy contribute to these questions.

“The Right To Know: What it is and why we need it now”
Lani Watson (University of Oxford)

We all have rights to knowledge, information, truth, and so on – what Lani Watson calls “epistemic rights”. However, many of these rights go largely unrecognised in our social and political lives, and are insufficiently protected by the law, even while being more important than ever in an age that is increasingly dominated by the availability and spread of information and misinformation. In this talk, Watson will discuss what epistemic rights are and explore why we so urgently need them.

To find out more about our new book which we will be launching at the event later today, click the cover image below!