February 10, 2026 Villa Köstlin Program

Language-based vs. Language-free Components of Cognition: How Does Language Shape Thinking?

In this informal workshop, we will explore perspectives on the interplay between linguistic and non-linguistic cognition in the human mind. A central question is whether certain cognitive functions may include both language-bound and language-independent components. A second question is how language may shape thinking. Our aim is to create an open and friendly atmosphere that encourages discussion and idea sharing. Rather than showcasing completed research programs, the workshop will feature talks that present novel or developing ideas. Through this exchange, we hope to identify useful starting points for a meaningful distinction between linguistic and non-linguistic cognition.

The College of Fellows Lecture Series invites international fellows and Tübingen academics to present their research and network. Every month, fellows and international guest researchers from the University of Tübingen present their research findings. If you are interested, please contact infospam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de 

Systemic Harm and Collective (Un)Awareness. 
Forms of Agency and the Diffusion of Responsibility in Structural Violence.
Insights from Phenomenology, Violence Studies, and Liberation Philosophy

January 29-30, 2026 Villa Köstlin | Rümelinstraße 27 Program

Abstract

Systemic harm often transcends the boundaries of deliberate action, unfolding instead through bureaucratic and structural dynamics that elude traditional notions of responsibility and individual accountability. From social injustice (e.g. housing discrimination, gender inequality, racialized policing, etc.) to predatory economics to environmental devastation, structural harm often arises without clearly identifiable agents directly causing it (or directly seeing themselves as the cause of it)— and yet it remains deeply entangled with social practices, group habits, and institutions whose preservation, transformation, or abolition presupposes multiple forms of agency: free and forced, habitual and deliberative, individual and collective. 
Ever since the Norwegian sociologist and peace researcher Johan Galtung coined the term “structural violence” in the late 1960s, it has been common to assume that such violence is characterized by an absence of intentionality. Recent sociological and philosophical studies have challenged this assumption, sometimes suggesting that the concept of structural violence has been poorly theorized, is essentially flawed, and should be dismissed. From a phenomenological perspective, however, while the idea of violence ‘without subject’ must be questioned, the need for conceptual tools to describe forms of systemic harm caused by collective human agency remains essential. 
This workshop invites critical reflection on the ambiguous spaces between shared responsibility, individual accountability, and different forms of collective agency in cases of harm caused in systemic ways. How can we make sense of accountability and complicity when violence is embedded in the very structures that shape social life? Can resistance and liberation emerge from within these same structures? And what resources do phenomenology, liberation philosophy, and violence studies offer for rethinking ethical response in contexts where agency is obscured or indirect? Can subjects be complicit of their own (or others’) oppression without being accountable—or accountable without full-blooded agency? In what ways does interdisciplinary violence research provide conceptual resources for rethinking these tensions? 

February 4, 2026 | 6-8 pm   Villa Köstlin (and online) 

This reading group explores texts from the feminist philosophy tradition, considering their significance for issues of social justice as well as for broader philosophical questions.

The CoF Lunch Talk Series invites international fellows and Tübingen researchers to exchange ideas in a relaxed atmosphere during the lunch break. Each month, a fellow presents his or her research. The CoF Lunch Talks take place in the Villa Köstlin. 

The CoF Lunch Talks in the winter term 2025/26 can be found here.

February 12-13, 2026 Villa Köstlin

The Dark Sides of Rights of Nature

This international workshop explores the often-overlooked “dark sides” of Rights of Nature (RoN), bringing critical perspectives from the Global South and North into dialogue. While RoN are frequently celebrated for their transformative potential, the workshop foregrounds growing skepticism about their political, legal, and ideological implications. Key sessions address Nature, Rights, and the Far-Right in Germany and Rights of Nature, Human Rights, and Far-Right Ecologism, examining how legal innovations around nature intersect with nationalist, exclusionary, and authoritarian discourses. Contributions further explore the coloniality of (inter)national law, the racialization of nature, Indigenous critiques, and the appropriation of RoN by states, corporations, and political movements. Under the guiding question Back to nature?, the program also investigates far-right lifestyles, environmental activism, land-use conflicts, and everyday practices in Germany and Europe. Case studies from Latin America and Europe address ecofascism, Indigenous (land) rights , tensions between human and non-human rights, and the academic hype surrounding RoN. The workshop brings together scholars, practitioners, activists, and journalists to critically reassess Rights of Nature within contemporary power relations.

In cooperation with Riccarda Flemmer (Institute of Political Science, UT), Matthias Kramm (Ethics, Philosophy and History of the Life Sciences, UT), Léonie de Jonge (Institute for Research on Far Right Extremism (IRex), UT)