Centre for Philosophy and Critical Thought
Goldsmiths, University of London
The Centre for Philosophy and Critical Thought (CPCT) was established in May 2015 and is a research centre run jointly between English and Comparative Literature (ECL) and Sociology. Its Co-Directors are Alberto Toscano (Sociology) and Julia Ng (ECL). CPCT has an academic membership and advisory board drawn from various departments across the college, and an international roster of external affiliates.
CPCT aims to intervene in and contribute to the changing landscape of philosophical research in the United Kingdom. CPCT is constituted as a centre open to the rigorous philosophical work being done in disciplines outside of academic philosophy. It regards philosophy as a plural and critical activity that engages with the arts and practice-based approaches, and which also strives to analyse and articulate historical and political events. In this regard, CPCT is also envisaged as a response to the paradoxical conjuncture in which critical philosophy finds itself today: widely read across the arts and sciences, called upon to engage in public and political debate, yet taught in relative isolation from other disciplinary domains.
Two broad strands of inquiry inform the Centre’s mission: social and political theory and critique, and literary and art theory and practices. Represented by the research interests of its members are areas of distinctive strength which fall outside of the narrow designation of the ‘Continental’ tradition, and which traditionally languish at the margins of the philosophical terrain: feminist philosophy and gender theory, philosophy of race, African philosophy, Jewish philosophy, and the philosophy of the structures and phenomena of modern science including that of the digital age.
By creating a space for philosophy’s dialogue with other disciplines and publics, CPCT aims to develop a distinct research profile for the future of philosophy at Goldsmiths, which inherits the best of the UK legacy of ‘Continental philosophy’ while affirming a more openly trans-disciplinary vocation for philosophical inquiry. In keeping with Goldsmiths’ long-standing tradition of public and political engagement, CPCT promotes a publicly-oriented conception of what it means to do philosophy.
CPCT is affiliated with the M.A. in Literary Studies, Pathway in Critical Theory and the M.Phil./Ph.D. in Literary and Critical Theory.
Contact Information
Julia Ng, Lecturer in Critical Theory, Co-Director CPCT
Alberto Toscano, Reader in Critical Theory, Co-Director CPCT
United Kingdom https://cpct.uk
centreforphilosophyandcriticalthought@gold.ac.uk
Region
Europe
Northern Europe
Year Established
2015
Fellowships and Potential Scholarly Affiliations