[SydPhil] ACU CONFERENCE: FREUD, WITTGENSTEIN, AND THE UNCONSCIOUS, JULY 28-29

[Talia Morag]

ACU CONFERENCE: FREUD, WITTGENSTEIN, AND THE UNCONSCIOUS
WHERE: 28-29 July, 2025
WHEN: Level 18, Tenison Woods House, 8-10 Napier Street, North Sydney.

THE EVENT IS FREE BUT REGISTRATION REQUIRED, by email:
talia.morag at acu.edu.au
For those outside of Sydney - a Zoom link can be provided by email.

This conference takes up the Wittgenstein-Freud connection from a
conceptual rather than an historical point of view. Wittgenstein famously
criticized Freud's notion of the unconscious as part of his general
critique of scientism. In this conference we explore three main questions
and other themes related to the unconscious:

1. Is a viable notion of the unconscious salvageable from Wittgenstein's
criticisms of Freud's formulations of the unconscious? And, if so, what is
its role in philosophy, psychoanalysis, or social critique?

2. What further insights about philosophy of psychology can be gleaned from
rethinking Wittgenstein's critique of Freud?

3. Can Wittgenstein's own work be seen as presupposing or dependent upon a
notion of the unconscious? If so, what importance does that have for his
philosophy?

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: Naomi Scheman (Minnesota); Stephen White (Tufts)

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE:

MONDAY, JULY 28

9:30-10:00 Registration

10:00-11:15 Naomi Scheman (Minnesota) - How Could You Not Have Known?
Wittgenstein and the epistemology of ignorance.

11:15-11:30 Coffee

11:30-12:45. David Macarthur (Sydney) - Wittgenstein on Reasons and Causes:
Reassessing Wittgenstein's critique of Freud.

12:45-2:00 Lunch

2:00-3:15 Richard Colledge (ACU) - The Unconscious and Hermeneutics:
Disagreement and philosophical incommensurability reappraised.

3:15-4:30 Dorit Lemberger (Bar Ilan) - As If I  Could Read the Darkness:
Wittgenstein's conceptual reframing of the unconscious

4:30-4:45 Coffee

4:45-6:00 Sophie-Grace Chappell (Open University, UK): Paying Attention


TUESDAY, JULY 29

10:00-11:45 Stephen White (Tufts) - Freud, Wittgenstein, and the Chinese
Room

11:15-11:30 Coffee

11:30-12:45. Talia Morag (ACU) - From "secret room" to "free association":
the unconscious as patterns of inattention

12:45-2:00 Lunch

2:00-3:15. Justin Clemens (Melbourne) - Language on Holiday: Freud Contra
Wittgenstein

3:15-3:30 Coffee

3:30-4:45  Matthew Sharpe (ACU) - Philosophy in reverse: Algorithms,
primary processes, and collective regression in the age of social media.

THIS CONFERENCE IS FUNDED AND SUPPORTED BY THE INTERNATIONAL
PSYCHOANALYTICAL ASSOCIATION.

-- 
Dr Talia Morag
Senior Lecturer, School of Arts and Humanities
Australian Catholic University | North Sydney NSW 2060
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