The Faces of Responsibility

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When:
25 March 2026 – 27 March 2026 12 h 00 – 16 h 10
Where:
Law Faculty, Maximilien-Caron Building and Carrefour des arts et des sciences, Université de Montréal
See program. Hybrid mode.
Mathilde Genest, Melissa Hernández Parra, Alexander Carty, Sari Kisilevsky, Simon-Pierre Chevarie-Cossette, Stephanie Kapusta, Jules Salomone-Sehr, Virginie Simoneau-Gilbert, Christopher M. Howard, Jonathan Simon, Denise Celentano, Juliette Roussin, Kristin Voigt, Arash Abizadeh, Éliot Litalien, Natalie Stoljar, Christine Tappolet, Christian Nadeau, Daniel Marc Weinstock, Ryoa Chung

The conference The Faces of Responsibility aims to explore the plurality of forms that responsibility takes in our individual, social, and institutional practices. From an interdisciplinary perspective, bringing together scholars in moral and political philosophy, political science, and legal theory, the objective is to examine the concepts of moral responsibility, political responsibility, and legal responsibility.

The conference will be held in a hybrid format. David Owen’s and Philip Pettit’s presentations will be delivered via Zoom. To attend the conference yourselves by Zoom, you are invited to register here. You will then receive the connection link.

The program (PDF) is available here, and the presentation abstracts are available here.

Organization: Alex Carty (McGill), Melissa Hernandez-Parra (UdeM), Christian Nadeau (UdeM), Christine Tappolet (UdeM) & Daniel Weinstock (McGill).

  • Roundtable Discussion on Ernest-Marie Mbonda’s Book @ Centre de recherche en éthique

    14 h 00 – 15 h 30

    On Monday, May 18, 2026, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., join us for a roundtable discussion on Ernest-Marie Mbonda’s book, Pouvoir, droits et justice en Afrique. Essais de philosophie politique appliquée (2024, L’Harmattan), as part of the partnership between the Centre de recherche en éthique and EthicsLab (Université catholique de l’Afrique centrale). The roundtable will be held in the presence of the author, Ernest-Marie Mbonda (Université catholique d’Afrique centrale), as well as commentators Ryoa Chung (Université de Montréal), Anatole Fogou (Universités, HDR de l’Université de Lille III, École Normale Supérieure, Université de Maroua au Cameroun), Christian Nadeau (Université de Montréal), and Thierry Ngosso (Université catholique d’Afrique centrale).

    The event will be held in hybrid format in room 307 of the Centre de recherche en éthique, located at 2910 Édouard-Montpetit Boulevard in Montreal, Quebec. To join via Zoom, click here.

    We look forward to seeing you there!

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  • Lecture by Lisa Herzog (University of Groningen) @ University of Montreal

    12 h 00 – 13 h 30

    You are cordially invited to the third lecture in the Lecture Series on Invisible Work, organized by the Aesop Chair in collaboration with the Centre de recherche en éthique. For this third lecture, we are pleased to welcome Lisa Herzog (University of Groningen) for a presentation titled “Against Careers.”

    Abstract: This paper argues against work being organized in “careers,” with individuals being expected, over the years, to climb up a ladder of increasing income, power, and status in one specific area of paid work. This organization of work creates an “ideal biography norm” that disadvantages many groups who cannot fulfil it, e.g. active parents and other groups doing “invisible” work. After defining what I mean by “careers” and what kind of critique I raise against the concept, I briefly set out the historical background of how today’s understanding of careers developed. This shows that many arguments that spoke in favor of careers in the past no longer hold. Today, work being organized as careers threatens at least two sets of values: equality of opportunity, understood across people’s whole life, and value pluralism. As an alternative, and to rescue what still stands from the historical arguments in favor of careers, I suggest a model of “merit without careers,” in which certain functional requirements for jobs remain in place, while giving up the assumption of linearity, leaving behind the “ideal biography norm” as the “normal” case. This would better align the organization of work with the values of equality of opportunity and value pluralism.

    The event will take place on May 19th, 2026, at noon in room 422 of the Department of Philosophy at the Université de Montréal (2910 Boulevard Édouard-Montpetit, Montreal, QC) in hybrid format.

    Please register via the following link. To participate via Zoom, click here (Meeting ID: 704 532 7051; passcode: 9Me2EW). 

    The Lecture Series on Invisible Work is an initiative by Denise Celentano (University of Montreal), holder of the Aesop Chair, in collaboration with the Centre de recherche en éthique. For more information, please contact Denise Celentano (UdeM) denise.celentano@umontreal.ca or Dominic Martin (UQAM) martin.dominic@uqam.ca.

    General information about the Lecture Series: The concept of invisible work describes the forms of work that fall outside the traditional model of waged employment and are not recognized, in a monetary and/or symbolic sense, to the point that even their nature as “work” is often disputed. Invisible work takes place behind the scenes of more recognized and valued work. Given its liminal nature with respect to long-established categories, it serves as a prism for exploring a number of issues, from recognition to social segregation to the critical questioning of the normative assumptions behind what is supposed to count as “work.” The notion of invisible work promises to shed light, as it were, on the mechanisms of valorization that operate behind social cooperation. This series of lectures, open to the public, explores the subject from both a philosophical and interdisciplinary perspective.

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  • New Research in Political Philosophy @ McGill University, LEA 429 (Tuesday), LEA 937 (Wednesday)

    26 May – 27 May All day

    The CRÉ invites you to a workshop in political philosophy, organized by Sari Kisilevsky (Queens College, CUNY).

    Confirmed participants:

    Louis-Philippe Hodgson (York University)
    Sari Kisilevsky (CUNY, Queens College)
    Éliot Litalien (Université de Montréal)
    Vida Panitch (Carleton University)
    Jonathan Peterson (Rice University)
    Sandra Raponi (Merrimack College)
    Juliette Roussin (Université Laval)
    Patrick Turmel (Université Laval)
    Kristin Voigt (McGill University)

    Register here!

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