Call for Applications

(Please note: This opportunity is part of a research group in Brazil that Lucas Baccarat (research assistant at Institute Vienna Circle’s project “Carnap in Context II: "Practical" Philosophy in the US”) is affiliated with.)

Postdoctoral fellowship at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP)

The post-doc researcher will be part of the Brazilian research team of the bilateral research project “The crisis of philosophy in the 1930s”, funded by SNSF (Switzerland) and FAPESP (São Paulo, Brazil) and led by Guillaume Fréchette (Geneva) and Mario Porta (São Paulo). The selected candidate will be integrated into the Research Group on the Origins of Contemporary Philosophy.

The fellowship provides a monthly amount of R$ 12,000.00 (twelve thousand reais), with a planned duration of 42 months. It requires full-time dedication to the project with a workload of 40 hours per week.

The starting date is April 2025

Activities to be performed by the Fellow:

(i) writing and submission of individual and joint papers related to the general theme of the project;

(ii) active participation in the activities of the Research Group on the Origins of Contemporary Philosophy, including weekly meetings;

(iii) organization of conferences, workshops, and lectures in Brazil and abroad.

Application:

The candidate is required to submit, by February 13, 2025, a single PDF document via email to mariopor@pucsp.br. The document must include:

(i) A project proposal of up to 4 pages (Times New Roman/Arial 11, 1.5 spacing) addressing the Identity Crisis of Philosophy in the 1930s in the following philosophical Traditions: Neokantianism, Logical Empiricism, Phenomenology and Hermeneutics

(ii) a cover letter describing the candidate’s background and profile, as well as the alignment between the candidate’s interests and skills and the research project (maximum 800 words).

(iii) an updated CV (Lattes Curriculum or Orcid for Brazilian candidates).

(iv) two academic reference letters.

(v) proof of completion of a Master's and Doctorate in Philosophy.

Requirements:

a) proven prior experience in group research projects;

b) strong ability to work effectively in teams, contributing not only to individual activities but also to the management of administrative and bureaucratic matters;

c) great command of the English language (proficiency in Portuguese is desirable), and

d) reside in São Paulo during the fellowship.

Evaluation:

a) evaluation of prior academic work and the submitted research proposal;

b) thematic alignment of the candidate's research with the central theme of the project, as well as with the historical-philosophical approach adopted by the Research Group on the Origins of Contemporary Philosophy;

c) review of external references regarding group activity.

The Research Group on the Origins of Contemporary Philosophy seeks to promote good academic practices regarding gender and socio-economic diversity. Female researchers are encouraged to apply for the position.

After an initial review of the applications, a select group of candidates will be shortlisted for the interview round.

Project description

The “identity crisis” of philosophy is a large-scale phenomenon beginning in the 19th century and extending throughout the entire 20th century, following us even today: many of the questions that were raised in the 19^th century are still relevant today: is there a place for philosophy in the development of science? What is the relationship between philosophy and science? To assess such a large-scale phenomenon and its effects on contemporary thought, we need to investigate first its main turning points. This project aims to provide a unified account of the identity crisis of philosophy in the 1930s by examining it through the lens of four philosophical traditions: Neo-Kantianism (Cassirer), logical empiricism (Carnap), phenomenology (Husserl) and hermeneutics (Heidegger).