Next Tuesday, 9 June, the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences at the Portuguese Catholic University will host the 2nd International Colloquium on Forgiveness, War and Peace, under the theme “Are War and Peace Inevitable?”, which will take place from 10.00 am, in the Centre for Philosophical and Humanistic Studies (CEFH) lecture theatre, with free admission.
The initiative forms part of the “GuEST – Wars and the Symbolic Expressions of Trauma” research programme at the Centre for Philosophical and Humanistic Studies, continuing the interdisciplinary work begun in 2024 at the University of Coimbra.
According to the organisers, the colloquium aims to ‘promote an interdisciplinary dialogue, rooted in the humanities, that can contribute to a better understanding of the themes of Forgiveness, War and Peace and, in this way, foster the development of fairer societies and institutions’.
The 2nd International Colloquium expands the group of participating institutions. Thus, in addition to representatives from the Catholic University and the University of Coimbra, the event will feature contributions from the University of Porto, ESCUNI-Madrid and the Pontifical University of Salamanca.
The programme begins at 10.00 am, with Ana Paula Pinto speaking on the topic “Pain in Dialogue: Priam, Achilles and the Exhaustion of War (Ill. XXIV)”, followed at 10.30 am by the talk “On the inevitability of war, but also on hope: Some Striking Examples from Greco-Roman Literature”, by Maria José Lopes.
During the morning, at 11.15 am, Klédson Tiago Alves de Souza will discuss “Dialogue and Peace: A Reading of Nicolaus of Cusa’s *De Pace Fidei*”; Sílvia Bento, at 11.45 am, will present the paper “Peace Above All Peace: Schism and Reconciliation According to Hölderlin”; and Maria Corga will speak, at 12.15 pm, on the topic “Where is Justice in the 21st Century? The Problem of Corruption, Violence and War from the Perspectives of Hannah Arendt and Immanuel Kant”.
The afternoon session begins at 2.30 pm with the topic “The War of Ideas: J. S. Mill, A. MacIntyre and the Agreement to Disagree”, presented by Artur Ilharco Galvão. This will be followed at 3.00 pm by Susana Vilas Boas with her presentation “Do We Want to Talk About Peace? Then Let’s Talk About Justice, Forgiveness and Hope”.
“Universal Fraternity as an Antidote to War: A Reading of Pope Francis” is the theme of Gregorio Aboín Martín’s presentation, scheduled for 3.45 pm, followed by the topic “On the Automation of Conflicts: Whom to Forgive in the Age of Drones?”, by Cláudio Carvalho, at 4.15 pm, before the closing session.
