Institute
Having initially been established as a research unit dedicated to the Philosophy of Language, the NOVA Institute of Philosophy was founded in 1993 and has received an Excellent rating in all evaluations conducted by the FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) since then. From 2014 onwards, the Institute significantly strengthened its international profile, both through an increase in the number of publications in leading international journals and with renowned academic publishers, and through the development of international research networks and extensive participation in funded research projects in partnership with foreign universities. Between 2014 and 2025, IFILNOVA’s research focused on the philosophy of values, both at a strictly theoretical level and through the application of philosophical theories to social problems. This focus consolidated the work of four Laboratories dedicated to theoretical and practical research across a broad range of philosophical topics, extending beyond the study of values alone.
In its present form, IFILNOVA is an institute whose research groups and research lines in philosophy are organised and developed across four Laboratories: ArgLab, EPLab, CineLab and CultureLab. These Laboratories conduct philosophical research across different areas of specialisation, each pursuing its own strategy while working in coordination with the Institute-wide Scientific Council. The dissemination activities of the Laboratories are discussed, coordinated and managed by the Dissemination Platform.
- ArgLab is dedicated to philosophical research in argumentation, cognition and language, applying theories of argumentation, pragmatics, epistemology and philosophy of mind to empirical contexts such as education, the environment, health, law and politics.
- EPLab is dedicated to research in political philosophy, ethics and practical rationality, with particular attention to human action, normativity and justice, institutions, and contemporary social and political challenges.
- CineLab is dedicated to philosophical research on cinema, exploring the relationship between concept and moving image, as well as the ways in which films produce meaning, shape perception, and circulate within contemporary cultural, artistic, political and social practices.
- CultureLab is dedicated to research in culture, aesthetics and the history of philosophy, exploring the relationships between philosophy, literature, the arts and other cultural forms, as well as their relevance to a critical understanding of the present.
- The Dissemination Platform is dedicated to communicating the research findings of the Laboratories, particularly to non-academic audiences.
One of IFILNOVA’s highest priorities is indeed the creation of a consolidated international research cooperation network. Already in place through the work developed by IFILNOVA’s four Laboratories, this network will be strengthened to accommodate and reinforce both IFILNOVA’s global objectives and the Laboratories strategic programmes and goals.
One of the immediate objectives of this network is the creation of international and interdisciplinary institutional consortiums in order to apply for international calls, namely those inscribed in the framework of the Horizon 2020 programme.
- University of Windsor (Canada), Dep. of Philosophy (D. Walton, C. Tindale, H. Hansen)
- University of Amsterdam (NL), Dep. of Speech Communication, Argumentation Theory and Rhetoric (F. van Eemeren)
- University of Groningen (NL), Faculty of Philosophy (E. Krabbe, J. van Laar)
- University of Cambridge (UK). Dept. of Education (F. Maine, S. Hennessy)
- Humbolt University – Dep. of Internet and digitalisation (Prof. E. Elisabeth Mayweg)
- Columbia University – Teachers college (Prof. D. Kuhn)
- Universitat de Barcelona – 1) Dep. of Science education (Prof. G. Garcia Mila); 2) Dept. of Philosophy (M. Garcia Carpinteiro)
- University of Lugano (CH), Institute of Argumentation, Linguistics and Semiotics (A. Rocci)
- Rutgers University (New Jersey, US): 1) Dep. of Philosophy (E. Lepore); 2) Dep. of Communication (M. Aakhus)
- University of Münster – Dep. of Psychology (Prof. R. Jucks, Dr. E. Paus)
- Grupo de Estudos Espinosanos – Estudos sobre o séc.XVII, Universidade de S. Paulo, Brazil
- UNICAMP, Brazil (Prof. Arley Moreno)
- Universidade Complutense de Madrid, Spain (M. Gaffal)
- Université Catholic de Louvain (UCL), Louvain, Belgium (Prof. Philippe Van Parijs)
- Grulbew – The Portuguese-brazilien Group for Wittgensteinian studies
- Centro Interdipartimentale di studi “Colli-Montinari” su Nietzsche e la cultura europea, Italy
- GIRN – Gruppo Internazionale di Ricerche su Nietzsche
- City Univeristy of New York, NY, USA (Noël Carroll)
- Kings College London, UK (Jinhee Choi)
- University of Kent, School of Arts, UK (Elizabeth Cowie , Murray Smith)
- Harvard University, USA (D. N. Rodowick)
- CRAL – EHESS, France (George Didi-Huberman)
- NYU Steinheardt, Steinheardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development, USA (Marita Sturken, N. Mirzoeff)
- University of York, UK (Peter Lamarque)
- University of Maryland, USA (Jerrold Levinson)
- Italian Thought Network / Workiteph, Italy
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, Italy (Prof. Roberto Esposito)
- Universidade do Porto, Portugal (Sofia Miguens)
- Université Paris 1 Panthéon – Sorbonne (S. Laugier)
- Universidad de Toledo, Spain (J.P. Galvez)
- Internationale Nietzscheforschungsgruppe Stuttgart, Germany
- SEDEN Sociedad Española de Estudios sobre Friedrich Nietzsche, Spain
- Grupo de Estudos Nietzsche (USP), Brazil
- École Normale Supérieure de Paris / CNRS / ITEM / ENS, France (Paolo D’Iorio)
- École des Hautes Études en Sciences, France (Didi-Huberman, Bellour)
- New York University, College of Arts and Science, USA (John Richardson)
- Universidad de Guadalajara, Mexico
- Birkbeck College University of London, UK (Ken Gemes)
- New York University, College of Arts and Science, USA (John Richardson)
- Telecom ParisTech / CNRS, France (Micheal Baker)
- University of Jyväskylä, Finland (Tuuli Lähdesmäk)
- University of Nicosia, Cyprus (Maria Evagorou)
- Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences, Lithuania (Irena Zaleskiene)
- Università di Messina, Italy (Alessandro Capone)
- Università di Palermo, Italy (Francesca Piazza)
- Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
- Tarello Institute for Legal Philosophy (Università degli Studi di Genova), Italy
- University of Bergen, Norway (Alois Pichler, Kjersti Fløttum)
- University of Lund, Sweden (Frank Zenker)
- Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland (Mariusz Urbanski)
- University College Dublin, Ireland (Maeve Cooke)
- Institute Jean Nicod, Paris, France (Isidora Stojanovic)
- CNR, Rome, Italy (Fabio Paglieri)
- University of Liverpool, UK (Rudi Palmieri)
- Univeristy of Fribourg, Switzerland (Steve Oswald)
- Ibn Khaldun University, Istanbul, Turkey, Alliance of Civilisations Institute (Onder Kuçukural)
- Red Iberoamericana “Kant: Ética, Política y Sociedad”