Pilar Lopez-Cantero

Please do it! This is probably one of my favourite things about the Netherlands

Getting my presentation ready for Friday's conference on friendship (free and fully online!). Program and registration details here: philevents.org/event/show/1...

Las fronteras no son normales El discurso de extrema derecha ha conseguido normalizar la muerte de decenas de miles de personas en las rutas migratorias; el trato inhumano en redadas, detenciones y expulsiones, y el trabajo semiesclavo en las economías del norte.

Editorial | El discurso de extrema derecha ha conseguido normalizar la muerte de decenas de miles de personas en las rutas migratorias; el trato inhumano en redadas, detenciones y expulsiones, y el trabajo semiesclavo.

❓ Why does philosophy matter to you? 💡

We'd love to hear from you, ahead of British Philosophy Fortnight on 16-29 March.

Tell us why #PhilosophyMatters:

docs.google.com/.../1FAIpQLS...

I wrote a summary of my research project in cities in the EPIC blog. To the research topics I mention here, I have recently added a collaboration with a Veterinary postdoc on urban pigeons!

Thanks for this since this will be useful when turning this paper into a chapter, where I will be committing to my view on existential feeling, but where it will be good to introduce how alternative commitments on the nature of being in love may yield the same result. Very helpful!

I see it now -- so our only disagreement is really in my understanding of falling out of love as sometimes not being explainable in terms of reasons. Your discussion is very useful to show that my view does not necessarily need you to buy my existential feeling framework, which is fantastic!

FWIW I think that is the difference between Betzler and myself too. Practically we agree on most stuff, and we just differ with regards to the role of reasons. Her paper is really great and has a lot of nuances I could not address in a short reply!

My view is that although reasons can be a constituent of good break-ups, good break-ups need not involve reasons at all--neither internal not interpersonal deliberation. You and I could be practically in agreement about what people should do, but differ on the role of reasons in good break-ups then?

Right, yes I don't see massive disagreements there. What I think I would miss with your version of the argument is that seeing breakups as an opportunity for deliberation is itself a problem beyond where one has reasons or not, and access them or not (continues)

Pilar Lopez-Cantero, Break-up duties and the limits of deliberation: A reply to Betzler - PhilPapers Leaving a relationship without talking to the other person seems, in principle, morally callous. Monika Betzler argues that people initiating break-ups have duties to explain and to facilitate partici...

Here's the unpaywalled last version before publishing, as well as a gift link to the actual journal article (email me if the link has stopped working and I will get you a new link):

academic.oup.com/pq/advance-a...

Break-up duties and the limits of deliberation: A reply to Betzler Abstract. Leaving a relationship without talking to the other person seems, in principle, morally callous. Monika Betzler argues that people initiating bre

The 1st publication of my research on break-ups & morality. I argue that we don't have a duty to explain to our partners the reasons for breaking up with them. Read the short article for my argument against giving excessive weight to reasons in break-ups, & do reply if you have thoughts

It was a treat today to have Carme Isern-Mas (@isernmas.bsky.social) as a guest lecturer at the Antwerp-Ghent-VU Brussel Research Masters in Philosophy. Students loved her ongoing work on therapy speak, and we had a great discussion on mental health, relationships and the social use of words.

Applications are now open for 2 PhD scholarships on the “The Diversity and Variability of Grief” at Macquarie University, Sydney. 1/3 www.mq.edu.au/research/phd...

Great workshop today at Antwerp on Moral Psychology & The City! Elisabetta Gobbo talked about affect & gentrification; Jamie Draper presented his expressive theory of spatial inequality; Marian Counihan gave a super useful taxonomy of urban diversity & I shared my wip on affective rights to the city

Carspreading: how we lost our streets to SUVs — SUV Alliance Cars are getting bigger. We’ve all noticed it. Streets once home with hatchbacks are now dominated by large SUVs and 4x4s. 

I will keep you posted! A very short public phil piece should be out soon, and the long form paper will be co-authored with Dan Guillery over the course of the year. I got into this through campaigning orgs like @cleancitiescampaign.org and the SUV alliance, which have tons of useful info & reports

Don’t get me started on how huge cars make this way worse! I am writing on thus and precisely how lack of visibility deprives non motorists of feelings of safety (and how that is a distributive affective injustice, as well as potentially a form of marginalisation). I’ll rant about this all day long

Very happy about this— I’ve learned a lot from Bennett School’s (and its predecessor institute’s) research on place and identity over the years, and it’s directly influenced how I conceived my project on emotion and urban justice. Excited to be part of it and to expand the phil of urban policy!

21st Annual Doctoral Conference 2026 Humanity at a Turning Point: Reaffirming or Reimagining Political Common Sense? CEU’s Annual Doctoral Conference (ADC) provides an interdisciplinary space to present works in progress, receive c...

If you're a graduate student or know any, look at this call. This is an annual conference at CEU, with a stream of panels in political philosophy. And this year's keynote is Andrew Williams! Deadline for abstracts: the 26th of February.
philevents.org/event/show/1...

Free&Equal do 12k review essays. You can also try Passion—although it is a phil of emotion journal they could be open to this sort of submission, for example Ben Matheson just published a longer 3-book review on anxiety, guilt and pride from the perspective of a parent

EL ESPAÑOL on Instagram: "✝️🎶 El nuevo arzobispo de Nueva York sorprende a todos al citar a Bad Bunny en plena Catedral de San Patricio: "Si te quieres divertir con encanto y con primor..." 👉 Ronald... 26K likes, 335 comments - elespanol2015 on February 9, 2026: "✝️🎶 El nuevo arzobispo de Nueva York sorprende a todos al citar a Bad Bunny en plena Catedral de San Patricio: "Si te quieres divertir con...

I didn’t expect the new Archbishop of New York to spoil the beginning of the chapter I am writing on the phil of travel, which starts with the same Bad Bunny/Alicia Keys mashup (the topic is narratives, exploitation and enjoyment, with NY as case study)

Here’s my latest syllabus in case it is helpful. A bit unusual w the common debates (mitigation/contribution, intrinsic value, enviro rights, land ethic, intergen. justice) not being the topic of the week but enmeshed in applied discussions, which worked well for this group of students

Nature Where You're Not: Rethinking Environmental Spaces and Racism The distinction between natural and urban spaces permeates much of Western dominant political and environmental philosophy. This distinction in itself need not be problematic when used as an observati...

So many papers I’d recommend, but if I had to pick, an unmissable classic is Marion Hourdequin on collective responsibility and individual action. I also highly recommend including less traditional topics like food ethics, water ethics or urban justice, and on that, this is one of my favourites:

I really enjoyed having this opportunity to talk about a lot of themes in my work on romantic love: being in love as a practical identity w narrative structure, existential feeling, love at first sight, falling in and out of love, disorientation, and of course, good break-ups— all in 25 min!

Two Women kissing in front of a line of police officers during a gay rights demonstration in Staten Island in New York in 1990. (Photo by Thomas McGovern.) Taken from "Making Out, Making Change: The History of Queer Kiss-Ins by Stef Rubino on Autostraddle

Hot for Revolution Caleb Ward Abstract Activists for feminist, queer, and disability justice commonly describe their work as motivated by an erotic desire to build a different world. This chapter argues that this is not merely a metaphor. Drawing on activist case studies and the work of Audre Lorde, the chapter shows that erotic desire and pleasure in social movements can foster political agency for people targeted by sexual oppression. It traces three political benefits of erotic passion in this context: personal empowerment, communal moral resistance against oppressive norms and justifications, and enhanced political imagination toward a world that supports sexual agency. However, because intimate relationships within movements are often distorted by dominant, pernicious ideologies around sex, these political benefits are only realizable when a movement is organized internally around a relational infrastructure – an ethos – that supports sexual agency and equality, responsive to the needs of those targeted by sexual oppression. Keywords: political agency, sexual oppression, social movements, sexual agency, Audre Lorde, feminism, disability, queer politics, moral resistance, political imagination

Members of the Lesbian and Gay community stage a Valentine‘s Day “Kiss-In” 14 February 1988 outside St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York to present a message of their unity and love in the face of the “church condoning anti-gay and anti-lesbian violence”. (Photo by MARIA BASTONE / AFP)

What does it mean to be hot for revolution—to feel a desire to transform the world in your belly and your bones?

Here's my latest, on how erotic desire feeds political agency. I draw on AIDS activism, disability justice & other movements against sexual oppression.

philpapers.org/archive/WARH...

Opinion | I’m the Prime Minister of Spain. This Is Why the West Needs Migrants.

“Migration brings opportunities, but also huge challenges …driven by the same forces that affect our own citizens: poverty, inequality, unregulated markets, barriers to accessing education and health care”

Brilliant oped by Sánchez, who also doesn’t shy off calling MAGA out directly

Blunting concepts: The double-edged effect of popularizing psychotherapy language The increasing presence of mental health-related language in everyday conversations gives rise to a worth-exploring tension: while it can enhance mental health literacy and provide individuals with...

Full original article here:

“On the one hand, the mainstreaming of psychotherapy language is interpreted as a sign of progress… On the other hand, the mainstreaming of psychotherapy language has also been interpreted as a deterioration of mental health vocabulary, and as a pathologization of everyday struggles”

Call for Papers: PhD Online Philosophy Seminars

📢 Are you a #Philosophy PhD student looking for opportunities to speak about your research?

We're inviting current doctoral students to showcase their work to an online audience of TRIP members.

Find out more: royalinstitutephilosophy.org/news/call-fo...

#phdstudent #callforpapers #seminar

In March I will be talking about friendship break-ups in this online event on ‘Friendship & Friendship with the Morally Bad’, which has many other interesting talks on topics like moral snobbery, CS Lewis being totally wrong, or self-regarding reasons for friendship. Properly excited for this one!