Phenomenology and Mind

The Coming of Age. Personal Identity, Well-Being and Justice in an Ageing Society

San Raffaele School of Philosophy 2023
October 4^th–6^th, 2023

Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan
Faculty of Philosophy

Palazzo Arese Borromeo – Cesano Maderno

Accepted papers will be published in a special issue of Phenomenology and Mind.

Invited speakers 

Tiziana Andina (University of Turin)

Elvio Baccarini (University of Rijeka)

Simone Cenci (Vita-Salute San Raffaele University and San Raffaele Scientific Institute)

Danielle Petherbridge (University College Dublin)

Jessie Stanier (University of the West of England, Bristol)

Guest editors of the special issue

Maria Russo (Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan)

Alessandro Volpe (Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan)

Call for papers

Population ageing is a central phenomenon of our contemporary age. As a trend that concerns the whole world, individuals have increasing chances to reach old age due to improvements in survival, and the share of older people over the total population grows because of reductions in fertility. Not surprisingly, this trend is triggering several transformative processes concerning societies, welfare states, markets, medical practices and political agendas.

Ageing is not always equal to healthy ageing, so that many medical, social, and political issues arise in relation to ageing pathologies and the elderly’s specific vulnerabilities. Nonetheless, old age should not necessarily be considered as a time of mental and physical decline, which would only imply an increasing socioeconomic and health dependence. Indeed, a new way of looking at the elderly, their life, and their possible social role can and should constitute an opportunity for innovative trends in promoting inclusive well-being and in building more prosperous, just and sustainable societies.

On this background, ageing appears as a complex, multi-faceted phenomenon that, due to its existential, ethical, social and political dimensions, also offers a fruitful field for philosophical investigation.