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Lecture

Colloquium Levensfilosofie "Het kunstwerk als vraag naar de ziel"

Date
Friday 5 June 2026
Time
Location
P.J. Veth
Nonnensteeg 1-3
2311 VJ Leiden
Room
1.01
Wassily Kandinsky, Painting with Green Center, 1913

The soul is one of the most important subjects in the history of philosophy. Whether it is affirmed or denied, every philosopher since the ancient Greeks has engaged with it. Modern science, however, has let go of the concept of the soul, partly following the lead of philosophy. Hence, in modern times, reconsideration of it mainly occurs in art and poetry.

What do modern art and poetry have to say about the soul? Can we learn something from them that we cannot take from philosophy books? In this symposium, this question about the soul is addressed, through the work of two artists for whom the soul has been an important subject: painter Wassily Kandinsky and poet Emily Dickinson.

Speakers: Gerard Visser, André van Delft, and Renée van Riessen

Voluntary contribution, no registration required.

Lecture in Dutch: here

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