IFOHS is pleased to announce a co-hosted seminar with IAC (Institutional Advancement and Communications) in November, discussing changes in various aspects in relations with a multi-value society.

The 1st Kyoto Conference “Toward the Realization of a Multilayered Society of Values”, which was organized by the Kyoto Institute of Philosophy on September 23–24, attracted significant attention from various fields. In an era when the true meaning of happiness and the values we should pursue are being questioned, the conference’s theme resonated widely due to its urgency and importance.

Building on the success of this conference the upcoming seminar represents the first collaborative initiative following the Comprehensive Partnership Agreement between Kyoto University and the Kyoto Institute of Philosophy (signed in June 2025), and will welcome Professor Laurie Ann Paul (Yale University) as the keynote speaker, who also spoke at the Kyoto Conference.

*In June 2025, Kyoto University signed a comprehensive partnership agreement with the Kyoto Institute of Philosophy. Moving forward, the two institutions will work together to promote international activities focused on fostering human resources, advancing interdisciplinary research, building networks, and promoting social expansion, particularly in the humanities and social sciences. Through this collaboration, they aim to establish Kyoto University and the city of Kyoto as global hubs for intellectual exchange and value creation.

Kyoto Institute of Philosophy

“The 1st Kyoto Conference — Toward the Realization of a Multilayered Society of Values”

Kyoto University and Kyoto Institute of Philosophy Comprehensive Partnership Agreement Commemorative Seminar

Humanities for a Multilayered Society of Values―Transformation of Value, Self, Society

 

Speakers:

Laurie Ann Paul (Millstone Family Endowed Chair, Professor of Philosophy and Cognitive Science, Yale University)

Yasuo Deguchi (Dean & Professor, Kyoto University Graduate School of Letters/ Co-Director, Kyoto Institute of Philosophy)

Tatsuhiko Inatani (Professor, Kyoto University Graduate School of Law)

 

Date and Time: Monday, November 17, 2025, 14:00–16:00 (doors open at 13:30)
Venue: Yamauchi Hall, Shiran Kaikan, Kyoto University (with online streaming)
( Kyoto University Faculty of Medicine campus, Yoshida Konoe-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto)

Access

Target Audience: Researchers, students, corporate concerned, university affiliates, and the general public

Languages: Japanese and English (with translated subtitles)
Admission: Free
Capacity: 80 in-person participants / 300 online participants
Registration Form: https://forms.gle/4exmkDtTC4HkABqx7
Registration Deadline: Friday, November 14, 2025 (noon)
(In-person registration may close early if capacity is reached.)

Organizers: Institute for the Future of Human Society, Kyoto University / Institutional Advancement and Communications [Humanities Unit]

Co-organizer: Kyoto University Office of Research Acceleration

 

Program

14:00–14:05 Opening Remarks
14:05–14:15 Lecture: “Humanities for a Multilayered Society of Values: Transformation of Value and Self”
— Prof. Yasuo Deguchi (Dean & Professor, Kyoto University Graduate School of Letters/ Co-Director, Kyoto Institute of Philosophy)

14:15–15:10 Keynote Lecture: “Transformative Changes of Self”
— Prof. Laurie Ann Paul (Millstone Family Endowed Chair, Professor of Philosophy and Cognitive Science, Yale University)

15:10–15:25 Q&A Session

15:25–15:45 Lecture: “Legal Engineering: Integration of Law and Technology through AI”
— Prof. Tatsuhiko Inatani (Professor, Kyoto University Graduate School of Law)

15:45–15:55 Q&A Session

15:55–16:00 Closing Remarks
— Prof. Seiji Kumagai (Vice Director & Professor, Institute for the Future of Human Society, Kyoto University)
Moderator: Associate Prof. Takahiko Kameyama (Kyoto University Institute for the Future of Human Society)

 

Speaker profile

 Prof. Laurie Ann Paul

Millstone Family Endowed Chair, Professor of Philosophy and Cognitive Science, Yale University. Prof Paul leads the Philosophical and Computational Foundations of Cognition Initiative at Yale’s Wu Tsai Institute. Her research explores the metaphysics and cognitive science of selfhood, decision-making, time, causation, and experience.

Prof Paul has been the recipient of numerous prestigious fellowships, including from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Humanities Center, and Australian National University; recipient of Levitts Award for Outstanding Philosophical Achievement and Contribution (2020) and the Humboldt Research Award of Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2023).

Her notable works include Transformative Experience (Oxford University Press, 2014; Japanese translation 『今夜ヴァンパイアになる前に』, Nagoya University Press, 2017) and Causation: A User’s Guide (Oxford University Press, 2013), which received the APA Sanders Book Prize.
Her study of “transformative experience” has been covered by major media, and a subject of artistic research.

 

Prof. Yasuo Deguchi

Dean and Professor, Kyoto University Graduate School of Letters; Co-Director, Kyoto Institute of Philosophy.
Born in Osaka in 1962, he earned his Ph.D. in Literature from Kyoto University. His areas of expertise include philosophy—particularly analytic Asian philosophy and mathematical philosophy. He currently advocates a new system of values called “WE-turn.”

Recent works include AI Shinyū-ron (AI and Friendship, Tokuma Shoten), What Can’t Be Said: Paradox and Contradiction in East Asian Thought (Oxford UP), and Moon Points Back (Oxford UP).

 

Prof. Tatsuhiko Inatani

Professor, Kyoto University Graduate School of Law. His research spans digital law and criminology (criminal policy), studying agile governance frameworks for emerging technologies such as AI and robotics, with the legal system (especially cooperate sanction system) and the integration of law and technology (Legal Engineering) that allow those frameworks. His research is based on interdisciplinary approach with a mix of cognitive science, economics, information science, and modern philosophy.

He currently is the director of Japan Law and Economics Association and The Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence, also serves on numerous national advisory committees, including the Cabinet Secretariat’s “Data Utilization Systems Council,” the Ministry of Economy, METI’s “Governance Model for Society 5.0” committee, and chairs the “System Reform Review Council” & “Data Security Working Group” of the Digital Agency.

Inquiries:
Institutional Advancement and Communications [Humanities Unit]

e-mail: rethinking-tf@mail2.adm.kyoto-u.ac.jp