Mgr. Kamila Pacovská, Ph.D.

Deputy Head of Department for the CE

Email:  kamila.pacovska@upce.cz 

Location: 07 023, building G

Research interests

Areas: Ethics and moral philosophy, moral psychology, theory of action, philosophy of emotions, Platonic-Wittgensteinian ethics, virtue ethics, philosophy and literature
Topics: Self-deception, nature of responsibility, moral luck, philosophy of love, moralism, pride and humility, moral ambition, perfectionism, guilt, shame, remorse, admiration, ethics of fame, philosophy of power 
Authors: Plato, Aristotle, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, Søren Kierkegaard, Simone Weil, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Iris Murdoch, Peter Winch

Web on academia.eduhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3905-5909

Education
2005 – 2013 Ph.D. in philosophy, Charles University in Prague (supervisor: Marina Barabas, thesis: Guilt and Wrongdoing: Problem of Responsibility)
1999 – 2005 Mgr in Mathematics and Philosophy, Charles University in Prague (diploma thesis: Moral Reasons and the Limits of Argument in Analytical Ethics of the Second Half of 20th Century)

Teaching Experience 
2011 – present Assistant-professor at the Department of Philosophy, University of Pardubice (specialisation in ethics and in the history of ethical theories)
2007/2008 Course ‘Rozum a cit’ [Reason and Emotion], Charles University in Prague

Membership in professional associations and boards

  • Associate Editor of The Journal of Ethics, an International Philosophical Review (from January 2022).
  • Associate Editor of Organon F, international journal of analytic philosophy (from January 2019).
  • Council member of the Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Sciences (from January 2022).

PhD Supervision
Current PhD students (main supervisor): Mattimai Bakor Syiem (thesis: The Role of Shame and Guilt in the Moral Development of Children, start 2017), Mgr. Serhiy Kish (thesis: The role of emotions in intractable moral conflict, start 2022)
Graduates (main supervisor): Vojtěch Janů, Ph.D. (dissertation: Searle's Conception of Biological Naturalism, defended 29th June 2021)

Prizes and Awards

14/05/2018 - Young Scientist Award granted by the Learned Society of the Czech Republic for excellent work in the field of philosophy and ethics
12/11/2021 - The University of Pardubice Rector's Award for young scientists (on account of the contribution to the development of the area of philosophy at the University of Pardubice)
 

Publications

Books

  • Základní etické teorie [Basic Ethical Theories], (eds. O. Beran, K. Pacovská), Pavel Mervart, Červený kostelec 2022.
  • Problémy etiky I [Problems of Ethics I], (eds. O. Beran, K. Pacovská), Pavel Mervart, Červený kostelec 2022.
  • Problémy etiky II [Problems of Ethics II], (eds. O. Beran, K. Pacovská), Pavel Mervart, Červený kostelec 2022.
  • Wittgensteinovská etika [Wittgensteinian Ethics], (eds. O. Beran, K. Pacovská), Pavel Mervart, Červený kostelec 2022.
  • Vina, láska, náhoda [Guilt, Love, Luck], Pavel Mervart, Červený kostelec 2018.
  • Filosofie lásky a přátelství [Philosophy of Love and Friendship] (eds. T. Hejduk, K. Pacovská), Pavel Mervart, Červený kostelec 2016.
  • Love and Its Objects. What Can We Care For? (eds. Ch. Maurer, T. Milligan, K. Pacovská), Palgrave Macmillan 2014.

Articles

  • ‘Fame goes to one’s head’: The lures of fame and the moral perils of addiction, pride and vanity", to appear in: The Philosophy of Fame and Celebrity, eds. M. Dennis and C. Robb, Bloomsbury.

  • “Being at Home in the World”, to appear in: Proceedings of the 43th International Wittgenstein Symposium, Publications of the Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society, De Gruyter.

  • “Try to be loved & not-admired.” Lili Bart’s Moral Struggle" in S. A. Salskov, O. Beran, N. Hämäläinen (eds), Ethical Inquiries After Wittgenstein, Springer, Nordic Wittgenstein Studies, vol. 8, 2022, p. 49-62. 

  • "Remorse and Self-love: Kostelnička’s Change of Heart", The Journal of Ethics 25, 2021, 467–486.

  • "Wanting to be better: On the self-defeating character of moral perfection", in Campbell, M., Reid, L. (eds), Ethics, Society and Politics: Themes from the Philosophy of Peter Winch, Springer, Nordic Wittgenstein Studies, vol. 6, 2020, p. 167-182.
  • "Moral Character and the Significance of Action: Judging Dmitri Karamazov", Philosophical Investigations, 42 (4), 2019, p. 333-349.
  • "Love and the Pitfall of Moralism", Philosophy 93 (2), 2018, p. 231–249.
  • "Platónská tradice v současné anglosaské etice". [Platonic Tradition in Contemporary Anglophone Ethics]. In: Přístupy k etice III (ed. J. Jirsa et al.), Filosofia, Praha 2016, p. 219-252.
  • "Banker Bulstrode Doesn't Do Wrong Intentionally. A Study of Self-deceptive Wrongdoing". In: The Journal of Value Inquiry, 50(1), 2016, p. 169-184. 
  • "Bankéř Bulstrode a problém zodpovědnosti a sebeklamu." ["Banker Bulstrode and the Problem of Responsibility and Self-deception"] In: Reflexe 48 (2015), p. 149-161.
  • "Loving Villains: Virtue in Response to Wrongdoing". In: Love and Its Objects. What Can We Care For? (eds. Ch. Maurer, T. Milligan, K. Pacovská), Palgrave Macmillan 2014.
  • "Etický význam pojmu lidství: obrana "druhismu" v díle B. A. O. Williamse a C. Diamond". [The Ethical Significance of Humanity. The Defence of Speciesism in the Work of B.A.O. Williams and C. Diamond] In: Filosofický časopis 6/2014.
  • "Bankéř Bulstrode nečiní zlo úmyslně. Případ sebeklamného provinění" [Banker Bulstrode Doesn't Do Wrong Intentionally. A Case of Self-deceptive Wrongdoing]. In: Reflexe 44 (2013), p. 51-78.
  • "Soumrak etiky činu" [The Twilight of the Ethics of Action]. In: Nomádva 14 (2013).
  • "Morální pravidla před Wittgensteinem a po něm" [Moral Rules Before and After Wittgenstein]. In: Filosofie dnes, II (2010), no. 2, p. 59-72.
  • "Why is it Sometimes Easier to Love Rex and Fiffi than to Love Our Adolescent Children?" (with Christian Maurer) In: S. Hales (ed.), What Philosophy Can Tell You About Your Dog. Chicago: Open Court Publishing 2008.
  • Review: V. Kolman (ed.), From Truth to Proof. In: Organon F, XV (2008), no. 1, p. 111-113.
  • "Kritika metaetiky v díle P. Footové a dalších ‘deskriptivistů’" [A Critique of Metaethics in the work of P. Foot and other “Descriptivists”]. In: Studia Neoaristotelica: Časopis pro aristotelsky orientovanou křesťanskou filosofii, III (2006), no. 1, p. 62-74.

Translations

  • Scientific editor of several volumes of translations, see above “Edited volumes”
  • Murdoch, I., "Svrchovanost dobra nad ostatními pojmy" [The Sovereignty of Good over Other Concepts], in: T. Hejduk, K. Pacovská (eds.), Filosofie lásky a přátelství, Nakladatelství Pavel Mervart, Červený kostelec 2016, s. 295-318.
  • Gaita, R., "Dobrota přesahující ctnost" [Goodness beyond Virtue], in: T. Hejduk, K. Pacovská (eds.), Filosofie lásky a přátelství, Nakladatelství Pavel Mervart, Červený kostelec 2016, s. 319-329.
  • Weil, S., "Bojujeme za spravedlnost?" [Luttons-nous pour la justice?], in: T. Hejduk, K. Pacovská (eds.), Filosofie lásky a přátelství, Nakladatelství Pavel Mervart, Červený kostelec 2016, s. 283-293.

Presentations 

  • "Home as a Place of Evil. Why Moral Psychology Shouldn’t Shun Maltreated Children.“ Conference The Ethics of Home: Patriotism, Cosmopolitanism and Alienation, University of Pardubice, 2nd June 2022.
  • "'Try to be loved & not-admired.' Lili Bart’s Moral Struggle," conference of the European Philosophical Society for the Study of Emotions, on-line, 12th June 2021.
  • "Self-love and Remorse. Kostelnička's Change of Heart," Uppsala University, Higher Seminar in the Philosophy of Language and Culture, 5th February 2021.
  • "The Irresistible Spell of a Populist Leader", workshop Partisanship and Compassion in a time of Populism, King's College London, 27-28th August 2019.
  • "'Love does not act by force'. Simone Weil on love and justice", conference Love and Justice, Pardubice, 5th September 2018.
  • "Loving Contemplation between Wonder and Judgment?", workshop Love, Forgiveness and Reconciliation, King's College London, 2nd September 2016.
  • "Loving Contemplation: Wonder or Judgment?", 5th Colloquium on the Modalities of the Good, Prague, 14th-16th July 2016.
  • "Joy as Loving Contemplation", Conversation Joy, Love and Hatred, Yale Center for Faith and Culture, 27th –28th May 2016.
  • "Remorse and Self-Love" - Love and the Good, Pardubice, 25th September 2015 
  • "Loving the Miserable: Murdoch and Weil on the Reality of Others" - Iris Murdoch International Conference, Kingston University, 12th September 2014; Love's Passion: Philosophical Perspectives on Love, University of Hertfordshire, 16th September 2014
  • "Skutečnost neštěstí. Weil a Gaita o géniích a světicích" [The Reality of Affliction. Weil and Gaita on Genii and Saints] - Umění neštěstí, selhání a utrpení, Czech Academy of Science, 6th March 2015
  • "Dmitri Karamazov Is Not a Murderer. The Significance of Action", 4th Colloquium on the Modalities of the Good, Prague, 23rd July 2014; Welsh Philosophical Society, Gregynog Hall, 2nd May 2015
  • "Beauty, Goodness and Love: Simone Weil's interpretation of the Iliad" - Art and Morality, Budapest, 5th June 2014
  • "Loving Villains" - Love and its Objects, Pardubice, 18th July 2013
  • "Problém zodpovědnosti v současné anglosaské etice" [The Problem of Responsibility in Contemporary Analytic Ethics] – Svoboda rozhodování v dějinách a současnosti filosofie, Olomouc, 6. října 2011
  • "Loving Villains, Villain Loving" – Recent Developments in the Philosophy of Love, Université de Fribourg, Switzerland, 30th September 2011
  • "Morální jednání jako epizoda?" [Moral Action as an Episode?] - Čas fysiky a čas etiky, Praha, CR, 25th May 2011
  • "Pravidla v morálním jednání" [Rules in Moral Action] - Hradecké filosofické dny, Hradec Králové, CR, 23rd September 2010
  • "Remorse and the Voluntary" - 2nd Colloquium on the Modalities of the Good, Prague, CR, 4th August 2010
  • "Banker Bulstrode: a Study of Permeating Evil" - Colloquium on the Modalities of the Good, Prague, CR, 6th August 2009
  • "Banker Bulstrode: Study of a Wrongdoing" - Philosophy and Literature Graduate Conference, University of Warwick, 26th May 2009
  • "Impartiality and Love in Ethics" - Philosopher’s Rally, Warsaw University, Poland, 11th – 13th May 2007
  • "Structuralism in the Philosophy of Mathematics" - 15th Annual Conference of Doctoral Students, Charles University in Prague, CR, 6th June 2006
  • "Osobní identita a její role v morálním hodnocení" [Personal Identity and its Role in Moral Judgment] - Conference of the Association of Philosophy Teachers at Theology faculties of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, České Budějovice, CR, 27th – 29th August 2006

Invited lectures

  • „Sláva stoupá do hlavy” Pokušení a neřesti úspěšných", Department seminar, University of J. E. Purkyně, Ústí nad Labem, December 4, 2023
  • “Fame goes to one’s head”: The lures of fame and the moral perils of addiction, pride and vanity", Department Colloquium, University of Tübingen, November 22, 2023
  • "Humility and Love as Response to Wrongdoing", Conference Attitudes and reactive practices: wrongs and stigmatization, Université Rennes, October 4-6, 2023
  • “Good Act as a Surprise: Attention and Creativity in Moral Responses“, LMS seminar, University of Hradec Králové, 8 March 2023.
  • "Being at home in the world." Platonism. 43rd International Wittgenstein Symposium, Kirchberg am Wechsel, 8-13 August 2022 (postponed from 2020 due to pandemics).
  • "Home as a Place of Evil. Why Moral Psychology Shouldn’t Shun Maltreated Children.“ Dutch Research School of Philosophy's (OZSW) Moral Psychology Study group, Tilburg University, 24th May 2022.
  • "Simone Weil and attending to the afflicted. On Breakdowns, Misfortunes and Good Samaritans." Workshop Ethics and Emotions, ZEPP Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich, 9th May 2022.
  • "Simone Weil, pozornost a neštěstí" [Simone Weil, Attention and Affliction], Masaryk University Brno, 2nd May 2022. 
  • "Simone Weil and attending to the afflicted", Ethical attention: Murdoch in philosophical dialogue, on-line, University College Dublin & University of Pardubice, 4-5 February 2022.
  • "The Irresistible Spell of a Populist Leader", Think! Central European Student Conference in Analytic Philosophy, University of Bayreuth, 17-19 May 2019.
  • "Teorie lásky a past moralismu" [Theories of Love and the Pitfall of Moralism], Jednota filosofická, Olomouc, 8th March 2017.
  • "Joy as Loving Contemplation", Conversation Joy, Love and Hatred, Yale Center for Faith and Culture, 27th–28th May 2016. 
  • "Remorse and Self-Love", Université Fribourg, 20th October 2015.
  • "Dmitri Karamazov Is Not a Murderer. The Significance of Action", Welsh Philosophical Society, Gregynog Hall, 2nd May 2015.
  • „Ilias, neboli báseň o lásce. Interpretace Simone Weil" [Ilias or the Poem of Force. Simone Weil Interpretation] - colloquium Reflexia Homéra v antické filozofii, Banská Bystrica, 22nd November 2013
  • "Wrongdoing Without Intention: Self-deceptive Action", University of Hertfordshire, 27th February 2014.
  • "Loving villains", University of Hertfordshire, 27th February 2014.
  • "Wrongdoing Without Intention: Self-deceptive Action", University of Leeds, 17th February 2014.

Grants and Scholarships

2024-2028 - Combatting self-righteousness - a vice of the digital age, ERC CZ Grant No. LL2308 (MŠMT) - team member (from July 2024)
2023-2028 - Beyond Security: Role of Conflict in Resilience-Building (CoRe), Grant No. CZ.02.01.01/00/22_008/0004595 of the Operational Programme Johannes Amos Comenius) - Principal investigator of the UPa team
2022-2023 - ECEGADMAT, Grant no. 22-15446S of the Czech Science Foundation - member of the research team
2016 - 2022 - Centre for Ethics as Study in Human Value (Grant no. CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/15_003/0000425 of the Operational Programme Research, Development and Education - Principal investigator/Deputy head of research
2013 – 2016 – Love and Friendship in Ancient and Contemporary Philosophy, Grant no. 13-14510S of the Czech Science Foundation - member of the research team
September 2012 – Aktion, one month scholarship at the University of Vienna
2012 – 2014 – The Idea of University (Grant no. CZ.1.07/2.2.00/28.0270 of the Education for Competitiveness Operational Programme) - lector
2008 – 2009 Anglo-Czech Educational Fund, one year scholarship at the University of Edinburgh
2006 – Erasmus, three month scholarship at the University of Glasgow
2006 – 2007 Graduate Center for logical foundations for semantics and representation of knowledge - member of the center

Workshops and conferences organized 

  • Conference The Ethics of Home: Patriotism, Cosmopolitanism and Alienation, University of Pardubice, 1-3 June 2022 (with Matej Cíbik, Antony Fredriksson and Niklas Forsberg).
  • Workshop Disagreement, (in) tolerance and political discourse, University of Pardubice, 12-14th September 2019 (with Matej Cíbik).
  • Workshop Love, Forgiveness and Reconciliation, King's College London, 2nd September 2016 (organized with Tony Milligan).
  • Conference: Love and the Good, Pardubice, 24-26th September 2015 (Organized with Tomáš Hejduk and Tony Milligan) 
  • Symposium II: Ethical Values and Emotions, Central and Eastern European Ethical Network, Palacky University, Olomouc, 28-30th May 2015 (with Martin Cajthaml and Vlastimil Vohánka)
  • Umění neštěstí, selhání a utrpení [Art of Affliction, Failure and Suffering], Czech Academy of Science, 6th March 2015 (with O. Beran)
  • Love's Passion: Philosophical Perspectives on Love, University of Hertfordshire, 15-16th September 2014 (Organized with Tony Milligan)
  • 4th Colloquium on the Modalities of the Good, Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Science, Prague, 23rd-25th July 2014 (Organized with Marina Barabas) 
  • Workshop: Love and its Objects, Pardubice, 18-20th July 2013 (Organized with Tomáš Hejduk)
  • 3rd Colloquium on the Modalities of the Good, Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Science, Prague, 1st-3rd August 2012 (Organized with Marina Barabas and Christopher Cowley)
  • 2nd Colloquium on the Modalities of the Good, Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Science, Prague, 4th-6th August 2010 (Organized with Marina Barabas)
  • Colloquium on the Modalities of the Good, Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Science, Prague, 5th-6th August 2009 (Organized with Marina Barabas)

Public lectures and (radio) interviews:

  • Interview with Erik Havlík for @filozofickedrobky
  • “Good Act as a Surprise: Attention and Creativity in Moral Responses“, lecture for Tilburg philosophy student association Sapientia Ludenda, Institute of Philosophy Academic Conference Centre, 11 March 2023
  • "Dobrý člověk překvapí. Pozornost a kreativita v otázce dobrého jednání" [The good man surprises you. Attention and Creativity in Good Action], Letní filosofická škola ÚFaR, 23 September 2022
  • "Být ve světě jako doma" [To be at home in the world], lecture at the Gymnázium Holice, 27th June 2022
  • Public discussion "Jak učit etiku a proč?" [How to teach ethics and why?], Hvězdy filosofie, organised by Jakub Jirsa, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences, 17th June 2022.
  • Interview: Lesky a bídy současné české filosofie [The Splendors and miseries of of contemporary Czech philosophy] (Eliška Fulínová and Tomáš Koblížek with Kamila Pacovská a Ondřej Švec), Reflexe 61, 117-136.
  • „Pokušení slávy“ [Temptation of Fame], Department seminar, 10th March 2021
  • „Univerzita Pardubice má evropský zvuk“ [University of Pardubice has a European Timbre], interview in Czech Radio Pardubice, 5th March 2021, https://pardubice.rozhlas.cz/univerzita-pardubice-ma-evropsky-zvuk-ucit-...
  • „Lítost a sebeláska. Vnitřní obrat Kostelničky” [Remorse and Self-love. Kostenička’s Change of Heart], Café Universitas FILDA, 15th December 2020; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNqw5uoy9gk
  • „Myšlení v chodu” [Thinking while walking], interview in Czech Radio Vltava, 14th December 2019; https://vltava.rozhlas.cz/mysleni-v-chodu-o-chuzi-za-chuze-se-ctyrmi-fil...
  • „Etika ctností“ [Virtue ethics], interview in Czech Radio Vltava, 28th May 2019; https://vltava.rozhlas.cz/etika-ctnosti-8074259
  • „Radost, kontemplativní emoce” [Joy, a Contemplative Emotion], Café Universitas, 22nd March 2016