Salon: Transformation

What does it mean to say that a person has “transformed”? Who and what has changed? In this Salon, we’ll look at philosophical approaches to transformative experiences—experiences that change what it’s like to be us and change our cares, values, and goals. We’ll consider some experiences that can be transformative, and the variety of emotional responses that transformation can bring up, including grief, regret, nostalgia, and ambivalence.

Jelena Marković is a philosopher working in empirically-informed philosophy of mind and moral psychology. Her research focuses on unchosen transformative experiences, especially grief, and on the philosophical psychology of attention. In her work on grief, she has argued that grief is an unchosen transformative experience involving a disruption to and reorganization of organized systems of practical meaning. In addition to articles on transformative experience, she has published on the cognitive science and philosophy of attention, including on affect-biased attention, hypnosis, and meditative states.

About Salon

Salon is a monthly open dialogue on cutting-edge research related to contemplation and flourishing with UVA and local community members in the Contemplative Commons, hosted by the Contemplative Sciences Center's CIRCL: Contemplative Innovation + Research Co-Lab. Centered on a single word, these gatherings bring together scholars, scientists, and practitioners from diverse perspectives to exchange ideas, generate knowledge, and seek solutions to global challenges. Learn more about CSC Research.