March-June 2026 at Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden and Copenhagen Business School, Denmark
The theme of the course 2026 is: Philosophy in Business Administration and Beyond: Authority in Epochs of Ontological Malaise
The course aims to provide Ph.D. Students (in social science and particularly business administration) with philosophical perspectives for their research. Becoming clear and articulate on your own in PhD project´s ontological commitments helps you communicate your contributions in forthcoming publications, which is what the course aims at facilitating. It is open to all Ph.D. Students, but students from SSE, CBS, and institutions that are part of the Nordic Academy of Management (NFF) will receive general priority. The ideal course participant is a PhD candidate in business administration with a philosophical curiosity and an inclination to broaden their epistemological understanding of social science with ontological perspectives. The course is free of charge for all participants.
The first part will be given at Stockholm School of Economics, 18-20 March 2026 (18.00 18/3 to 16.00 20/3), and the second part will be given at Copenhagen Business School on 3-5 June 2026 (18.00 3/6 to 16.00 5/6).
Learning objectives
The course will make the students:
- Delineate and define authority and ontology from three perspectives: the epistemic, the political, the moral, and the economic.
- Situate the four perspectives in the philosophy of social science and compare their ontological commitments.
- Reflect on their specific research projects by using (1) and (2).
The course will be based on journal articles and book chapters discussed at seminars throughout the course. In addition, we will present a moderated “youtube” archive of philosophical conversations to accepted participants.
Method of examination
Students are assessed based on (1) active classroom discussions of course literature (50%), and (2) two reflective 2-3 pages hand-ins which discuss the literature for each module, and a final course paper in which the student focuses on one specific topic (50%).
Application
- For questions about the content of the course, please mail course director, Pierre Guillet de Monthoux: Pierre.GuilletdeMonthoux@hhs.se
- For questions regarding practical matters or to register, please submit your application no later than February 14, 2026 to the course co-directors Rasmus Nykvist and Mattias Hjelm: rasmus.nykvist@hhs.se and mattias.hjelm@hhs.se
Please include your home institution, what PhD program you are enrolled in, as well as your academic CV in the application. As the course will stage philosophical discussion around truth, ontology, and MOS we would like you to attach a short motivation letter (about half a page) answering the following questions:
- Expected learnings: How does this course seem to fit your PhD process?
- Expected contributions: What perspectives and/or problems would you like to share with participants?
- Expected focus: Tell us which part of the course you mostly fancy and why?
Apply by February 14, 2026. Acceptance into the course will happen on a rolling basis, starting 2026.
Read more on the course website!
