Florian Gatignon
PhD candidate in Philosophy
University of Geneva
About
I am a PhD candidate and research and teaching assistant in philosophy at the University of Geneva, supervised by Fabrice Correia and Achille C. Varzi (Columbia University). I work in metaphysics, mostly on how ordinary objects persist through time.
My dissertation, Setting the Stage for Persistence, defends exdurantism: the view that ordinary objects are momentary stages, which persist by having counterparts at other times. Besides a general argument for the view, it contains five independent discussions, on topics such as gunky time, experience and four-dimensional worms. I expect to defend it in June 2027.
I am also interested in modality, mereology and location, and in the philosophy of emotions, on which I wrote my MA thesis (on nostalgia).
Research
- Specialization
- Metaphysics (persistence, modality, mereology, location), Philosophy of Time
- Competence
- Logic, Philosophy of Language, Philosophy of Physics (space and time), Philosophy of Emotions
Publication
- 2026 “Flexible Counterparts.” Analytic Philosophy, Early View. doi:10.1111/phib.70022
In preparation
- A novel argument against endurantism
- A discussion of exdurantism in gunky time
- An examination of exdurantism and experience
- A discussion of the exdurantist commitment to four-dimensional worms
Talks
* refereed † invited
- 2026Must an Exdurantist Believe in Four-Dimensional Worms? eidos seminar, Geneva
- Exdurantism and Experience. AMAMI – Mid-Term SIFA Conference, Venice*
- Instantaneous Stages in Instantless Worlds. 12th European Congress of Analytic Philosophy, Madrid*
- Must an Exdurantist Believe in Four-Dimensional Worms? 11th Annual Conference of the International Association for Philosophy of Time, Yamaguchi*
- Flexible Counterparts. Issues on the (Im)Possible XII, Bratislava*
- Must an Exdurantist Believe in Four-Dimensional Worms? Columbia University, New York
- 2025Faire une crasse aux étapes temporelles. Colloque de recherche, University of Neuchâtel†
- Counterparts, Flexibility, and Persistent Organisms. Annual Meeting of the Swiss Society for Logic and Philosophy of Science†
- Flexible Counterparts. eidos seminar, Geneva
- Counterparts and Neutrality. 2025 Symposium of the Swiss Philosophical Society*
- How Many of You Are There? 10th Annual Conference of the International Association for Philosophy of Time, Santiago*
- Endurantisme, identité et comptage. Congrès annuel de la Société de philosophie analytique, Nantes*
- Imagine All the Gunk. Thought Experiments and Philosophy Workshop, Geneva
- How Many of You Are There? OZSW Annual Conference, Delft*
- Instantaneous Stages in Instantless Worlds. eidos seminar, Geneva
- 2024How Many of You Are There? eidos seminar, Geneva
Teaching
- 2023–26Introduction to Logic, tutorials, University of Geneva (every fall semester)
- 2023–24Introduction to Metaphysics, seminar on the metaphysics of time, University of Geneva (spring semesters)
For students: Vérificateur de preuves, an online checker for natural-deduction proofs in the system of the Geneva logic course (in French).
Other activities
- 2026Visiting scholar, Columbia University, New York (January–May)
- 2025Co-organizer, Thought Experiments and Philosophy, workshop, Geneva
- 2024Co-organizer, New Trends in the Philosophy of Persistence, workshop, Geneva
Contact
Department of Philosophy, University of Geneva
Rue De-Candolle 5, CH-1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland
florian.gatignon@unige.ch
Office L407, 4th floor, Landolt building (Rue De-Candolle 2). Meetings by appointment, via email.