Dr. Simas Čelutka

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My academic work is driven by a commitment to strengthening the culture of public discourse in Lithuania and bridging philosophical theory with practical reality. This approach informs my research, teaching, and public engagement alike.

I specialize in modern and contemporary political philosophy, ethics, and the history of ideas. I earned my BA in Philosophy from Vilnius University and completed an MA in a joint program between Queen Mary University of London and University College London, where I studied under the renowned historian of ideas, Professor Quentin Skinner. In 2021, I defended my PhD dissertation at Vilnius University, which examined the problem of political autonomy in the thought of Hannah Arendt, Michael Oakeshott, and Carl Schmitt.

Since my doctoral studies, I have been teaching at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science at Vilnius University. I currently deliver three original courses and contribute to a civic education program for schoolteachers. My teaching philosophy emphasizes the relevance of theory to practice and promotes dialogue-based learning.

I am a co-author of the monograph Politics and Morality: An Ontological Perspective (2022). From 2022 to 2024, I conducted a postdoctoral research project at Vytautas Magnus University on the phenomenology of self-sacrifice in the thought of Hannah Arendt and Jan Patočka. I am also involved in projects related to political phenomenology, organize academic conferences, and am an active member of several scholarly associations. My academic work has been published in peer-reviewed journals in Lithuania and internationally, including the Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology. I have also translated works by Arendt, Oakeshott, Leo Strauss, and Alasdair MacIntyre into Lithuanian.

In addition to academic work, I actively engage in the public sphere. From 2020 to 2023, I created and hosted the radio program Between Past and Future on LRT KLASIKA. I frequently participate in public discussions and contribute articles to Lithuanian and international media outlets, including Eurozine. For my academic achievements, I received the Young Scholar Essay Award (2020) and the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences Award for Best Young Scholar (2024). I also serve as a member of the BA program “Politics of Global Challenges” at VU TSPMI.

National and international awards

Best Young Scholar Publication 2019-2020: ‘Moral Foundations of Arendt’s Concept of Politics’ (Lithuanian Philosophical Society).

Research projects and grants

1. “The modern problem of the relationship between morality and politics: the challenge for Western and Lithuanian philosophy”, project participant, 8 March 2021 – 31 December 2022, agreement No. S-MOD-21-6, Research Council of Lithuania.
2. “Politics, Ethics, and Phenomenology of Sacrifice in the Works of Hannah Arendt and Jan Patočka”, postdoctoral fellow, 3 November 2022 m. – 2 November 2024, agreement No. S-PD-22-34, Research Council of Lithuania.
3. „Phenomenological Concept of Sedimentation and its Application”, project participant, 1 April 2022 – 31 March 2025, agreement No. S-MIP-22-17, Research Council of Lithuania.

Selected conference papers

1. “Patočka on Sacrifice”, Patočka Network Meeting of Editors, Translators, and Researchers, Institute of Human Sciences (IWM, Vienna), 8 November 2024.
2. “Sacrifice and the Meaning of Resistance: Reflections on Jan Patočka’s Philosophy”, international conference Baltic Research Forum, 12-13 October 2023.
3. “The Insufficiency of Athens: Rome and Political Sedimentation in Hannah Arendt’s Philosophy”, international conference Phenomenological Concept of Sedimentation and Its Application, VDU/LKTI, Vilnius, 26-27 September 2023.
4. “Political Sedimentation and the Concept of Work in Hannah Arendt’s Political Phenomenology”, international conference Phenomenological Concept of Sedimentation, VDU/LKTI, Vilnius, 14-15 October 2022.
5. „Pasiaukojimas: raktas į politikos supratimą“, Annual Lithuanian Political Science Conference, IIRPS VU, Vilnius, 8-9 December 2022.