The 31st conference of the North American Sartre Society will take place October 23–24, 2026, as a “Virtual Zoom Conference”:

Theme:  A.I., Virtual Worlds, and Digital Existentialism: > NASS 2026 Conference Schedule

• How does artificial intelligence reshape our understanding of selfhood, agency, and responsibility?
• Can virtual worlds provide authentic forms of meaning, identity, and community, or are they structurally alienating?
• What does “existence” mean when one’s social, emotional, and creative life is increasingly mediated by A.I. systems and platforms?
• Do A.I.-generated personas and avatars challenge distinctions between authenticity and bad faith?
• How should we understand freedom and choice when algorithmic systems increasingly guide behaviors, desires, and commitments?
• What ethical obligations do creators of A.I. and virtual worlds have toward users’ existential well-being and sense of meaning?

Keynote Speaker: Stefano Guelani

Title: Existential Immersion and Care in Virtual Worlds

Stefano Gualeni is a Full Professor at the Institute of Digital Games, University of Malta. His academic books include Virtual Worlds as Philosophical Tools (Palgrave, 2015), Virtual Existentialism (Palgrave Pivot, 2020, with Daniel Vella), and Fictional Games: A Philosophy of Worldbuilding and Imaginary Play (Bloomsbury, 2023, with Riccardo Fassone). Stefano’s games, essays and philosophical fictions can be found on his webpage at www.gua-le-ni.com

Stefano’s philosophical fictions include The Clouds: An Experiment in Theory-Fiction (Routledge, 2024), What We Owe the Dead (Set Margins‘, 2025), Scholar’s Codex (Tune and Fairweather, 2026), and Errata Corpora (Set Margins‘, forthcoming in 2027)

If youwould like to attend but not be a presenter, they should register and choose „non presenting member of public“ (which is free).