CFP: Contrasts and contests about philosophy

Submission deadline: October 31, 2014

Conference date(s):
January 12, 2015 - January 14, 2015

Go to the conference's page

Conference Venue:

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Topic areas

Details

Colloquium on ‘Contrasts and contests about philosophy’ at the PSSA Conference 2015

The colloquium on ‘contrasts and contests about philosophy’ will form part of the annual conference of Philosophical Society of Southern Africa (PSSA), Monday 12 – Wednesday 14 January 2015. The colloquium will be run as a special parallel session throughout the conference. There is no additional registration fee for attending this colloquium. It forms part of the PSSA 2015 conference and will be held at the same venue. Find the tab for PSSA 2015 on the NMMU webpage (http://philosophy.nmmu.ac.za). Please check for updates.


Participants are invited to submit multi- and interdisciplinary contributions on questions in and about philosophy. Submissions should focus preferably but not exclusively on Africa. Submissions on the following topics are particularly welcome:

• What is the character and meaning of philosophies dominated by the Western epistemological paradigm in South Africa? (Notably, the label ‘non-Western’ is objectionable to the extent that it positions other philosophies as parodies of Western philosophy. The fact that this has been so historically, and continues in contemporary South Africa underscores the ethical and political objection to the use of ‘non-Western’.)

• The concept of ‘dialogue’ is one of the controversial topics in the unfolding discussions in and about philosophy. Is dialogue possible between diverse philosophical traditions (e.g. Indian, African, Chinese and Western)?

• Is there such a thing as ‘the Western epistemological paradigm’?

• Is there an African philosophical paradigm?

• Why and how do ‘deconstructive’ and ‘reconstructive’ challenges arise in African philosophy?

• The significance of hermeneutics in the philosophy of liberation with special focus on Africa.

• What is the relationship between philosophy and the culture from which it emanates?

• Intellectual decolonisation as a liberation issue in any of the following disciplines: philosophy, religion, theology, psychology, mathematics, medicine, science, economics, politics, environmental ethics, ethics and business ethics.

• Is it important, within the larger society, that philosophy in South Africa or Africa shake off the Western paradigm? Why or why not?

• A critique of “the underside” in intellectual decolonisation as an issue in liberation.

Abstracts of no more than 200 words should reach the conference organisers by 31 October 2014. Please note that the number of presentation slots is limited and that early submission is advisable.

Confirmation of papers accepted for the conference will take place by 15 November 2014. If you require this information at an earlier date, please indicate this to the conference organisers.

The conference organisers are Andrea Hurst and Karen Du Plessis, email: [email protected]

Papers presented at the colloquium may be submitted for publication in a special issue of the South African Journal of Philosophy (SAJP). To be considered for inclusion, full papers must be prepared for anonymous review and submitted to the SAJP online at http://www.edmgr.com/rsph/ where they will be directed to the Guest Editor, Prof Mogobe Ramose. When you are asked to select a
section/category please select the option ‘special edition’.

For more detail please consult the SAJP Call for papers, available on the NMMU Philosophy webpage

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