Cave Hill Philosophy Symposium (CHiPS) XI

Cave Hill Philosophy Symposium (CHiPS) 2015

Conversations XI: Identity and Identities

November 11 - 13, 2015

Hosted by the Department of History and Philosophy, The University of the West Indies,

Cave Hill Campus, Barbados

We inhabit a range of identities, some of which are more salient than others in our everyday lives. But what is the ontological foundation of these identities? Are such personal or social identities real? Do identities, whether assigned or assumed, create more problems for our interactions with others and our understanding of ourselves than they solve? More generally, what is going on when we think about identity in different areas? Philosophers once contemplated ‘contingent identities,’ or sought ways to comprehend both ‘manifest’ and ‘scientific’ images in one, or again explored ideas of constitution or supervenience as ways to resolve tensions in metaphysics. Do we have a handle on these issues that can guide thought in different areas of philosophy?

For our eleventh Cave Hill Philosophy Symposium, we seek papers exploring the variety of philosophical issues arising from identity and identities. We are especially interested in papers that examine issues in the metaphysics of identity, and in aspects of social thought: the relationship between group identities and sense of self; what it means to be human; visible identities such as race, gender, disability and non-visible identities such as ethnicity, culture, nation; the body and identity; the ramifications of accepting or rejecting socially constructed identities; and digital identities.

In keeping with the spirit of our conversations, we hope to bring together thinkers operating in and across different cultural and philosophical traditions as well as other disciplines that share a boundary with philosophy.

Abstracts (300-500 words) are due by September 15, 2015. Participants whose abstracts are accepted by the vetting committee will then be required to submit their completed papers via email as an attachment in Open or LibreOffice, Word, or Wordperfect by the firm deadline of October 16, 2015. Further information and some papers from earlier symposia can be accessed from http://cavehill.uwi.edu/fhe/histphil/chips.aspx