CONCEPTS OF GOD IN UNDERREPRESENTED RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS
\nNord Luxxor Tambaú\; Hotel
\nJoã\;o Pessoa\, Brazil
\n\nFebruary 6-7 and 12-14\, 2025
\nWebsite: https://www.god-and-consciousness.com/jp-conference
\nRegistration: god.and.consciousness@gmail.com
\n\nDeadline: February 4\, 2025
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\nThe conference "Concepts of God in Underrepresented Religious Traditions" \;will be divided into two parts. \;Online talks \;on \;February 6 and 7\, 2025\, and \;in-person talks \;on \;February 12\, 13 and 14. Both parts will be broadcast via Zoom. \;
\nTo register\, send an email to \;god.and.consciousness@gmail.com\, with the subject line &ldquo\;Registration at the Joã\;o Pessoa Conference&rdquo\; by \;February 4\, 2025. The body of the message should contain the following information: (1) full name\, (2) institution/country\, and (3) type of attendance for the second part of the conference (in-person or online). Attendance will be guaranteed on a first come\, first served basis. There is no fee to attend the conference.
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\nKEYNOTE TALKS
\n- Gods\, devata-s\, and Postcolonial Philosophy of Religion\, Purushottama Bilimoria (University of San Francisco\, USA)
\n- Ghosts\, Gods\, and Spirits in Chinese Discourses on Self-Cultivation\, Leah Kalmanson (University of North Texas\, USA)
\n- Concepts of Divinity in Afro-Brazilian Religious Traditions\, José\; Eduardo Porcher (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro\, Brazil)
\n- Early Chinese Conceptions of Divinity\, Kelly Clark (Ibn Haldun University\, Istanbul)
\n- Sacrality in Indigenous America: Camac and the Everpresent Sacrality of Life in Andean Thought\, Jorge Sanchez-Perez (University of Alberta\, Canada)
\n- Western Models of God and Indian Concepts of the Absolute\, Alan Herbert (Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies\, UK)
\n- Freemasonry as Universal Religion\, Benedikt Paul Gö\;cke (Ruhr University Bochum\, Germany)
\n\n- Concepts of God in African Traditional Religions\, Emmanuel Ofuasia (National Open University of Nigeria\, Nigeria)
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\nTHEORETICAL BACKGROUND
\nAlthough the debates concerning concepts of God have regained considerable momentum in Western philosophy of religion since the 1960s\, they mainly focus on concepts of God emerging out of the Abrahamic religions and the philosophical traditions informed by Western theology. The recipe for these debates is best described as being firmly focused on approaches involving divine attributes. On this view\, a concept of God is first related to a variety of exegetically discovered or philosophically justified attributes apparently worthy of the divine&mdash\;such as perfection\, omniscience\, omnipotence\, eternity\, aseity\, etc. Then\, these attributes\, taken individually or collectively\, are assessed for their adequacy and consistency within a concept of God inasmuch as it can hold up to exegetical or philosophical scrutiny.
\nThere is a growing awareness nowadays that such an approach might conceal and prohibit a culturally sensitive and philosophically adequate appreciation of the numerous concepts of God found in religious traditions outside of the Abrahamic domain. This increasing awareness\, which is part of the motivation beyond what has become known as cross-cultural and global philosophy of religion\, encompasses both the need for and the encouragement of new dialogues between Western philosophy of religion and so-called underrepresented religious traditions.
\nBy "underrepresented religious traditions\," we mean religious traditions that have been largely excluded from the philosophical debate on God throughout the history of philosophy\, especially in the past few decades within analytic philosophy of religion. These traditions include\, but are not limited to: Indian religious traditions\, Confucianism\, Taoism and Zoroastrianism\, Afro-Brazilian and African religions\, and Amerindian and Australian Aboriginal religions. \;
\nRegarding the concepts of God or divinity found in these underrepresented religious traditions\, the following questions might be posed:
\n- Can the concepts of Divine of such traditions be regarded monotheistic in the Western sense of the term? Or are they closer to panentheism\, pantheism\, henotheism or polytheism? \;
\n- What divine properties do the traditions ascribe to their respective divinity or sets of divinity? \;
\n- Can the corresponding concepts of God be described in a consistent way? And Is it sensible to presuppose that they should be describable in such a way? \;
\n- Do any of these concepts of God possess an advantage over Western philosophical accounts of God?
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\nSUBMISSION (Closed)
\nWe invite submissions of contributed papers that address the above questions in relation to specific underrepresented religious traditions. Abstracts must have a maximum of 3000 characters and be written in English. They must be submitted by October 15\, 2024\, through the e-mail god.and.consciousness@gmail.com\, with the subject &ldquo\;Submission to the Joao Pessoa Conference&rdquo\;. In the body of the message\, the author should state whether the paper will be presented in-person or online (preference will be given to in-person presentations). Notification of acceptance will be released on October 21\, 2024.
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\nTHE CONFERENCE
\nThis the second conference of the project &ldquo\;Concepts of God and the Variety of Theisms in Indian Traditions: Towards a Theistic Theory of Consciousness&rdquo\;\, hosted by the Brazilian Association for the Philosophy of Religion and supported by funding totalling $260\,000 from the John Templeton Foundation. \;
\nhttps://www.god-and-consciousness.com
\nIt will be hosted by the Federal University of Campina Grande and will take place at the Nord Luxxor Tambaú\; Hotel.
\nhttps://www.nordhoteis.com.br/hotel-nord_luxxor_tambau-273.html?l=8
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\nPUBLICATIONS
\nSelected papers presented at the conference will be published in a special issue on "Concepts of God in Underrepresented Religious Traditions" of Sophia: International Journal of Philosophy and Traditions\, to be published in 2026.
\nhttps://link.springer.com/journal/11841
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\nORGANIZATIONAL COMMITEE
\n- Ricardo Sousa Silvestre\, Federal University of Campina Grande\, Brazil \;
\n- Dilip Loundo\, University of Juiz de Fora\, Brazil
\n- Gabriel Reis de Oliveira\, Saint Louis University\, USA
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\nSCIENTIFIC COMMITEE
\n- Anand Vaidya\, State University of San Jose\, USA
\n- Ananya Barua\, University of Delhi\, India
\n- Benedikt Paul Gö\;cke\, Ruhr University Bochum\, Germany
\n- Joanna Leidenhag\, University of Leeds\, UK
\n- Monima Chadha\, Monash University\, Australia
\n- Rodrigo de Azeredo Grü\;newald\, Federal University of Campina Grande\, Brazil \;
\n- Swami Medhananda\, UCLA and University of Southern California\, USA
\n- Timothy O'Connor\, Indiana University\, USA
\n- Yujin Nagasawa\, University of Birmingham\, UK
ORGANIZER;CN=Ricardo Silvestre: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR