Call for Abstracts
\nInternational Conference
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When Language Falls Silent: Ancient and Comparative Perspectives on the Ineffable
Universidad de Valladolid\, Spain &mdash\; 29&ndash\;30 June &\; 1 July 2026
\nDescription
\nAre there realities that lie beyond the reach of words? Across cultures and centuries\, philosophers\, mystics\, and poets have struggled with the paradox of the ineffable: the God of Abrahamic faiths\, the Dao of Chinese philosophy\, the Buddhist notion of ultimate reality\, or the ungraspable realm of quantum physics. Ancient Greek philosophy is often portrayed as the champion of clarity and rational discourse. Yet Greek thinkers themselves frequently approached the boundaries of language\, logic\, and thought\, asking how far reason can reach&mdash\;and what lies beyond it.
\nThis conference seeks to explore how ancient philosophers\, from Plato and Aristotle to the Neoplatonists\, engaged with the ineffable. Rather than always relying on logical principles\, they sometimes put them to the test or complemented them with other strategies&mdash\;developing aporias\, using images and analogies\, turning to poetry\, and even invoking silence as a way of approaching what lies beyond discursivity. These approaches reveal that the question of what cannot be spoken is not foreign to ancient philosophy\, but integral to its development.
\nWe also encourage comparative perspectives that connect Greek philosophy with other traditions&mdash\;Christian theology\, medieval thought\, intercultural philosophy\, and modern or contemporary debates. How do logic\, image\, poetry\, and silence combine in attempts to speak of what resists language?
\nBy bringing together scholars of ancient philosophy\, comparative studies\, and modern and contemporary philosophy of language\, this conference aims to open a dialogue across cultures and centuries on the limits of language and the presence of the ineffable.
\nPractical Information
\nOrganization &\; Support
\nThis event is supported by:
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