Crisis as a Philosophical Category (online)

Online academic conference

Post-conference publication

Publication in English or Polish: Post-conference papers may be submitted to the journal "Kultura i Wartości” (“Culture and Values").

Description and research goals of the conference

"Crisis" is a word that has appeared in public discourse very often in recent years - to such an extent that the term has become perhaps something banal; something we do not pay particular attention to when reading or watching the news; something to which we are largely used to.

In recent years, we have dealt with at least a few global crises, such as the financial crisis of 2007-2008, the crisis related to the pandemic, or the crisis in international relations, the special moment of which is the war in Ukraine. However, there have been and are crises (financial, economic or political) that are difficult to define as philosophically significant. From a philosophical perspective, one can at best say (referring to them in the most general way possible) that they threaten the life and well-being of man, perhaps even all mankind - and not much else. However, we can also mention crises of a different kind, such as a crisis of values, a crisis of culture, a crisis of attitudes and moral patterns, crises related to identity (of people or, sometimes, even of entire communities), or a crisis of traditionally understood social relations. This means, in our opinion, that the word "crisis" is not only one of the most important, though also controversial terms used in contemporary humanities, but also a certain category that defines the reality and times in which we live, defining the man himself as well.

As organizers, we would like to explain the essence of the concept of crisis, paying attention both to its objective aspect (what the crisis is and in what forms it manifests itself) and the subjective aspect (experiencing crisis, awareness of the crisis, attempts to deal with the crisis).

We invite speakers representing various places, various academic centers, as well as various cultural experiences, who wish to examine the crisis as one of the key philosophical concepts and categories that cannot be ignored nowadays, to participate in the conference.

We encourage the use of the transdisciplinary methodology, believing that the discussion and the resulting papers, crossing thematic boundaries, will broaden the research perspective, including different approaches in dialogue with each other, and sometimes also in opposition to each other.

Suggested areas of interest may include, but are not limited to:

• the concept of crisis in Western philosophy and humanities
• crisis in non-European philosophies
• crisis of values (a crisis of values, or rather a crisis in recognizing values?)
• crises related to the community or communities
• crisis in terms of cultural sciences
• crisis in political philosophy
• identity crisis (in psychological terms or taken literally)
• crisis in terms of language studies
• the crisis of spirituality and/or the crisis of religiosity
• culture(s) in crisis
• case studies or comparative studies of historical moments generally referred to as "crisis of civilization"
• crisis as a metaphor; the functions of the metaphor

Submissions

Please send your applications to the following e-mail address: [email protected], by 12 November. Application form is avaiable on the conference web site (link above).

Information on accepting or not accepting the application will be sent by e-mail to the address provided by November 15, 2022.

There are no fees for participating in the conference.

Contact with the organizers

[email protected]