CFP: [Deadline extended] National Taiwan University Philosophical Review: Special Issue on Arguments in Philosophy of Religion

National Taiwan University Philosophical Review

Call for Papers for Special Issue on Arguments in Philosophy of Religion

Guest editors: Graham Oppy, Lok-Chi Chan

This special issue accepts original articles or commentaries on Graham Oppy's lead article, "Good Argument". Short commentaries on the lead article are welcome.

I.             Introduction

Established in 1971, the National Taiwan University Philosophical Review is a peer-reviewed journal published by the department of philosophy at National Taiwan University ( http://review.philo.ntu.edu.tw/?hl=en ). This special issue on Arguments in Philosophy of Religion is co-organized by the journal and the Center for Traditional and Scientific Metaphysics (TSM) at National Taiwan University, and is originated from the latter’s Analytic Philosophy of Religion in Asia (APRA) project. The APRA project aims to promote the development of the Asian community of the analytic philosophy of religion and its connection with the rest of the globe, and it has organized multiple international conferences, seminar series, and publication projects.

The topic of religion has been debated extensively in analytic philosophy by believers and nonbelievers alike, such as Russell, Wittgenstein, Ayer, and their successors and opponents. But an important question in philosophy, especially analytic philosophy, is what really constitutes a genuine philosophical argument. Some possible relevant questions include (but are not exclusive to):

(a)  Why should we expect that an argument could convince a philosophical opponent or a neutral bystander, no matter how reasonable and sound it seems to ourselves?

(b)  What are the conditions that must be met by a convincing argument, especially when your targets have fundamental disagreements with your basic worldview and methodology?

(c)  Do the cosmological arguments, teleological arguments, arguments from evil, arguments from hiddenness, and the like, even if apparently sound, really work as intended?

(d)  Can we expect the success of any such argument? 

(e)  Does the consideration of religion or the transcendent make the case special?

Several internationally renowned philosophers of religion were invited to contribute to this special issue.

II.            Submission

1.    This special issue accepts English submissions only.

2.    This special issue accepts two kinds of submissions: (a) original articles and (b) commentaries on Graham Oppy’s lead article.

3.    For Oppy’s lead article, ‘Good Argument’, see: https://reurl.cc/x9GXRV  . If there are a sufficient number of commentaries, Graham Oppy will offer a response to commentators.

4.    The word limit is 7000 words. Short commentaries on the lead article are welcome.

5.    Submission deadline: 20 Mar 2023.

6.    Submissions should be sent in Microsoft Word format to [email protected] and [email protected] , with the title ‘Submission to Arguments in Philosophy of Religion’.

7.    Please send you submission along with a title, an abstract of 500 words, a maximum of 5 keywords, together with a separate document containing your name, brief CV, institute, position, address, phone number, and email.

8.    Apart from the instructions outlined above, any submission should in principle follow the regulations of a standard journal submission.

9.    If the submission number exceeds the possible slots of this CFP, the editorial board of the NTU Philosophical Review may assign a submitted article to another issue upon the author’s agreement.

10.For any questions, please contact Lok-Chi Chan at [email protected]

III.          The guest editors

Graham Oppy is Professor of Philosophy at Monash University, Australia and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, and served as the chair and CEO of the Australasian Association of Philosophy. He is currently the chief editor of the Australasian Philosophical Review, and serves on the editorial boards of Australasian Journal of Philosophy, Philosophy Compass, Religious Studies, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion and Sophia.

Lok-Chi Chan is Associate Professor of Philosophy at National Taiwan University. He currently serves as the CEO of the NTU Center for Traditional and Scientific Metaphysics (TSM) and the Secretary-General of the Taiwan Association for Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science and Technology (LMPST Taiwan).