CFP: 2nd Pan-American Symposium on the History of Logic

2nd Pan-American Symposium on the History of Logic

Existence and Nonexistence 

University of California, Los Angeles

June 20–23, 2023

We are pleased to announce the second meeting of the Pan-American Symposium on the History of Logic, to be held at the University of California, Los Angeles (and online), from June 20–23, 2023. 

The symposium is intended to bring together specialists from all over the world, and in any academic discipline, to share their research on any and all traditions in the history of logic, from the distant to the recent past, anywhere on the globe, and in all linguistic contexts. Each meeting will focus on a chosen general theme central to logic, with the aim of offering a comparative picture of that topic’s treatment throughout history. For information on the previous symposium, see: https://philosophy.ucla.edu/event/pan-american-symposium/

The theme for the upcoming meeting is Existence and Nonexistence. Topics may include existential import, empty reference, logical and linguistic puzzles involving fictional / imaginary beings, modality and existence, vacuous inference, nominalism, quantification, negation, contradiction, and much more. We welcome approaches that draw connections between the logical and metaphysical treatments of these and related subjects. 

This year’s event is dedicated to the memory of Terence Parsons, who made groundbreaking contributions to the study of nonexistent objects and medieval logic. For a memorial notice, see: https://philosophy.ucla.edu/in-memoriam-terence-parsons/

We especially welcome submissions engaging directly with Parsons’s work. 

The symposium will have a hybrid (in-person and online) format, with all presentations live streamed through Zoom. 

Those who wish to attend without presenting (whether in person or online) should register in advance by emailing the organizers at [email protected]. Zoom links will be made available to all registered participants shortly before the event. 

Those who wish to present should send proposals to [email protected] as anonymous abstracts (maximum 500 words) and a separate title page by January 15, 2023. The title page should include: title, name, institutional affiliation, email, and an indication of whether you would like to present in person or remotely.

Presentations should be 30–35 minutes long, after which there will be a 10–15 minute discussion.

We particularly encourage submissions by scholars from underrepresented groups in academia and on underrepresented traditions or figures in the history of logic.

We hope to communicate decisions by February 15, 2023.

Lodging will be provided for all in-person presenters. Some funding may be available to help defer travel costs.

Selected papers will be considered for publication in a collected volume.

For further information, contact the organizers at [email protected]. You may also contact us individually at:

Graziana Ciola: [email protected]

Milo Crimi: [email protected]

Calvin Normore: [email protected]