CFP: Emotions, Reasons, and Rational Agency

The Philosophy Graduate Student Association at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville invites abstracts from graduate students and postdoctoral scholars in philosophy and other relevant disciplines for its sixth annual conference, “Reasons, Emotions, and Rational Agency,” to be held on March 25-26, 2023. We are excited to announce that our keynote speaker will be Dr. Andrea Scarantino from Georgia State University. 

The theme of the conference is at the intersection of philosophy of psychology, epistemology, and ethics. We also encourage those who are engaging in relevant interdisciplinary scholarship with neuroscience, animal studies, and psychology to submit abstracts for consideration. In addition, we welcome submissions from non-Western, non-traditional philosophical approaches. Philosophical questions to engage with might include:

• What is the relationship between emotions and reasons?  

• Is rational agency possible without emotional regulation? 

• What is the relation between epistemic warrant and emotions? 

• Are emotions representational? 

• What is the role of emotions in decision making?

• How do emotions influence reasoning in non-human animals? 

• Are moral judgments partially constituted by emotional states? 

• Does a capacity for emotionality impact one’s moral status?

Abstracts of 500–750 words should be formatted for blind review and submitted via email to [email protected] by January 21, 2022. Please include your name, contact information, and disciplinary/institutional affiliation in your email. This event will be held in person, however for presenters who have accessibility needs or public health concerns, we will consider remote presentations. In your submission, please indicate if you require a remote presentation.

Those with accepted abstracts will be notified in early February. Full conference papers (approximately 3000 words) should be prepared for 30-minute presentations and will be followed by discussion. Please direct any questions [email protected] or visit our websitehttp://utkphilgradconference.weebly.com/.