CFP: The Twelfth Annual Cambridge Graduate Conference in Ancient Philosophy: (In)Justice in Ancient Philosophy

Miranda Fricker in the introduction to Epistemic Injustice states that “justice is one of the oldest and most central themes of philosophy, but sometimes we would do well to focus instead on injustice.” This conference seeks to interrogate the notion of (in)justice in the ancient world, and its reception, in the broadest possible way: we wish to encourage broad approaches to the concept of ‘injustice’ and the geographical and temporal limits of the ‘ancient world’. In what ways have ancient thinkers sought to define or ground justice and injustice? How has ancient ethical thought been used to justify just or unjust acts? What injustices are found in the scholarship of ancient philosophy, both historically and within the field today? These are some ways we are hoping participants approach the theme. We encourage postgraduate and early career scholars to apply, as well as applicants from underrepresented groups in ancient philosophy and classics. Our aim is to create space for dialogue that includes those who are often excluded in the bounds of western philosophy.

Potential areas: 

• Ancient perspectives on justice and injustice (where “ancient perspectives” is broadly defined geographically)
• Metaphysical accounts of justice or metaethics in ancient thought
• The reception of ancient ethical accounts 
• Issues of gender, race, imperialism, and citizenship
• Methodological injustices, for instance in canon formation
• Political and sociological context of ancient philosophy 

In order to ensure a wide variety of applicants and speakers from outside the UK and Europe the conference will be hybrid, held virtually on Zoom and in person at the Faculty of Classics in Cambridge on March 17th and 18th 2023. Keynote speakers include Mary Margaret McCabe and Shaul Tor.  

Your paper should be approximately 3000-3500 words (and will be accompanied by a 30-minute presentation), although it need not be in its final form at the time of submission. We ask for both a PDF and a Word document. Please submit the paper, along with an abstract of no more than 300 words to [email protected]. Please write ‘Conference Submission’ in the subject line of your email and include in the body of the email your name, departmental affiliation, other appropriate affiliations (i.e., whether you are a part of an underrepresented group in classics or philosophy), email address, the title of your paper, and, in the case of early career researchers, the year your PhD was awarded. 

Please note that the submission deadline is Sunday, January 15th 2023 . Successful applicants will be notified in mid-January.

CGCAP Conference Organizers,

Ashley Lance 

Andrew Romanowski 

Quinton Gardiner 

Francesco Da Vita 

Yfke Van Der Heijden

Tim Roe 

Kyosuke Katada 

Zuri Biringer

This conference is generously sponored by: The British Society for the History of Philosophy