Dictionary of Untranslatables

Fernando J. Santoro Moreira (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro)

3rd International Colloquiumin Contemporary Philosophy and Culture

Global Cultural Encounters: Impacts and Inspirations

June 8 (Thursday)-10 (Saturday), 2023

Organizer

Society for Philosophy as Global Conversation (https://philogc.org)

Hosted by

Capacete International Art Residency, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

in conjunction with

the Society for Philosophy as Global Conversation

On the Idea of the Colloquium

What would be a global cultural encounter? One more obvious way to think of it is that it is an encounter of different cultural traditions from around the globe, which becomes particularly significant if it results in some productive impact. A less obvious way to think of it would be that it is an encounter within the same cultural tradition, which results in a cultural impact of global significance. To be sure, such impacts may vary in effects, of which inspirations are of particular interest, as they stimulate creativity, originality, and productivity in any form of culture. They thus enhance and are true signs of the conversation between the cultural traditions and between cultures in the broadest of senses.

We find numerous examples of both of these kinds of encounters almost everywhere in culture, including in philosophy, literature, and art.

Speaking about philosophy, Plato is said to have learned the story of the transmigration of the soul – one of his key doctrines – while traveling to Egypt. This notion, however, which has been also attributed to Pythagoras and to Orphic and Thracian belief systems, appears to be older in Hinduism and other worldviews in South Asia, thus raising questions about possible interactions between these cultures. For his part, Aristotle, in addition to his fundamental influence on Western philosophy and Christian theology, has left his tangible mark also on early Islamic theology. In a different vein, Nietzsche’s reading of Hinduist laws of Manu (Manusmriti) has affirmed his view of spirituality as the highest natural rank in the ways of humanity. Whereas their reception of key Westernthinkers enabled Japanese philosophers like Kitarō Nishida, Tanabe Hajime, Nishitani Keiji, and Watsuji Tetsurō to come up with new perspectives on both Western and Eastern intellectual and spiritual traditions. Examples of this kind of encounters abound in the rest of culture as well. Paul Gaugin’s stay in Tahiti, Lafcadio Hearn’s move to Japan, Charlie Chaplin’s trip to Bali, Marguerite Duras’ move from Indochina to France, or Amélie Nothomb’s return to Japan, to list just a few, all inspired artistic and literary output that bears the marks of one culture left its stamp on another.

Of the second kind of encounters, in philosophy we most immediately find the one of Plato and Aristotle, which very much defined – even if in divergence – its problematic of interest for millennia to come. In fact, in the Western philosophy such encounters have become its cornerstones and can be traced in terms of influences, such as Aristotle on Aquinas; Hume on Kant; Hegel on Marx; Marx on the Frankfurt School; Kierkegaard and Nietzsche on Heidegger; Wittgenstein on neopositivists, Husserl on Heidegger and Derrida; Heidegger on Sartre, Levinas, Derrida, and Rorty; Nietzsche on Foucault; or Freud, Lacan, Foucault, and Derrida on literary criticism and feminist thought, among many others. They abound also in the rest of the culture, with influences such as Matisse on Picasso; Picasso and Braque’s cubism on contemporary art; Bauhaus on architecture and visual arts;A. Warhol and R. Lichtenstein on pop art; Stravinsky on contemporary classic music; or V. Nijinsky, M. Graham, and M. Plisetskaya on contemporary dance, being only some of the examples.

In this sense, the topics of interest to the colloquium can be related but not limited to,

- Phenomenology, existential philosophy, post-structuralism

- Metaphilosophy, pragmatism, and communicative action

- Language, thinking, and technology

- Critical theory, literature, and art

- Ethics, religion, and spirituality

- Power, politics, and economics

- Race, gender, sexuality, identity

- Refugees, strangers, and outcasts

- Community building, inclusion, and integration

- Human person, health, and self-creation

- Globalization, multi-culturalism, and the meaning of nationality

- Trans- and cross-cultural horizons

- Environment, common concerns, and common solutions

- Radicalization, Populism, and Extremism

- Poverty, Gentrification, and Biopolitics

*Conference organizers will consider the completed academic articles of the conference presentations for publication (after a review process) in the next issue of Global Conversations: An International Journal in Contemporary Philosophy and Culture, an online open-access academic journal inaugurated after the first conference of the Society for Philosophy as Global Conversation in March, 2018.

*Target Audience: philosophers, faculty and students from related disciplines (e.g. humanities, social sciences, literature, art, journalism), artists, writers, as well as representatives of any area of creative endeavor, with interests in cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary dialogue and research.

*Conference Fee: €30.

* An optional cultural program and conference dinner will be organized.

Abstract Submissions

We invite academic and art-project abstract-proposals within 300 words at [email protected] by April 10, 2023 (with early submission encouraged). Artists who would like to participate in an art show could present one to three pieces of work. Performing artists are asked to limit their act to 45 min; filmmakers to 2 hours.

* Selected participants are asked to register at  https://forms.gle/huDXikLXbqAbu8if6