Anscombe: Contributions to the Catholic Intellectual Tradition

Conference to be held on March 15, 2014, at Neumann University, in Aston, PA. Neumann University is located in the greater Philadelphia area.

March 2014 marks the 95th birthday of G.E.M. Anscombe, one of the twentieth-century’s most provocative and highly regarded philosophers.  Many conferences on Anscombe’s work have focused on her contributions to moral philosophy and action theory.

This conference focuses on the question: What are Anscombe’s contributions—actual and potential—to the Catholic intellectual tradition?  We welcome submissions that try to answer this question through an exploration of a wide range of themes from Anscombe’s work.  Possible topics include: just war theory, euthanasia, sex, contraception, chastity, personhood, the soul, the conscience, the will, and the doctrine of double effect.  We are also interested in how her Catholic faith influenced her approach to philosophy and the philosophical issues with which she dealt.  Another area of interest is how her Wittgensteinian approach might enrich Catholic philosophy.

Featured speakers: Candace Vogler, David B. and Clara E. Stern Professor of Philosophy, University of Chicago; and Reverend Dennis J. Billy, John Cardinal Krol Chair of Moral Theology, St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Select proceedings of the conference will be published by Neumann University Press.