CFP: 37th Annual Conference of Concerned Philosophers for Peace

Concerned Philosophers for Peace (CPP) seeks to find ways to promote peaceful, nonviolent transitions in all arenas of common life, and this year’s conference will focus primarily on emerging military technologies and their effect on the prospects for peace. In the era of the Cold War, nuclear weapons were seen as providing a deterrence to war between superpowers, while pacifists pushed for total nuclear disarmament. The advent of high-tech precision weapons, armed autonomous drones and robots, and cyber-weapons have raised concerns about the risks to civilians and the incentives to wage and continue wars. We are looking for papers that examine moral questions about weapons development and the threat to peace from the proliferation of new technologies around the world.  In addition to the main theme, we welcome papers on any topic related to peace and nonviolence. Submit abstracts of no more than 500 words for papers related to this theme or to the overall mission of Concerned Philosophers for Peace. Possible topics include (but are not limited to):

•       Pacifist Approaches to Emerging Technologies

•       Ethical Challenges of Weapons Development

•       Stopping Proliferation of WMDs

•       Nuclear Terrorism and Blackmail

•       Nuclear Deterrence and Disarmament

•       Pacifist Approaches to Disarmament

•       Keeping Space Demilitarized

•       Technological Advantage and Asymmetric Warfare

•       Ethics of Drone Use in War

•       Potential of Artificial Intelligence for War and Peace

•       Keeping the Peace in Cyberspace

•       Social Media, Propaganda, and Journalism

•       The Culture of Technology and Peace

•       Is Technology Inherently Violent?

•       Using Technology to Create Safe and Peaceful Spaces

•       Technologies for Peacebuilding and Peacekeeping

•       The Future of Pacifism: Science Fiction or Fact?

CPP welcomes submissions from undergraduates, graduate students, professional academics, independent scholars, and anyone willing to present persuasive sound argumentative positions in line with our theme and ethos. We also welcome submissions from a range of fields including philosophy, law, public policy, business, history, religious studies, political science, social science, or related fields. Submissions from teachers, researchers, or practitioners are also welcome, particularly insofar as those presentations could complement the theme of the conference. Concerned Philosophers for Peace is the largest, most active organization of professional philosophers in North America involved in the analysis of the causes of violence and prospects for peace.

Submission Guidelines: Deadline: July 5, 2024

Email your CV and an abstract of no more than 500 words, prepared for blind review to David K. Chan at [email protected]. Write “CPP 2024 submission” in the subject line. Please include your name, institutional affiliation, e-mail address, and paper title in the body of your email. If you are a Graduate or Undergraduate student, please indicate so in your email. **There will be a cash prize for the best Graduate student paper and the best Undergraduate student paper.**