CFP: What We Do: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on the Aims and Methods of Philosophy

EXTENDED DEADLINE

27th January, 2014

CALL FOR PAPERS

What We Do: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on the Aims and Methods of Philosophy

5th International Graduate Conference of the Department of Philosophy of Central European University

Keynote Speakers:

Fabienne Peter (University of Warwick)

TBA

What do we do when we do philosophy? No philosophical discipline can avoid reflecting on this question. First, we wish to make it clearer what we aim for, and what we can aim for at all, when we do philosophy. Second, once we gain a better understanding of our aims, we also wish to know what count as appropriate methods and proper evidence in philosophical reasoning, in descriptive and normative disciplines alike.

How have historical pursuers of philosophy contributed to our philosophical aims, methods, and our understanding of them? Different historical periods and different schools of philosophy interpreted the practical or theoretical aims of philosophy, and their own tasks as philosophers accordingly, in diverse ways. In order to understand better our current aims and methods, we want to know more both about specific historical positions in metaphilosophy, and about ways in which they have influenced contemporary metaphilosophical debates.  

The 5th International Graduate Conference of the Department of Philosophy of Central European University will address these metaphilosophical questions from multiple perspectives. We seek contributions from graduate students on contemporary as well as historical investigations in metaphilosophy. Suitable paper topics include, but are not restricted to, the following:

• Philosophical Realism and Descriptivism vs. Anti-realism and Revisionism
• The Nature of Philosophical Evidence: Intuitions, Thought Experiments and Empirical Data
• Psychologism in Philosophies of Language, Mind and Logic
• Values and Reflection in Moral and Political Philosophy: Reflective Equilibrium and Coherentism
• Phenomenology and the Question of Naturalization and Naturalism
• Rational Reconstruction and Historicity in the History of Philosophy
• Conceptions of Philosophy in Different Historical Periods and in Different Contemporary Schools of Thought
• The Practice of Philosophy: Institutions, Rhetoric, Argumentation, and Progress

We invite papers of max. 3000 words in length that are suitable for a 20-30 minute presentation. Papers accompanied by a max. 200 word long abstract should be prepared for blind review, and submitted in PDF or Word format to [email protected] by the 27th of January, 2014. A separate cover letter should be submitted in PDF or Word format with the following details: name, paper title, institutional affiliation, contact information.

The conference will take place on the 4th and 5th of April, 2014, at CEU’s Department of Philosophy in Budapest, Hungary. Participation in the conference is free of charge. Contributing authors will also be offered free accommodation for the length of the conference.

We welcome inquiries at: [email protected]