CFP: Boston University Graduate Student Philosophy Conference 2025: Virtues and Vices in Social Contexts: Conflict, Conciliation, and Violence

The philosophy graduate students at Boston University are soliciting papers from graduate students in any area of philosophy for the 10th Annual Graduate Student Philosophy Conference, on “Virtues and Vices in Social Contexts: Conflict, Conciliation, and Violence.” This year’s conference will feature a keynote addressby Professor Mark Alfano of Macquarie University. Professor Alfano has written extensively on ethics, epistemology, and moral psychology, and has published influential work on virtue and vice epistemology, the influence of social and political networks on epistemic agency, and, more recently, problematic sociopolitical phenomena like fanaticism.

In recent years, many philosophers have increasingly turned their attention to the study of troubling phenomena that threaten the fabric of our sociopolitical landscapes, such as polarization, alienation, extremism, conspiracy thinking, and fanaticism, among others. At the same time, other philosophers have undertaken to examine countervailing forces like solidarity, activism, mutual aid, and resistance, which aim to build, repair, and strengthen social bonds. While these phenomena seem to produceopposing effects, they overlap in meaningful ways: ex., the bonds between members of fanatical groups (such as incels) can seem to take the form of solidarity; activist groups (such as the Animal Liberation Front) have been dubbed terrorists by the U.S. government; and the rise of some right-wing extremist groups has been coupled together with growing support and advocacy for (praiseworthy) social causes, such as the fight for social equality and LGBTQIA+ rights, or the fight against sexism, ableism, and racism, among others.

To study this array of phenomena and how they influence one another, some philosophers have drawn on the literatures of virtue and vice ethics, virtue and vice epistemology, and sociopolitical philosophy. In short, they have examined whether these phenomena are best understood through the virtues and vices of the individuals involved or through structural explanations that focus on the historical, social, political, and cultural conditions in which they are embedded. In doing so, philosophers have both engaged with and contributed to the historical and contemporary debates of the corresponding literatures. 

Conversely, in virtue ethics and virtue epistemology, there is growing interest in recognizing virtues and vices as historically and culturally situated concepts. As Alasdair MacIntyre emphasized, virtues, along with their correlative duties and obligations, are intelligible only within the ethical traditions to which they belong. They have their origins in social roles (some of which we may not wish to avow today), and their benefit for an agent depends in part on his general form of life: e.g. we may say the medieval sense of humility is not “missing” from the ancient Greek, nor could it contribute anything to his perfection. Those who find the language of virtues and vices attractive as a framework for ethics or epistemology, then, have reason to consider what aspects of our forms of life a particular virtue or vice depends on, as well as how changes to our social and political circumstances may affect which virtues and vices we recognize as pertinent.

This conference aims to explore the intersections between these literatures to shed light on the role of virtues and vices in social contexts. Thus, this conference will be centered on the intersection of three areas: virtue and vice ethics, virtue and vice epistemology, and social and political philosophy, especially as it relates to social phenomena that disrupt, repair, or strengthen the social order. We will accept submissions in any of these three areas and will be open to different approaches, including, but not restricted to, papers that engage with contemporary literature, papers that take a historical or interpretative approach, and papers that offer some form of meta-analysis.

We welcome contributing papers that address our conference theme, such as (but not limited to) the following questions and topics:

• How political structures can create or deny opportunities for developing and expressing certain moral or epistemic virtues (ex. Can I still be charitable, or express charity, in a society where everyone’s needs are met by the state?)

• Historical studies of the conceptual emergences of specific virtues and vices (ex. When was “envy” first recognized as a vice? How has the concept shifted since then?)

• Comparisons of analogous virtues and vices from different societies, and accounts of their differences (ex. How does the Greek/Platonic virtue of sôphrosune compare to the Hindu/Vedantic virtue of dama?)

• How accounts of virtues and vices from the history of philosophy can help us understand contemporary social and political phenomena (ex. Can Nietzsche’s account of “dogmatism” as a vice help to explain certain undesirable political attitudes today?)

• Sociopolitical critiques of the “standard” list of virtues and vices (ex. Are claims that chastity is a virtue, or lust a vice, inescapably sexist or still defensible?)

• Presenting accounts from the history of philosophy to address questions in contemporary virtue epistemology (ex. Can Maimonides help us to conceive of how epistemic virtues relate to our embodiment?)

• Adapting problems and debates from the virtue ethics literature into contexts of virtue epistemology (ex. Does a “unity of the virtues” thesis hold for epistemic virtues?)

• The role of moral and epistemic virtues in political struggle (ex. To what degree is the courage of individuals necessary for political resistance?)

• The involvement of moral and epistemic vices in the descent into fanaticism, terrorism, and extremism (ex. Is all conspiratorial thinking rooted in epistemic viciousness?)

• What is the connection, if any, between certain epistemic or moral vices (ex., dogmatism or intolerance) and the rise of fascist ideologies across the globe? 

• Do moral or epistemic virtues (ex., tolerance or humility) protect us from endorsing morally perverted positions and responding to the world in ways that obstruct acquiring knowledge? Are dispositions like solidarity or care virtues in this regard? 

• Whether and to what degree organizations, coalitions, states, and other multipersonal entities can exhibit moral or epistemic virtues and vices (ex. When we talk about the “greed” of a certain state, is this merely a claim about the character of its members? If not, what kind of being would a state have to be to exhibit a moral vice?)

• Suggestions about new moral and epistemic virtues that are emergent or called for due to features of our contemporary sociopolitical situation (ex. Are new virtues necessary to navigate a post-globalization world? Are there virtues and vices specific to capitalism?)

Information for Submission:

• Submissions should be in the form of a short abstract (200-250 words) and a full-length paper (4,000-5,000 words). Please include a word count at the top of your submission.

• Papers and abstracts should be prepared for anonymous review. Please omit any self-identifying marks within the body of the documents.

• Authors must be current graduate students in any related disciplines.

• Selected presenters will be given 30 minutes to present and will be assigned a commentator.

• Members of all underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply.

• We are committed to disability justice and creating an access-centered conference. We encourage you to contact us if you have any access needs that require our awareness.

• We hope to provide partial funding for students whose institutions cannot reimburse the expenses and who would otherwise be unable to attend the conference in person.

• Please send any questions to [email protected]

• Submission Link: https://forms.gle/ZXXfCg9gxFZU8KVt9