CFP: Webs of Kinship: Exploring Environmental Ethics in Japanese Philosophy (The 9th Conference of the European Network of Japanese Philosophy)

Conference Theme: Webs of Kinship: Exploring Environmental Ethics in Japanese Philosophy

Conference dates: 4-6 September 2025

Location: The University of Edinburgh, Scotland

The 9th annual conference of the European Network of Japanese Philosophy (ENOJP) focuses on the question of how to relate philosophical and religious traditions of Japan (Buddhism, Daoism, Shintoism, modern academic thought) to the world philosophical discourse, idioms and structures of thinking specific to Western and other non-Western intellectual traditions. To facilitate this cross-cultural dialogue between Japanese and world philosophies, we will focus on the themes of “nature,” including but not limited to “ecology,” environmental philosophy, and animal ethics. What do we gain or lose in applying Japanese philosophical concepts of nature and living beings to ongoing discussions on ecology and the philosophy of the animal? How do we conceptualize the ongoing environmental problems, affecting our life at the global scale, through philosophical concepts that are always already limited to specific historical and cultural contexts of Japan? How can Japanese philosophy contribute to the discussions on the world philosophical problem? Our 9th annual conference will ask these philosophical questions with the intention of contributing to world philosophical debates, which raise critical questions about the nature from numerous scholarly perspectives.  

Applicants are encouraged to send proposals for individual presentations or group proposals (ideally 3 persons together) to collaborate on a panel. Papers related to the conference’s central topic are particularly welcome, but papers on other aspects related to Japanese thought will also be considered. We encourage participants to approach the general topic in a creative way, keeping in mind that giving a presentation on a topic they are interested in is more important than adjusting the topic of the paper to the general theme.

Deadline of submission: March 31st 2025

Notification of Peer Review: April 14th 2025

Length of abstract: 250-500 words (日本語: 400–700字)

Keywords: Please include 5–10 with your abstract

Languages of the Conference: English and Japanese

Submit to: [email protected]