Stanley Cavell at 100. An International Centennial Conference

Stanley Cavell at 100  An International Centennial Conference  
Paris: 4-5 June 2026 | Organized by Sandra Laugier, Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne  Rome: 8-9 June 2026 | Organized by Piergiorgio Donatelli, Sapienza Università di Roma  Boston: 23-24 October 2026 | Organized by Juliet Floyd, Boston University     

In 2026, we mark the centenary of Stanley Cavell (1926–2026), one of the most original and wide-ranging American philosophers of the twentieth century. Cavell’s work traversed traditional disciplinary boundaries—engaging deeply with philosophy, literature, film, opera, psychoanalysis, politics, and both American and European traditions of thought. In the spirit of his intellectual breadth and transnational sensibility, we are organizing a three-part international conference to celebrate his life, work, and legacy in Paris, Rome, and Boston.

Why This Conference Matters

Stanley Cavell transformed philosophy into an act of acknowledgment—of self, of others, and of the everyday. His writings on skepticism, language, film, and the ordinary remain vital at a time when trust in both language and human connection faces renewed challenges. From Must We Mean What We Say? to The Claim of Reason, from The World Viewed to Pursuits of Happiness, and through his readings of Emerson and Thoreau, Cavell helped redefine the scope and style of philosophical writing and teaching.

His engagement with Wittgenstein and Austin reinvigorated the ordinary language tradition, while his interests in modernism, cinema, and American transcendentalism forged a philosophical voice that responded to—and often transcended—the academic context.

This centennial conference will bring together philosophers, literary scholars, and critics to reflect on Cavell’s legacy and extend the conversations he began.

This call for papers concerns all three installments—Paris, Rome, and Boston—of the Cavell at 100 conference.

Suggested Themes:

We welcome proposals that engage with the following themes or propose new directions for exploring Cavell’s thought.

• Wittgenstein, Austin, and Ordinary Language Philosophy
• Cavell and the Analytic Tradition
• Skepticism and Acknowledgment
• The Philosophy of Film and Popular Culture
• Modernism, Literature, and the Arts
• Music
• Shakespeare and Tragedy
• Psychoanalysis
• Emerson, Thoreau, and American Transcendentalism
• Moral Perfectionism and Ordinary Ethics
• Forms of Life and Anthropology
• Gender and the Feminist Conversation
• Democratic Politics
• The Concept of America

Conference Foci:

Paris will focus especially on Ordinary Language Philosophy, Film, and Popular Culture.

Rome will center mainly on Ethics, Politics, and Forms of Life.

Boston will treat primarily Philosophy and Literature, Tragedy, Music, and the Idea of America.

Some themes—such as skepticism, modernism, the ordinary—cut across all three conferences.