CFP: Otherness

Otherness

Conference of the Society for the Phenomenology of Religious Experience

November 17-19, 2026

Université catholique de Louvain (UC Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium)

https://sophere.org/upcoming-conferences/

Call for Papers

The Other is distinct from the Self, regardless of whether the Other is accessible to the Self or not–as something that enables self-reflection and revelation through the distance it provides to the Self.  In this way, the Other plays a crucial and multifaceted role within the phenomenological tradition. On one hand, the Other is set in a position counteracting the Self, while still remaining an essential part of the constitution of the Self.  As Husserl showed in Cartesian Meditations,  eliminating the Other from one’s experience would make the constitution of experience impossible. 

Empathy and pairing are always at play in the constitution of the alter ego. Even within mere perception, the alter ego is operating, and therein, the intersubjective sphere is essential both for the constitution of the Self, and to perceive an object as the Self. The Self cannot be understood without intersubjectivity, but, on the other hand, it is through the sense of alienness (Fremdheit) and inaccessibility of the Other, a teleological structure of striving comes into play. Not only is the experience of the Other alien and foreign, but it also initiates a change of perspective in how one sees oneself and the world through setting a teleological regulative idea to be strived for. The experience of the Other enables one to view oneself in a completely new light. This new understanding of the Self, in turn, opens up a new horizon, changing the way everything appears. In short, the Other serves as the means for self-reflection and revelation of the structure of experience itself. The phenomenology of Otherness is important for the studies of the Lifeworld, the Homeworld, and the Alienworld, as well as in the concept of the halo, in understanding indigenous religious experience, in the cultural approaches such as the etic vs. emic, or in the problem of historical Otherness as means to reconstruct historical personality.

We welcome various phenomenologies of Otherness: here, the Other may refer to a human or a non-human subject, to the Divine Person, to any Otherness. We are interested in how the phenomenological understanding of the Other applies to contemporary forms of the Self, e.g., in Girard’s mimesis or Lopes Corvo’s psychoanalytic concept of self-envy. From classical approaches in phenomenology, such as those of Husserl, Levinas, Ricoeur, or Schutz,  to our contemporaries, such as Waldenfels and Steinbock, development of their thoughts from concrete forms of experience to situated and generalizable structures of Otherness can be covered.

The abstracts must demonstrate familiarity with operative or theory-building concepts in phenomenology, and use the framework of phenomenology with sources from within the phenomenological tradition. Possible themes regarding Otherness could be, but are not restricted to: What role does the Other play in uncovering the structure of self-constitution? Is it possible to understand the absolute alterity, or is a common ground necessary? Is ‘overcoming’ Otherness even a fruitful task, and what will this task reveal? How can a singular, united world be referenced, when all testimonies stem from individual perspectives? What is the difference between the Other and an object? Does the sphere of primordiality play an essential role for the research of Otherness? How does one understand the Other from an etic or emic standpoint ? Does Otherness within spirituality differ from pragmatic Otherness? How does one interpret first-person authority and Otherness in cases of cultural transfer?

 Please send abstracts (of max. 500 words) formatted for anonymous reviewing. The abstracts must be written in English and sent to [email protected], and please cc to Miyuki Ono ([email protected]),  by May 15, 2026. We will get back to you on whether your abstract has been accepted by June 5, 2026. If you do not receive an email by this date, please reach out to us. In addition, we intend to publish a volume containing a number of papers from the conference.

Organizers: Sylvain Camilleri, the main contact  ([email protected])

Olga Louchakova-Schwartz ([email protected])

Martin Nitsche ([email protected])

Miyuki Ono ([email protected])