CFP: When Language Falls Silent: Ancient and Comparative Perspectives on the Ineffable

Call for Abstracts

International Conference

When Language Falls Silent: Ancient and Comparative Perspectives on the Ineffable

Universidad de Valladolid, Spain — 29–30 June & 1 July 2026

Description

Are there realities that lie beyond the reach of words? Across cultures and centuries, philosophers, mystics, and poets have struggled with the paradox of the ineffable: the God of Abrahamic faiths, the Dao of Chinese philosophy, the Buddhist notion of ultimate reality, or the ungraspable realm of quantum physics. Ancient Greek philosophy is often portrayed as the champion of clarity and rational discourse. Yet Greek thinkers themselves frequently approached the boundaries of language, logic, and thought, asking how far reason can reach—and what lies beyond it.

This conference seeks to explore how ancient philosophers, from Plato and Aristotle to the Neoplatonists, engaged with the ineffable. Rather than always relying on logical principles, they sometimes put them to the test or complemented them with other strategies—developing aporias, using images and analogies, turning to poetry, and even invoking silence as a way of approaching what lies beyond discursivity. These approaches reveal that the question of what cannot be spoken is not foreign to ancient philosophy, but integral to its development.

We also encourage comparative perspectives that connect Greek philosophy with other traditions—Christian theology, medieval thought, intercultural philosophy, and modern or contemporary debates. How do logic, image, poetry, and silence combine in attempts to speak of what resists language?

By bringing together scholars of ancient philosophy, comparative studies, and modern and contemporary philosophy of language, this conference aims to open a dialogue across cultures and centuries on the limits of language and the presence of the ineffable.

Practical Information

• Languages of submission: English, Spanish, French.
• Presentation length: 30 minutes + 15 minutes discussion.
• Submission deadline: 1 December 2025.
• Notification of acceptance: 31 January 2026.
• Submission guidelines:
• Abstract of max. 400 words, anonymized.
• Separate document with name, institution, position, and contact details.
• Email subject line: CFP LoL
• Send to: [email protected]

Organization & Support

This event is supported by:

• The research project LoL – Los límites del lenguaje en la filosofía griega antigua: no contradicción, identidad e inefabilidad (PID2022-139027NA-I00), funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 / FEDER, EU.
• Department of Philosophy, Universidad de Valladolid.
• Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, Universidad de Valladolid.
• Research group Ciencia y Arte en Filosofía.