CFP: The Armchair on Trial: A Graduate Conference on Philosophical Methodology

The Armchair on Trial
The Vienna Forum for Analytic Philosophy (WFAP) welcomes submissions of abstracts for its 15th annual graduate conference: The Armchair on Trial - A Graduate Conference on Philosophical Methodology

Keynote Speakers:
Hilary Kornblith (University of Massachussets Amherst)
Jennifer Nagel (University of Toronto)
Christian Nimtz (University of Bielefeld) 

Topic:
This year's annual WFAP graduate conference is devoted to debates around philosophical methodology. It is centered around the question of whether philosophy is best done from the philosophical armchair or whether it can and should be done using empirical methods. The conference is focused on the extent to which the emergence of naturalistic approaches and of experimental philosophy (“X-Phi”) pose a problem to ‘traditional’ armchair methods (e.g. consulting intuitions, conceptual analysis, reflective equilibrium, conceptual engineering). We are interested both in work that focuses on individual methods or on the relations between them (e.g. their compatibility).

We aim to bring together early career and advanced researchers in order to discuss questions such as: 

• What is the role of intuition in philosophy?
• What is the role of a priori knowledge in philosophy?
• What is the role of X-Phi in philosophy?
• What is the role of conceptual analysis in philosophy?
• What is the role of conceptual engineering in philosophy?
• What is the role of linguistic and conceptual competence in philosophy?
• What is the role of formal methods in philosophy?
• Is philosophy importantly distinct from other sciences? 
• How can advocates of armchair methods best respond to the challenges raised by X-Phi?
• Are armchair philosophy and X-Phi reconcilable?
• Considering the methodological discussions listed above, are professional philosophers epistemically better positioned for answering philosophical questions than lay people? E.g. Do they have better conceptual competence? Are they expert intuiters?

We welcome submissions that apply these methodological issues to other philosophical debates as case studies. 

If you wish to align your talk with the WFAP's reading circle in preparation for the conference, feel free to check out our readings here:
https://wfap.philo.at/reading-schedule-25-26/

You can take a look at our past graduate conferences here:
https://wfap.philo.at/conferences

SUBMISSION INFORMATION:
– Length: Maximum of 500 words, suitable for a 25-30 min presentation (45 min including Q&A)
– Language: English
– Deadline: 12:00 AM (CEST), February 28, 2026
- Notification of Success: March 15, 2026
– Funding: We aim to provide some funding for all of our invited graduate speakers. You will be asked to provide information on your financial situation if you would like to be considered for funding. In the past, we have been able to provide ca. 200 EUR per speaker. However, this number depends on the pool of accepted speakers.
– Submission: Please submit your abstract using this form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/de/1FAIpQLSf8stXojlfVy9gxhYz51DZu2IBSis7LiLR3z1Ahlsz1utR6Rw/viewform?usp=dialog
It will take some time to complete, so please take this into account before submitting.

Please note that you will be asked to submit your abstract as a raw text and that formatting may be lost. We therefore ask that you do not use foot- or endnotes. You will not be able to submit your abstract as a PDF or Word file. 

All abstracts will be anonymized and reviewed by members of the Vienna Forum for Analytic Philosophy. It should be clear from your abstract which authors and debates your talk will address. Please ensure that you reference them in the bibliography field accordingly. Contributions relating to the work of the keynote speakers are particularly welcome.

We especially welcome and encourage submissions from members of under-represented groups in philosophy! If you are a member of such a group, you will be able to indicate this in the submission form. If you have any questions regarding our conference, please do not hesitate to contact Veronika Lassl ([email protected])

We look forward to your submissions!

Cheers,

The Vienna Forum for Analytic Philosophy
(https://wfap.philo.at/)