Collective Agency in Classical and Continental Philosophy (Vilnius, 2027)

Conference description

It is commonly assumed that individuals, rather than collectives, are the primary agents of action. According to ontological individualism, social phenomena and collective actions are ultimately reducible to the actions and mental states of individuals. In recent decades, however,  philosophers have developed a vibrant debate around collective agency, noting for instance that certain mutual obligations cannot be reduced to individual duties and that groups can exhibit a unity of intention and action beyond the sum of their members. Much of this discussion has taken place within the analytic tradition.

This conference asks what new insights can be gained by turning to classical and continental philosophy to enrich our understanding of collective agency. We believe that these traditions offer rich, as yet underexplored, conceptual resources that can open up fruitful new perspectives on questions of collective intentionality, action, and identity. In doing so, the conference seeks to bridge philosophical traditions that often work in isolation, bringing continental, classical, and analytic thinkers into dialogue around a shared theme. This will be one of the first forums to put figures from phenomenology, hermeneutics, personalism, ancient and classical philosophy in direct conversation with analytic approaches to collective agency – a creative synthesis we hope will break new theoretical ground.

We invite contributions from scholars in continental philosophy (especially phenomenology, hermeneutics, existentialism, personalism, critical theory etc.), classical philosophy (e.g. ancient Greek and Roman thought, medieval philosophy, Neo-Aristotelian and Neo-Platonic traditions), political and social theory, and related areas. Submissions from analytic philosophers that engage with the aforementioned traditions are also welcome.

Possible questions and topics that conference papers might address include, but are not limited to, the following themes:

·      “We” in the individual identity

·      Relational nature of personhood

·      Collectives and ontological unity

·      Categorisation of group agency

·      Group intentions, beliefs, minds

·      Collective emotions

·      Individual duties and virtues in relation to groups

·      Collective justice

·      Groups and moral responsibility

·      Acting together in politics (solidarity, civil disobedience, collective movements)

·      Institutions, corporations, states as unitary agents and minds

·      Collective identity and play, art, culture

·      “We” in the aesthetic experience

Submission guidelines

Submission deadline and acceptance notification

The abstracts must be submitted by Monday 1st June 2026.

The acceptance notifications might be expected after Tuesday 30th June 2026.

Submission procedure

We invite proposals from researchers at every stage of their career and particularly welcome submissions from PhD students and early-career researchers. Abstracts should be submitted as .pdf or .docx files and should not exceed 500 words (without references). Abstracts should contain the title and a short outline of the paper, specifying the main problem, thesis, and the intended line of argument.

Please write ‘Conference Abstract Submission’ in the subject line of your email and include in the email your name, departmental affiliation, email address, short bio.

The abstract must be submitted via email:[email protected]

Paper delivery

All the authors of the accepted papers will be expected to submit their full papers before the conference. Presentations will be 45 minutes long, including discussion. The papers will have to be sent for the conference organizers by Monday 11th January 2027.

Other practicalities

Please note that this is an in-person conference held at Vilnius University, Lithuania.

Lunch and dinner will be provided throughout the conference. Unfortunately, we are unable to cover travel and accommodation costs.

Organisers

This conference is part of the research project “Collective Agency: Towards A Three-Part Philosophical Theory” (No. S-MIP-25-108), funded by the Lithuanian Research Council. Project implementers and conference organisers are Vilius Bartninkas, Simas Čelutka, and Aistė Noreikaitė.