CFP: Ideal Meanings and Real Contents: The Transcending Ability of Mind and Language

THE INTERNATIONAL PHILOSOPHICAL CONFERENCE

Ideal Meanings and Real Contents: The Transcending Ability of Mind and Language

Zagreb, Institute of Philosophy

November 5th– 7th, 2026

CALL FOR PAPERS

One of the hallmarks of modern philosophy is its treatment of meanings – both of thoughts and linguistic (symbolic) expressions – as “ideal” or “abstract,” in contrast to the “real” or “concrete” character of entities that convey them. Although this view emerged already in the early 19th century, most notably in Bolzano’s work, it was articulated most clearly by Frege and became central to his “antipsychologistic” stance – a programmatic position adopted by many German speaking philosophers around 1900. While enthusiasm for ideal meanings declined in the decades to follow, both phenomenologically and analytically minded thinkers retained a deep interest in the objectifying capacity of language and consciousness. Following Brentano, they started to address this capacity by a common label – intentionality. Yet the shared term conceals important differences: for instance, it has become customary to treat linguistic meanings and the meaningfulness of our experiences as distinct phenomena, each giving rise to specialized fields of inquiry. The conference Ideal Meanings and Real Contents: The Transcending Ability of Mind and Language aims to trace these diverse approaches to their common philosophical roots and to consider the current controversies from a broader perspective. We therefore invite paper proposals addressing both historical interpretations and contemporary debates on intentionality across disciplines such as philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, logic, metaphysics, epistemology, and cognitive science.

Confirmed keynote speakers: - Johannes Brandl (University of Salzburg) - Katalin Farkas (Central European University, Vienna) - Srećko Kovač (Institute of Philosophy, Zagreb) - Alberto Voltolini (University of Turin)

Official language of the conference is English.

Deadline: Those interested to present a paper, should submit their 200 to 400 words abstract in English no later than August 1, 2026 to: [email protected]

Conference fee is 100 euros. Those whose abstracts are accepted for the conference presentation should pay the fee no later than September 15, 2026.

Organising committee: Gabriela Bašić Hanžek (University of Split), Dušan Dožudić (Institute of Philosophy, Zagreb), Ljudevit Hanžek (University of Split), Tomislav Janović (University of Zagreb), Davor Pećnjak (Institute of Philosophy, Zagreb), Ivan Restović (Institute of Philosophy, Zagreb), Dario Škarica (Institute of Philosophy, Zagreb/University of Split)