Beyond Function: The Self in the Modern World

Call for Papers

Beyond Function: The Self and the Modern Condition

The French existentialist Gabriel Marcel once diagnosed the defining problem of modernity as the "misplacement of the idea of function." In his famous essay, “On the ontological Mystery,” he describes modern society as essentially empty because it increasingly understands both the world and the person in terms of utility, efficiency, productivity, quantifiable performance, etc. In such a climate, the human person is easily reduced to a collection of functions rather than recognized as a unique and irreducible self. Marcel’s critical analysis of the modern condition as well as those of many of the early existentialist—Martin Buber, Karl Jaspesrs, Martin Heidegger, and even Soren Kierkegaard—raised serious concerns and broader philosophical questions that continue to confront us today, nearly a century later. How does contemporary social, technological, political, and economic structures shape our self-understanding? Do they promote authentic selfhood, or do they encourage forms of alienation that obscure what it means to be human? Do they encourage objectified relationships that engender I-it relations with? Do they promote a self-objectification that leads to mental illness?

This conference invites students and scholars to explore these questions baring on the relationship between the self and the modern world. We seek philosophical reflection upon the nature of selfhood and the ways in which contemporary realities influence our understanding of personal identity, agency, freedom, community, and what it means to live “the good life.” We are particularly interested in papers that examine how modern technological, scientific, philosophical, social, political, or religious developments contribute to—or challenge—our understanding of the self and the conditions of a good, meaningful, and fulfilling human life. Deeper philosophical reflection on the self enables us to reconsider or re-envision not only who we are, but also what kinds of conditions are necessary for genuine human flourishing. We welcome papers that creatively engage these questions from historical or contemporary perspectives, or that draw upon interdisciplinary approaches illuminating the nature of the self in the modern world.

Here are suggested topics:

• What does it mean to be a self in the modern world?
• Can religion provide practical and ontological grounding for the perils of modern existence? Or is the modern world antithetical to the religious/spiritual life?
• What does it mean to flourish? Reconsidering the good life under modern conditions
• Can we still become ourselves? Exploring authenticity, alienation, and meaning
• Are we really autonomous? Agency and the modern self
• Ontology and the transformation of selfhood. Does technology—social media, cars, planes, guns, AI, etc.—change who we are?
• How does artificial intelligence influence human self-understanding?
• Who are we online? Social media and the construction of the digital self
• When does a person become a product? Consumer culture and the commodification of the self
• What would it mean for artificial intelligence to be a self and should we relate to AI?
• What moral issues are most pertinent with the grow of artificial intelligence?
• How does globalization affect culture and personal identity?
• What can existentialism and phenomenology teach us about being a self?
• What have we learned about the self? Classical, modern, and contemporary approaches

We are especially interested in—though not limited to—papers engaging thinkers such as Søren Kierkegaard, Gabriel Marcel, Karl Jaspers, Emmanuel Levinas, Martin Buber, Simone Weil, Charles Taylor, Alasdair MacIntyre, Hannah Arendt, Paul Ricoeur, Edith Stein, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and other philosophers whose work contributes to our understanding of the self, personhood, and the challenges of modern existence.

Abstracts should be 300–400 words and clearly state the paper’s thesis and demonstrate relevance to the conference theme. Paper length should be 10 pages, double-spaced, or in the 3000 words range.

Please send the abstract to [email protected] by 10/14/2026.