CFP: Philosophers on Drugs: New Essays in Metaphysics, Epistemology, and Ethics

Details

Call for Abstracts

Philosophers on Drugs: New Essays in Metaphysics, Epistemology, and Ethics

Edited by Rob Lovering, author of A Moral Defense of Recreational Drug Use (Palgrave Macmillan)

Abstracts are sought for an edited volume of philosophical essays examining what the fact of drug-induced mind-altering experiences tells us about various metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical issues.  The resultant essays should be clear, rigorous, and intellectually accessible to college educated individuals.  Regarding the latter, the essays need not be jargon-free, but jargon should be explained when used.  Selected abstracts will be included in a book proposal to be submitted to reputable academic publishers by April 1, 2016.  (I have already received an expression of interest from one such publisher.)   

Possible topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

1.      Metaphysics

Free will: With which of the following does the fact of drug-induced mind-altering experiences comport best: determinism, compatibilism, libertarianism, skepticism, some other account?

Personal identity: With which of the following does the fact of drug-induced mind-altering experiences comport best: the bodily account, the psychological account, the embodied-mind account, some other account?

Ontology: With which of the following does the fact of drug-induced mind-altering experiences comport best: monism or dualism?

2.      Epistemology

Analysis of knowledge: What does the fact of drug-induced mind-altering experiences tell us about the nature of knowledge?

Knowledge instantiation: Does the fact that someone is having a drug-induced mind-altering experience automatically serve as an epistemic defeater?

Sources of knowledge: Might a drug-induced mind-altering experience be required for certain kinds or objects of knowledge?

3.      Ethics

Moral status: What is the moral status of using mind-altering drugs?

Legal status: Should the use of mind-altering drugs be legally prohibited?  Decriminalized?  Legalized?

Contributor Guidelines

1.      Send an abstract (100-500 words) and curriculum vitae to [email protected] by February 1, 2016.

2.      Authors of accepted abstracts will be notified by March 1, 2016.

3.      Assuming a sufficient number of abstracts are submitted and accepted, a book proposal will be submitted to publishers by April 1, 2016.