CFP: The 7th Philosophical Workshop

Lodz Philosophical Workshop is an undergraduate and graduate conference organized by the Student’s Organization for philosophy and occidental studies and Lodz department of Polish Philosophical Association. Previous editions of Philosophical Workshop concerned various problems of modern humanities. Two most recent editions, the fifth and the sixth, were focused on, accordingly, virtual reality, aesthethics & gender studies and contemporary practical ethics & value existence. Our Workshop has been always rooted in the vital social and scientific problems. This year we would like to continue that profile. We diagnose a current issue to be the status of philosophy, humanities or thinking in general, and thus we are eager to dialogue with other discipline and its acolytes.

The scope of the 7th Philosophical Workshop doesn’t limit itself to the dream of integration of the Polish Academia. Moreover, we are aiming to eliminate disciplinary boundaries, especially between science, social sciences, humanities, art and engineering. What we intend to pursue is an exploration or invention of common ground for different branches of intellectual endeavor or at least building bridges between them. We believe that philosophy still has a role in doing that or rather is destined to do that. Thinking has never been an abstract contemplation (even though Aristotle held that opinion). Nowadays each field of practical life appeals to a “creative” thinking, be it literary genre experiments, artistic municipal space management, work management or software & game production. There is a need to seize the thought behind it, understand that thought and unravel its processual character.

The main issue at stake is the (disciplinary) localization of thinking and an old philosophical question: what is thinking and who can answer that question?

During the 7th Philosophical Workshop we expect to debate on:

• The question of thinking itself and its urgency;
• The relation of philosophy to herself and to other intellectual activities (i.e. humanities, art, science, technology);
• The crisis of humanities – whether its widely acknowledge existence is temporary or terminal

One can easily see that we don’t impose strict framework for the papers. Hence, it should be stressed that we won’t limit the subjects to claims for interdiscplinary research or nostalgic view on primary role of philosophy. Contemporary philosphical problems are situated on very different levels, not only within general methodology but also on much more spcific ones like philosophy of medicine, philosophy of architecture, theory of technology or philosophical interpretation of physical theories.

We invite all researchers to present their vision of relations between their discipline and philosophy, philosophical reinterpretation of their work or no need for it. We invite philosophers to work on their own position in relation to other human activities and/or defend philosophy’s traditional autonomy.

The 7th Philosophical Workshop is a part of series of meetings that was aiming to unite young philosophers willing to abandon a stereotype of a philosopher who is alienated from the current issues. Philosophers that believe that in philosophy one can find a key to solve them. We assume that there will be a few of thematic sections. Apart from the paper presentation we will organize a series of talks connected with a given section.