CFP: Representation and Evaluation

The Canadian Journal of Philosophy hereby calls for papers on the topic “Representation and Evaluation” for a Special Issue edited by Matt Bedke and Stefan Sciaraffa.

Representation and Evaluation

The volume provides an occasion to explore the role of representation in theories of meaning and mind with special attention to the implications this has for metaethical, or more broadly metanormative, theory. As such, we welcome fresh assessments of the representational purport (or lack thereof) of normative language and thought (e.g., assertions and thoughts concerning oughts, reasons, values, justification and the like). Here is a suggestive, but not exhaustive, list of topics.

·      Defense of a non-representational theory of meaning, such as pragmatism, neo-pragmatism, inferentialism, or global expressivism, and its application to normative language/thought

·      Challenges for non-representational theories of meaning, particularly challenges posed by normative language/thought

·      With an eye toward metanormative implications, clarification of the relationship between representation and various meaning-relevant topics, such as

o   semantic content, extension, truth condition

o   minimalism about truth or other varieties of minimalism

o   quietism about various metanormative matters

o   meta-semantic theorizing

·      Within a generally representational theory of meaning, how to create space for non-representational fragments of language/thought in a way that expands the usual menu of options for metanormative theory (e.g., emotivism, prescriptivism, expressivism)

·      Any other novel insights into the representational purport (or lack thereof) of normative language/thought

The special volume will include about 15 papers. 8 of the papers are invited contributions, so we are looking for an additional 7 papers for the volume.

Submission Guidelines

Submissions (10,000 words maximum) and a brief abstract should be submitted through the Canadian Journal of Philosophy website (http://www.edmgr.com/rcjp/default.aspx). Use the pull-down menu for ‘Representation and Evaluation’. Submissions must be received by June 15th, 2017. Submissions should follow the CJP house style (http://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?show=instructions&journalCode=rcjp20). Inquiries can be sent to Matt Bedke at [email protected] or Stefan Sciaraffa at [email protected].

Invited Contributions

We are happy to say that the following philosophers will be contributing to the volume. 

Matthew Chrisman

David Copp

James Dreier

William FitzPatrick

Anandi Hattiangadi

Terry Horgan and Mark Timmons

Max Kölbel

Laura Schroeter and Francois Schroeter

Joshua Gert