CFP: The Challenge of Natural Teleology: Final Causes from Aristotle to Darwin

The Groningen Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Thought is happy to announce the second edition of the summer school “The challenge of natural teleology: final causes from Aristotle to Darwin”.

The summer school will take place on July 3-6, 2018 at the Faculty of Philosophy, Oude Boteringestraat 52, 9717 GL Groningen

Deadline for registration: 1 June 2018
Deadline for student presentations: 1 May 2018

For further details please consult the website.

Description: Ever since antiquity, the ontological status and explanatory role of final causes has been a central topic of debate in a wide range of domains, from metaphysics and theology to psychology and evolutionary theory. This Summer School focuses on some of the major turning points in the long history of this controversy and explores how philosophers, scientists and theologians reacted to it.

During morning sessions, established scholars in several fields of the history of thought will offer seminars on some of the crucial milestones in the debate concerning natural teleology and final causes. Afternoon sessions will consist of discussions of selected papers presented by students and roundtable workshops on selected texts. The overall aim of this summer school is to foster interactions and discussions among researchers in different stages of their careers, and to generate new suggestions for the ongoing debate.

Advanced bachelor students are especially encouraged to attend and actively participate in the Summer School.

Invited Speakers:

Julia Jorati (Ohio State)
Andrea Gambarotto (Leuven)
Mariska Leunissen (North Carolina at Chapel Hill) 
Stephan Schmid (Hamburg)

This year, the summer school takes place just before the 2018 edition of the HOPOS Conference, which will also take place in Groningen on 9 - 12 July.

The summer school is sponsored by the British Society for the History of Philosophy.