CFP: Society for Philosophy in the Contemporary World

We invite submissions for the 25th-annual meeting of the Society for Philosophy in the Contemporary World (SPCW) to be held July 14th-19th, 2018 at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. While we welcome and encourage papers on any topic related to philosophy in the contemporary world (broadly construed), of particular interest are papers that engage with this year’s theme: freedom and society. Given the apparent global trend towards criticism of and dissatisfaction with the Modern political ideal of individual freedom, how should and how can philosophical conceptions of freedom be employed to analyze and impact important social and political issues? 

We welcome papers on all topics, from any and all philosophical traditions. SPCW is especially interested in, and invites contributions by those from historically underrepresented and marginalized backgrounds, as well as anyone working to expand the scope and quality of philosophical discourses beyond the conventional canon. Hence, in addition to established philosophers, we welcome the fellowship of graduate students, nontraditional philosophers, and persons with other non-philosophical specializations. We aim to provide the atmosphere for a genuinely positive and supportive exchange of views. 

Topics to be addressed could include (but are not limited to): 

 Which general philosophical account of political freedom is most plausible? 

 Connections (or lack thereof) between the metaphysical free will debate and ways of thinking of political freedom 

 Implications of the free will debate (perhaps particularly recent work in cognitive science) on the legal system and legal responsibility 

 Defending free societies from authoritarian, nationalist, fascist and other extremist movements 

 The liberation philosophy movement in Latin American thought 

 Reconsidering the limits of free speech (e.g. hate speech) and toleration 

 Democratic, nonviolent, and people’s movements to protect basic human rights 

 New forms of accountability and responsibility for government officials and the media 

 Philosophical analysis of historical and ongoing rights movements in the U.S. in terms of the role played certain understandings of freedom 

Standard submissions: papers with a maximum length of 3,500 words, and an abstract of 100 words or less. Alternative presentation and creative proposals will be given consideration. All submissions circulated for double-anonymous peer-review. Accepted papers presented at the conference will be considered for further review and publication in an issue of the journal Philosophy in the Contemporary World. 

§  Abstracts are due by April 1, 2018

§  Authors of promising abstracts will be notified of preliminary acceptance shortly after submission.

§  Formal acceptance will be contingent upon receiving a full draft of the paper by May 1, 2018

Note to graduate students: SPCW considers all accepted graduate student papers for the annual Joe Frank Jones III Memorial Award for the best graduate student submission. 

Submissions: 

Send submissions prepared for anonymous review including a separate title page identifying the paper title, author name(s), institutional affiliation, and contact email to: Hans Pedersen at [email protected] or Paul Churchill at [email protected].

Questions about the conference site, lodging, registration and other details should be sent to: 

Eric Grey at [email protected] or Christian Matheis at [email protected]