CFP: CFP Special Issue on Genealogy and Political Philosophy in Inquiry

Call for full papers

Special Issue on “Genealogy and Political Philosophy” in Inquiry

Guest Editors: Paul Raekstad (University of Amsterdam) and Janosch Prinz (University of East Anglia)

In recent years, there has been a proliferation of works of and on genealogy by political philosophers and historians of political thought. Recent works of genealogy have been written on topics as diverse as the public/private distinction, the virtues associated with truth and truthfulness, the development of the concept of the state, the development of modern racism, and more. There is also a growing body of work on influential figures who played an important role in developing our understanding of what genealogy is, such as Nietzsche and Foucault, reassessing the nature and goals of their work on genealogy. Finally, a plethora of past thinkers, from Plato to Nozick, are being interpreted as doing genealogies in one sense or another.

However, with this proliferation come several interesting and important questions. What exactly is genealogy? How do we understand past works of genealogy by major thinkers like Nietzsche and Foucault? How is genealogy connected to other forms of critical inquiry – such as ideology critique – and what should be its role in political philosophy more broadly?

Possible topics might include:

1. What is genealogy, and what role should it play in contemporary political philosophy?

2. How is genealogy connected to different forms of philosophical inquiry, such as realism in political thought and ideology critique?

3. Are there different kinds of genealogy, and, if so, what are they and how do they differ in their goals, commitments, and approaches?

4. How is genealogy connected to the search for truth in thinkers such as Nietzsche and Foucault?

5. Can we understand the work of past philosophers as genealogical even when they did not use the term themselves, and what would be the implications of this?

The submission date for full papers is 20 May 2019. The word limit is ca. 8 000 words.

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