CFP: CFP: The Vocation of the Human Being in Modern German Philosophy and New Book Series

Bloomsbury Studies in Modern German Philosophy: New Approaches to the Enlightenment Era

Edited by Courtney D. Fugate and Anne Pollok.

Call for Papers - Volume 1: The Vocation of the Human Being

Bloomsbury StudiesMGPh is a double-blind, peer-reviewed, biennial publication and part of the Bloomsbury Series in Modern German Philosophy. The SeriesMGPh publishes monographs, translations and exceptional collections relating to German philosophy stretching roughly from Christian Thomasius to Immanuel Kant. It aims to deepen our understanding of both the unity and the diversity of the German philosophical tradition, as well as of the connections between this tradition and other developments in the modern period. 

The goal of Bloomsbury StudiesMGPh is (1) to provide an additional forum for publishing the best scholarship in modern German philosophy, (2) to encourage research into specific and neglected topics as well as hitherto marginalized figures, (3) to encourage scholarly work related to translations that appear in the general series.

This first volume focuses on the “The Vocation of the Human Being,” which encapsulates one of the most characteristic, prominent, and longstanding debates in modern German philosophy. Although inchoately present in earlier thinkers, this theme first garnered public attention in 1748 with the publication of Johann Joachim Spalding’s Consideration of the Vocation of the Human Being (Betrachtung über die Bestimmung des Menschen, later shortened simply to Die Bestimmung des Menschen), which was reprinted eleven times during his lifetime, and provided the basis for discussion until Johann Gottlieb Fichte’s key work of 1800 by the same title. Between the publication of these two books, nearly every major German philosopher addressed the theme of the vocation of the human being, and around it sprang up numerous debates both public and private, as well as spin-off discussions like those about the vocation of women, and the relationship between the vocation of the species and that of the individual.

This inaugural volume of Bloomsbury StudiesMGPh will consist of both invited papers and those accepted after peer-review. Future editions will consist of peer-reviewed papers only. Invited contributors to this volume include: Paola Rumore, Reinhard Brandt, Ansgar Lyssy, Laura Macor, Reed Winegar, Allen Wood, and David Wood.

The editors of the Bloomsbury StudiesMGPh are pleased to invite the submission of papers for this first edition. Submissions may address the topic “The Vocation of the Human Being” through reference to any authors within the German philosophical tradition, broadly defined, dating from approximately 1600 until 1800. Any contributions concerning figures outside of this date-range will be considered in view of the strength of their relation to modern German philosophy. Submissions will be evaluated based upon their intrinsic scholarly merit, but those dealing with hitherto neglected aspects of this topic or marginalized authors (particularly other than Immanuel Kant) will be given preference.  

Deadline for papers: November 15th, 2020 (max. 10,000 words). Papers should be sent to: [email protected]. Please abide by the word limit and take care to remove all identifying marks. Please also provide a separate cover sheet listing name, title of the paper and the author’s contact information. The final manuscript will be delivered to the publishers by February 1st, 2021.

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New Book Series from Bloomsbury Academic

Bloomsbury Series in Modern German Philosophy: New Approaches to the Enlightenment Era

Edited by Courtney D. Fugate and Anne Pollok.

The Bloomsbury SeriesMGPh publishes monographs, translations and exceptional collections relating to German philosophy stretching roughly from Christian Thomasius to Immanuel Kant. It aims to deepen our understanding of both the unity and the diversity of the German philosophical tradition, as well as of the connections between this tradition and other developments in the modern period. The flagship publication of the Bloomsbury SeriesMGPh is Bloomsbury Studies in Modern German Philosophy, a double-blind, peer-reviewed, biennial publication with the threefold goal (1) of providing an additional forum for publishing the best scholarship in modern German philosophy, (2) of encouraging research into specific and neglected topics as well as hitherto marginalized figures, (3) of encouraging scholarly work related to translations that will appear in the general series.

For instructions on how to submit a proposal for a monograph, translation or collection to appear in this series please contact the editors at: [email protected].