CFP: Philosophical Schools After 1950

Philosophical Schools After 1950
– International conference (Warsaw, May 9–10, 2022)

The second half of the 20th century witnessed the flourishing of important philosophical schools, mostly in Europe and the Americas. Marxist schools such as the Praxis School, the Budapest School, and the Frankfurt School; schools of phenomenology (e.g., in Paris) and of historicism (e.g., in Naples); schools of logic such as the Brazilian School of Paraconsistent Logic and continuators of the Lvov-Warsaw School; Thomistic schools such as Laval School in Canada and the Lublin School in Poland. Some of these schools experienced important evolutions: their topics shifted over time, their members changed, and they even underwent diasporas for political reasons.

Today, 50 years later, philosophical schools seem to have lost momentum. Most philosophy departments around the world hire scholars with highly specialized interests in diverse philosophical areas. This heterogeneity allows departments to present a richer and more attractive didactic offer. Does the current setting of Academia declare the end of philosophical schools? Or can 20th century philosophical schools invite us to reconsider the methods and practices of today’s philosophy, precisely by presenting philosophy as a collaborative endeavor? The study of philosophical schools might foster innovations in philosophy by widening our scientific horizons and academic classifications and expectations.

The conference aims to retrace the origins, works, and vicissitudes of philosophical schools after 1950. The purpose is to understand the nature of philosophical schools in that era, and to investigate whether the notion of philosophical school can still be relevant and useful today to improve philosophical investigations.

The conference topics include the following research questions:

1. What are the essential features of a philosophical school, and what determines its unity and identity (e.g., a linchpin person/teacher, a journal, a location, shared ideas, places, languages)?
2. Is it possible to present models for philosophical schools (e.g., general trajectories of development)?
3. What happened with dissenting opinions within a school? And what about international connections between schools working in the same philosophical area?
4. What current philosophical scholarship and practice can learn from the notion of philosophical school?
5. What is the future of the idea of philosophical schools?

Submission

Abstracts must be written in English and be max 600 words long.

Please send your submissions to: [email protected] by March 10, 2022, the latest.

Notification will be sent the latest by March 17, 2022. Earlier abstracts will receive earlier notifications.

The speakers will be invited to submit a paper for a special issue of Polish philosophical journal Edukacja Filozoficzna that will be edited by the organizers after the conference.

Hybrid Formula

The conference is organized by the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Warsaw and the journal Edukacja Filozoficzna, and will be held at the University of Warsaw Library (Biblioteka Uniwersytecka w Warszawie, see on map), May 9–10, 2022.

It will be possible to take part in the conference and give a talk via Zoom platform.

Practical Details

Conference fee: 70 euro / 300 PLN.

Participants can receive an invoice for this fee, if needed for refund from their institution.

The organizers do not provide accommodation and do not refund travel and accommodation costs.

The organizers provide coffee breaks and lunches.