Conference description
\nIt is commonly assumed that individuals\, rather than collectives\, are the primary agents of action. According to ontological individualism\, social phenomena and collective actions are ultimately reducible to the actions and mental states of individuals. In recent decades\, however\, \; philosophers have developed a vibrant debate around collective agency\, noting for instance that certain mutual obligations cannot be reduced to individual duties and that groups can exhibit a unity of intention and action beyond the sum of their members. Much of this discussion has taken place within the analytic tradition.
\nThis conference asks what new insights can be gained by turning to classical and continental philosophy to enrich our understanding of collective agency. We believe that these traditions offer rich\, as yet underexplored\, conceptual resources that can open up fruitful new perspectives on questions of collective intentionality\, action\, and identity. In doing so\, the conference seeks to bridge philosophical traditions that often work in isolation\, bringing continental\, classical\, and analytic thinkers into dialogue around a shared theme. This will be one of the first forums to put figures from phenomenology\, hermeneutics\, personalism\, ancient and classical philosophy in direct conversation with analytic approaches to collective agency &ndash\; a creative synthesis we hope will break new theoretical ground.
\nWe invite contributions from scholars in continental philosophy (especially phenomenology\, hermeneutics\, existentialism\, personalism\, critical theory etc.)\, classical philosophy (e.g. ancient Greek and Roman thought\, medieval philosophy\, Neo-Aristotelian and Neo-Platonic traditions)\, political and social theory\, and related areas. Submissions from analytic philosophers that engage with the aforementioned traditions are also welcome.
\nPossible questions and topics that conference papers might address include\, but are not limited to\, the following themes:
\n·\; \; \; \; \; \; &ldquo\;We&rdquo\; in the individual identity
\n·\; \; \; \; \; \; Relational nature of personhood
\n·\; \; \; \; \; \; Collectives and ontological unity
\n·\; \; \; \; \; \; Categorisation of group agency
\n·\; \; \; \; \; \; Group intentions\, beliefs\, minds
\n·\; \; \; \; \; \; Collective emotions
\n·\; \; \; \; \; \; Individual duties and virtues in relation to groups
\n·\; \; \; \; \; \; Collective justice
\n·\; \; \; \; \; \; Groups and moral responsibility
\n·\; \; \; \; Acting together in politics (solidarity\, civil disobedience\, collective movements)
\n·\; \; \; \; \; \; Institutions\, corporations\, states as unitary agents and minds
\n·\; \; \; \; \; \; Collective identity and play\, art\, culture
\n·\; \; \; \; \; \; &ldquo\;We&rdquo\; in the aesthetic experience
\nConfirmed keynote speakers:
\nThornton Lockwood (University of Florida)
\nSophie Loidolt (TU Darmstadt)
\n\nSubmission guidelines
\nSubmission deadline and acceptance notification
\nThe abstracts must be submitted by Monday 1st June 2026.
\nThe acceptance notifications might be expected after Tuesday 30th June 2026.
\nSubmission procedure
\nWe invite proposals from researchers at every stage of their career and particularly welcome submissions from PhD students and early-career researchers. Abstracts should be submitted as .pdf or .docx files and should not exceed 500 words (without references). Abstracts should contain the title and a short outline of the paper\, specifying the main problem\, thesis\, and the intended line of argument.
\nPlease write &lsquo\;Conference Abstract Submission&rsquo\; in the subject line of your email and include in the email your name\, departmental affiliation\, email address\, short bio.
\nThe abstract must be submitted via email:cola.conference2026@gmail.com
\nPaper delivery
\nAll the authors of the accepted papers will be expected to submit their full papers before the conference. Presentations will be 45 minutes long\, including discussion. The papers will have to be sent for the conference organizers by Monday 11th January 2027.
\nOther practicalities
\nPlease note that this is an in-person conference held at Vilnius University\, Lithuania.
\nLunch and dinner will be provided throughout the conference. Unfortunately\, we are unable to cover travel and accommodation costs.
\nOrganisers
\nThis conference is part of the research project &ldquo\;Collective Agency: Towards A Three-Part Philosophical Theory&rdquo\; (No. S-MIP-25-108)\, funded by the Lithuanian Research Council. Project implementers and conference organisers are Vilius Bartninkas\, Simas Čelutka\, and Aistė Noreikaitė.
ORGANIZER;CN=Vilius Bartninkas: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20261115T003731Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Vilnius:20270601T000000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Vilnius:20270601T000000 SUMMARY:Collective Agency in Classical and Continental Philosophy (Vilnius\, 2027) UID:20261115T165516Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@fe80:0:0:0:244d:cdff:fe82:b4b2%3 TZID:Europe/Vilnius LOCATION:Vilnius\, Lithuania DESCRIPTION:Conference description
\nIt is commonly assumed that individuals\, rather than collectives\, are the primary agents of action. According to ontological individualism\, social phenomena and collective actions are ultimately reducible to the actions and mental states of individuals. In recent decades\, however\, \; philosophers have developed a vibrant debate around collective agency\, noting for instance that certain mutual obligations cannot be reduced to individual duties and that groups can exhibit a unity of intention and action beyond the sum of their members. Much of this discussion has taken place within the analytic tradition.
\nThis conference asks what new insights can be gained by turning to classical and continental philosophy to enrich our understanding of collective agency. We believe that these traditions offer rich\, as yet underexplored\, conceptual resources that can open up fruitful new perspectives on questions of collective intentionality\, action\, and identity. In doing so\, the conference seeks to bridge philosophical traditions that often work in isolation\, bringing continental\, classical\, and analytic thinkers into dialogue around a shared theme. This will be one of the first forums to put figures from phenomenology\, hermeneutics\, personalism\, ancient and classical philosophy in direct conversation with analytic approaches to collective agency &ndash\; a creative synthesis we hope will break new theoretical ground.
\nWe invite contributions from scholars in continental philosophy (especially phenomenology\, hermeneutics\, existentialism\, personalism\, critical theory etc.)\, classical philosophy (e.g. ancient Greek and Roman thought\, medieval philosophy\, Neo-Aristotelian and Neo-Platonic traditions)\, political and social theory\, and related areas. Submissions from analytic philosophers that engage with the aforementioned traditions are also welcome.
\nPossible questions and topics that conference papers might address include\, but are not limited to\, the following themes:
\n·\; \; \; \; \; \; &ldquo\;We&rdquo\; in the individual identity
\n·\; \; \; \; \; \; Relational nature of personhood
\n·\; \; \; \; \; \; Collectives and ontological unity
\n·\; \; \; \; \; \; Categorisation of group agency
\n·\; \; \; \; \; \; Group intentions\, beliefs\, minds
\n·\; \; \; \; \; \; Collective emotions
\n·\; \; \; \; \; \; Individual duties and virtues in relation to groups
\n·\; \; \; \; \; \; Collective justice
\n·\; \; \; \; \; \; Groups and moral responsibility
\n·\; \; \; \; Acting together in politics (solidarity\, civil disobedience\, collective movements)
\n·\; \; \; \; \; \; Institutions\, corporations\, states as unitary agents and minds
\n·\; \; \; \; \; \; Collective identity and play\, art\, culture
\n·\; \; \; \; \; \; &ldquo\;We&rdquo\; in the aesthetic experience
\nConfirmed keynote speakers:
\nThornton Lockwood (University of Florida)
\nSophie Loidolt (TU Darmstadt)
\n\nSubmission guidelines
\nSubmission deadline and acceptance notification
\nThe abstracts must be submitted by Monday 1st June 2026.
\nThe acceptance notifications might be expected after Tuesday 30th June 2026.
\nSubmission procedure
\nWe invite proposals from researchers at every stage of their career and particularly welcome submissions from PhD students and early-career researchers. Abstracts should be submitted as .pdf or .docx files and should not exceed 500 words (without references). Abstracts should contain the title and a short outline of the paper\, specifying the main problem\, thesis\, and the intended line of argument.
\nPlease write &lsquo\;Conference Abstract Submission&rsquo\; in the subject line of your email and include in the email your name\, departmental affiliation\, email address\, short bio.
\nThe abstract must be submitted via email:cola.conference2026@gmail.com
\nPaper delivery
\nAll the authors of the accepted papers will be expected to submit their full papers before the conference. Presentations will be 45 minutes long\, including discussion. The papers will have to be sent for the conference organizers by Monday 11th January 2027.
\nOther practicalities
\nPlease note that this is an in-person conference held at Vilnius University\, Lithuania.
\nLunch and dinner will be provided throughout the conference. Unfortunately\, we are unable to cover travel and accommodation costs.
\nOrganisers
\nThis conference is part of the research project &ldquo\;Collective Agency: Towards A Three-Part Philosophical Theory&rdquo\; (No. S-MIP-25-108)\, funded by the Lithuanian Research Council. Project implementers and conference organisers are Vilius Bartninkas\, Simas Čelutka\, and Aistė Noreikaitė.
ORGANIZER;CN=Vilius Bartninkas: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20261115T003731Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Vilnius:20270825T090000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Vilnius:20270827T170000 SUMMARY:Phenomenology in Times of Crises UID:20261115T165517Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@fe80:0:0:0:244d:cdff:fe82:b4b2%3 TZID:Europe/Vilnius LOCATION:Universiteto g. 9\, Vilnius\, Lithuania\, 001122 DESCRIPTION:Venue: Vilnius University\, Faculty of Philosophy\, Vilnius\, Lithuania
\nDate: 25-27 August 2027
\nOrganized by: \;Vilnius University\, The Faculty of Philosophy\, Lithuanian Society for Phenomenology \;&\; \;Central and East European Society for Phenomenology
\nIn his later writings\, Husserl diagnosed a crisis of the European sciences\, which he understood as a crisis of reason and of meaning\, rooted in an objectivism that had lost touch with the world of lived experience. His reflections gave the concept of crisis a central place in phenomenological philosophy and influenced subsequent developments within the tradition. Since then\, phenomenologists have approached the question of crisis from different perspectives\, examining what happens when our familiar ways of understanding ourselves\, others\, and the world are called into question.
\nBeyond its historical and cultural register\, crisis names a structural possibility of renewal as such. Every constitution of sense rests on a horizon of anticipations that can be disappointed\, disrupted\, or overturned\; every habitual\, taken-for-granted world can lose its self-evidence and become questionable. Phenomenology is uniquely equipped to describe this dynamic of rupture and reconstitution&ndash\;the disorientation that follows the collapse of a horizon\, and the subsequent work of reorientation\, reinterpretation\, and renewed sense-making through which experience recovers\, or fails to recover\, its coherence.
\nCrisis touches the embodied subjectivity no less than the world of meaning. Illness\, disability\, aging\, and the approach of death expose the fragility of embodied existence and disclose dimensions of experience that ordinarily remain hidden behind the body&rsquo\;s silent functioning. Boundary situations of this kind&ndash\;moments of extremity in which habitual ways of being-in-the-world no longer hold&ndash\;have long served phenomenology as privileged occasions for uncovering the deep structures of subjectivity\, anxiety\, finitude\, and freedom.
\nCrisis also unsettles the shared\, intersubjective texture of the world. Experiences of alienation\, loneliness\, and the erosion of common ground raise questions about what holds a community&rsquo\;s world together and what happens when it comes apart. Migration\, exile\, displacement\, and statelessness bring the distinction between homeworlds and alienworlds into sharp relief\, prompting phenomenological reflection on foreignness\, hospitality\, and the possibility of a shared world across difference.
\nOn the political plane\, crisis takes the form of violence\, war\, oppression\, and the breakdown of institutional and normative order\, but also of the solidarity\, resistance\, and care that arise in response to it. Phenomenology&rsquo\;s attention to lived\, first-person experience offers distinctive resources for understanding how political crises are felt\, resisted\, and endured\, and how new forms of collective action and responsibility emerge from them.
\nThe ecological crisis poses a further\, urgent challenge: what happens to the world\, nature\, human place within it\, once the natural environment itself becomes a site of instability and loss? Ecophenomenological reflection on landscape\, environment\, and the more-than-human world takes on new significance in this context\, as does the broader question of how phenomenology can contribute to thinking the Anthropocene.
\nTechnological transformation brings its own forms of crisis: the mediation and fragmentation of attention\, the proliferation of virtual and digital worlds\, and the destabilization of familiar boundaries between the natural\, the artificial\, and the human. These developments invite phenomenological analysis of how technology reshapes perception\, embodiment\, and our sense of a common world.
\nFinally\, crisis can be turned reflexively upon phenomenology itself: upon the crisis of truth and epistemic authority in public life\, as well as upon phenomenology&rsquo\;s own methods\, presuppositions\, and capacity for self-renewal. Every crisis\, on this view\, is also an occasion for the kind of radical questioning from which phenomenology first arose.
\nThe goal of this conference is to bring together these many senses of crisis and explore how phenomenology can illuminate the experience of crisis in its many forms\, both within the phenomenological tradition and in current research that extends beyond it. We invite participants to discuss the meaning of crisis and its new applications stemming from phenomenological philosophy.
\nThe contributions can\, for example\, focus on the following themes:
\n&bull\; \; \; The phenomenological concept of crisis: its meaning\, structure\, and method
\n&bull\; \; \; The crisis of the sciences and of rationality
\n&bull\; \; \; Boundary situations\, anxiety\, finitude\, and death
\n&bull\; \; \; Illness\, disability\, aging\, and the vulnerable or fragile body
\n&bull\; \; \; Phenomenological psychiatry and psychopathology: breakdown and recovery
\n&bull\; \; \; Trauma\, memory\, and the temporality of crisis
\n&bull\; \; \; Homeworlds and alienworlds: migration\, exile\, displacement
\n&bull\; \; \; Violence\, war\, and the phenomenology of political crisis
\n&bull\; \; \; \; \; \;Solidarity\, resistance\, care\, and collective responsibility in crisis
\n&bull\; \; \; \; \; \;Ecological crisis\, the Anthropocene\, and ecophenomenology
\n&bull\; \; \; \; \; \;Technology\, digitalization\, and the crisis of mediated experience
\n&bull\; \; \; \; \; \;Institutions\, normativity\, and the breakdown of social order
\n&bull\; \; \; \; \; \;Crisis and creativity: art\, literature\, and aesthetic responses to rupture
\n&bull\; \; \; \; \; \;Historical crisis\, generational rupture\, and the phenomenology of tradition
\n&bull\; \; \; \; \; \;Anxiety\, fear\, uncertainty as phenomenological responses to crisis
\n&bull\; \; \; \; \; \;Hope\, peace\, resilience\, and the phenomenology of renewal after crisis
\nConfirmed keynote speakers: Nicolas de Warren (Penn State)\, Saulius Geniu&scaron\;as (CUHK)
\nLanguage: The conference will be held in English
\nDeadline for submissions: 18 April 2027
\nNotifications of acceptance: 18 May 2027
\nE-mail: \;tomas.sinkunas@fsf.vu.lt
\nRegistration fee: 70 EUR
\nSubmission types: \;
\nIndividual papers: Please submit an anonymized abstract of the proposed contribution (max. 300 words) and a cover letter with affiliation and contact information. A regular time slot is 30 minutes (20 minutes for presentation and 10 for questions).
\nThematic panels: The proposal should consist of abstracts for 3 papers as part of one panel (max. 300 words per abstract)\, as well as a separate cover letter with the affiliations of the panelists and contact information. The panelists will have 90 minutes in total for the discussion of the proposed topic.
\nOrganizing committee: Tomas &Scaron\;inkūnas (head of committee)\, Mintautas Gutauskas\, Kristina Simanaitė\, Benediktas Vachninas
ORGANIZER;CN=Tomas Sinkunas;CN=Mintautas Gutauskas;CN=Benediktas Vachninas: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR