Author: Rodney Parker

Rodney Parker

San Raffaele Spring School 2017

The research centres CRESA and PERSONA of the Faculty of Philosophy at San Raffaele University, Milan are happy to announce the International Conference and Spring School in Philosophy

Perception and Aesthetic Experience

Starting from Noë’s Strange Tools. Art and Human Nature

San Raffaele Spring School of Philosophy 2017 (SRSSP 2017)
22-24 May

Keynote Speaker:
Alva Noë (University of California, Berkeley)

Invited Speakers:
Clotilde Calabi (University of Milan)
Vittorio Gallese (University of Parma)
Bence Nanay (University of Antwerp)
Alberto Voltolini (University of Turin)
Marco Tettamanti (San Raffaele Scientific Institute)

Overview:

What is art? Why does it matter to us? What does it tell us about ourselves? In his book Strange Tools. Art and Human Nature (Hill and Wang, New York, 2015), the philosopher Alva Noë tries to answer these questions by proposing a philosophical theory that investigates the artistic practice and the aesthetic experience in relation to many other human activities. Noë’s main idea is that the artistic practice is a re-organizational practice by means of which we put on display and investigate several organizational activities of ours, such as dancing or making pictures.

Investigating our practices, art investigates ourselves too. “Works of art put our making practices and our tendency to rely on what we make, and so also our practices of thinking and talking and making pictures, on display. Art puts us on display. Art unveils us to ourselves” (Noë 2015, 101).

However, Strange Tools is not just a book on art and artistic practice. Indeed, dealing with these topics, the author addresses also some of the main topics of his previous production: the nature of perception and the enactive proposal, the nature of pictures and representations, the extended thesis about our minds and cognitive processes, the place of neurosciences in the study of the mind, and so on.

We invite submissions by graduate and PhD students, as well as Postdocs and Experienced

Researchers, on any of the topics addressed by Alva Noë’s Strange Tools. Art and Human Nature, as well as on any related topics addressed by the author in his previous works. Submissions on aesthetics and perception from other perspectives (e.g. theories different from Noë’s one) are also very welcome.

Possible questions to investigate include (but are not limited to):

  • What is perception? Can the enactive model be a good one to describe and explain how we perceive?
  • Is the Extended Mind Thesis a tenable one? Should we think of a necessary limitation of such an extension?
  • What is the nature of pictures and representations?
  • What is art? How can we define the artistic practice and the works of art? Is Noë’s position on these topics embraceable?
  • Can a neuro-aesthetic approach appropriately explain the aesthetic experience? In the negative case, should it be combined with other approaches or should it be completely rejected?

Submissions must be prepared for double blind review. Manuscripts should not contain any identifying information and they cannot exceed 4000 words (spaces and references included). Moreover, they must be accompanied by a separate cover sheet containing:

  • The name of the author(s),
  • Title of the submitted paper,
  • The author’s affiliation (if any) and contact information,
  • An abstract of no more than 250 words,
  • 4/5 keywords.

For stylistic details, see http://www.phenomenologyandmind.eu/on-copyright-and-author-rights/

Submissions should be sent to socialworld@hsr.it by the 15th of February, 2017. Acceptance will be

notified by the 17th of April, 2017. Accepted papers will be selected for presentation and for publication in a related issue of Phenomenology and Mind.

Deadline for submissions: February 15th, 2017

Notification of acceptance: April 17th, 2017

Publication of the issue: July, 2018

Scientific Direction:
Roberta De Monticelli, Francesca De Vecchi, Francesca Forlè, Elisabetta Sacchi

Organizing Committee:
Bianca Bellini, Silvia Bianchi, Chiara Boldorini, Antonella Carbone, Erminio Maglione, Sarah Songhorian

CFP: Phenomenology and Mind. “New Trends in Philosophy”

Phenomenology and Mind

New Trends in Philosophy
Young Researcher Special Issue

Deadline for paper submission: March 15th, 2017
The issue will be published by September 2017

Call for Papers
Phenomenology and Mind invites submissions for a special issue dedicated to “New Trends in Philosophy”. The issue will gather the works from young philosophers all around the world in order to draw a picture of the directions in which philosophy is heading. The CfP is especially directed to master and PhD students, post-doctoral fellows, and young researchers. The main purpose of this special issue is to provide a critical overview of some of the most interesting topics and methodologies from the current philosophical debate. The issue will present state-of-the-art research in theoretical and experimental philosophy, with a particular focus on:

(1) Philosophy of Language and Linguistics
(2) Logic, Epistemology, and Philosophy of Science
(3) Phenomenology and Social Ontology
(4) Philosophy of Mind and Cognition
(5) Ethics, Metaethics, and Political Theory.

In line with the interdisciplinary spirit of the Journal, possible areas of inquiry include (but are by no means limited to):

(1) Semantics and Pragmatics, Context Dependence, Speech Acts, Disagreement;
(2) Logical Pluralism, Theories of Truth and Non-Classical Logics, Grounding and Explanation;
(3) Fact/Value Dichotomy, Personhood and Personality, Intentionality, Collective Agency, Intersubjectivity;
(4) Extended Mind and Extended Cognition, Empathy and Social Cognition, Neurophenomenology;
(5) Social Injustice and Implicit Bias, Value Theory, Ethics and Information Technology, Ethics of Clinical Research.

Phenomenology and Mind is the Journal of the Faculty of Philosophy of San Raffaele University (Milan). It was founded in 2011 and since then has hosted works of outstanding philosophers such as Lynne Baker, Thomas Fuchs, Anna Elisabetta Galeotti, Shaun Gallagher, Margaret Gilbert, Jürgen Habermas, Edward Harcourt, Robin Jeshion, Dieter Lohmar, Michael Pauen, John Searle, Nadia Urbinati, and many others. The journal is anonymously peer-reviewed and open-access. We are committed to publishing papers of high academic quality and making them accessible to a wide audience. Submissions from underrepresented groups in philosophy are particularly encouraged.

Invited Authors
This special issue will host invited papers by Valeria Giardino (CNRS, University of Lorraine), Beatrice Magni (University of Milan), Teresa Marques (Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona), and Giuliano Torrengo (University of Milan).

Guest Editors
Laura Caponetto (Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan)
Bianca Cepollaro (Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa – Institut Jean Nicod, Paris)

Submission Details
Submissions should be sent to info@phenomenologyandmind.eu by March 15th, 2017. E-mails containing submissions should bear the title “PaM NTP submission”. Manuscripts should not exceed 25,000 characters in length (spacing and references included) and they should be in .doc format. For stylistic details, see http://www.phenomenologyandmind.eu/on-copyright-and-author-rights/. Submissions must be prepared for double blind review. Manuscripts should not contain any identifying information and must be accompanied by a separate cover sheet containing

● the name of the author(s),
● the title of the submitted paper,
● the author’s affiliation (if any) and contact information,
● an abstract of no more than 700 characters (spacing included).

Notification of acceptance will be sent by May 15th, 2017.

For any further information, please contact: lauracaponetto@gmail.com; bianca.cepollaro@gmail.com.

Call for Abstracts – Pr-Ph2

pr-ph2

Pragmatism and Phenomenology: A Two Day Workshop (Part Deux)

University of Waterloo, March 4 – 5, 2017

This two-day workshop is a follow-up to the April 2016 Pragmatism and Phenomenology
workshop at King’s University College in London, Ontario. Like its predecessor, this workshop presents an opportunity for scholars from both phenomenology and pragmatism to engage in a sustained discussion on topics relevant to both groups. Possible topics include intentionality, the a priori, states of affairs, temporality, perception and judgment, embodiment, naturalism, psychologism, amongst others.

The organizers are interested in all topics likely to be of interest to both pragmatists and phenomenologists. They especially welcome work that helps to diversify the discipline — e.g., discussions of women or racialized philosophers, themes associated with social justice, and similar.

The workshop is meant to be a discussion-type format and is not meant to be a formal presentation of papers. Workshop participants will be asked to lead or co-lead discussions on a topic of their choosing with discussion material circulated in advance. In order to facilitate this process, we ask that you submit a 100-word abstract of your discussion topic and one or two suggested readings for participants. It is not expected that participants are experts in both traditions, but merely that there is an interest in both.

Submission due date: Abstract and supplementary reading deadline is 11:15 p.m. Jan. 15.
Please email your submission to Shannon Dea at sjdea@uwaterloo.ca.

Phenomenology in France – The Institut français de Berlin

The story of how phenomenology infiltrated the French academic scene is a complicated one. The works of Nicolas Monseu and Christian DuPont have done an excellent job of beginning to trace this history, but there are still details of the story that remain elusive.

One such detail centers around the Institut français de Berlin. From 1931-1933, Raymond Aron attended the Institut, and during his time in Berlin became interested in the work of Husserl. Upon his return to Paris, Aron met with Beauvoir and Sartre at the Bec de gaz on Rue Montparnasse. Over drinks, he convinced Sartre that phenomenology was the philosophical school which would satisfy his intellectual interests. (See Beauvoir’s famous retelling in the image below.)

aron-and-sartre

To be clear, this was not Sartre’s first exposure to phenomenology. He had already learned of phenomenology via (at least) two of Husserl’s Freiburg students – Fernando Gerassi and Shūzō Kuki. But who had introduced Aron to phenomenology? Was there someone at the Institut français de Berlin, or part of the Berlin academic scene, who might have steered Aron in this direction? Perhaps Bernard Groethuysen? And while Sartre was in Berlin the following year, did he visit with this same person? If you know the answers to these questions, please comment below.

CFP – Phenomenological Perspectives on Negation

Call for Abstracts
The North American Society for Early Phenomenology, in association with the Philosophy Department at IPFW, invites submissions to a Spring Workshop:

Phenomenological Perspectives on Negation

21-22 April, 2017
Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne (Fort Wayne, IN)

Keynote Speaker:
Robin D. Rollinger
Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences

The Philosophy Department at IPFW, in association with the North American Society for Early Phenomenology, will host a workshop on phenomenological perspectives on negation. We invite abstract submissions on the topic of negation as approached through the phenomenological method, either with regard to scholarship on negation in the history of phenomenology or with regard to the topic of negation addressed from a phenomenological perspective in the context of problems such as consciousness, language, expression, socio-political philosophy, feminist theory, and axiology in general.

The workshop will take place in conjunction with the Indiana Philosophical Association’s workshop on Negation. Papers accepted as part of the IPA Workshop will be presented on Friday, while papers accepted to the NASEP workshop will be presented Saturday.

Abstracts should be 400-600 words, and include a short bibliography. Abstracts must be prepared for blind review and sent to Charlene Elsby (elsbyc@ipfw.edu).

Deadline for submissions is February 15th, 2017.
Decisions will be sent out no later than March 7st, 2017.

Organizers: Charlene Elsby, IPFW
Host: Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne

CFP – Interactions: Phenomenology, Gestalt Psychology, and Embodied Cognitive Science

Interactions: Phenomenology, Gestalt Psychology, and Embodied Cognitive Science
University of Edinburgh, 3 December 2016

 

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

This conference aims to explore the relationship between Gestalt Psychology and Phenomenology, with a particular focus on the way interactions between these two traditions may inform contemporary trends in Embodied and Embedded Cognitive Science.

In the early 20th century, gestalt psychology—partly inspired by the phenomenological philosophy of Husserl—discovered a number of empirical phenomena that seemed to indicate that experience is structured, and that this structure cannot be reduced to any simple function of the properties of its atomic components. Phenomenologists such as Merleau-Ponty and Aron Gurwitsch, partly inspired by these results, developed a non-reductive metaphysics of experience.  These intertwined research programs have a renewed importance for 21st century cognitive science.  A number of recent approaches in both neuroscience and philosophy of mind (for instance, dynamical, embodied, and enactive approaches) draw on both gestalt results and phenomenological insights.  Nevertheless, this work seldom engages in detail with the methodological underpinnings of these traditions, nor the metaphysical commitments that might come from working within them.  This conference aims to address this lacuna, with a special emphasis on the importance of structural analysis for understanding experience, and its implications for a non-reductive metaphysics of mind.

This conference is part of the project Gestalt Structure and Phenomenology, a subproject of the Cambridge New Directions in the Study of Mind Project, supported by the John Templeton Foundation.

Keynote Speaker: 

Dr. Komarine Romdenh-Romluc (University of Sheffield)

Paper proposals are invited in the form of extended abstracts (500–750 words), and should be emailed directly to the conference organizer.  Complete papers may also be submitted, but are not required.

Submissions should make a contribution to understanding the relationship between two or more of the following topics: Gestalt psychology; Phenomenology; Contemporary trends in embodied cognitive science; Non-reductive metaphysics of cognitive processes.

Limited funds will be available to offset the travel and accommodation costs of those presenting papers at the workshop. Early career researchers and postgraduate students are particularly encouraged to submit.

Submission deadline is 7 November.

Send all abstracts and inquiries to Alistair Isaac at a.m.c.isaac@ed.ac.uk

 

CFP – NASEP 2017, Seattle. At the Origins of Phenomenology. Logic, Psychology, Ontology.

Call for Abstracts

The North American Society for Early Phenomenology

At the Origins of Phenomenology.

Logic, Psychology, Ontology.

1-3 June, 2017
Seattle University, Seattle (WA)
Keynote Speakers:

Frederick Beiser (Syracuse University)
Stefania Centrone (Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg)

While the “phenomenological movement” is to be counted among the 20th century’s most influential traditions of thought, its roots lie in the late 19th century’s debates and discussions on both the nature and foundation of logic, psychology, and ontology, and of their mutual relations. This can be easily surmised by skimming the titles of the articles found in the Jahrbuch. During the early years of the phenomenological movement, many of Husserl’s students also studied with the psychologist G.E. Müller and the mathematician David Hilbert. Though Richard Courant refers to this time period as “Hilbert’s Göttingen”, it might be more accurately referred to as Hilbert-Husserl’s Göttingen. For there existed in Göttingen a cross section of interdisciplinary research that fueled discussions within both the Philosophische and Mathematische Gesellschaften, informed the work carried out in Müller’s experimental psychology laboratory, and which drew students from across Europe to Göttingen. Similar conceptual partnerships informed the phenomenological philosophy of the Munich Circle, as well as the projects of the Graz, Berlin, and Lwów–Warsaw Schools. The theme of this conference will be the role and position of phenomenology within the development of logic, psychology, and ontology, as well as its contributions to addressing, and eventually clarifying those disciplines. Topics would include the psychologism/logicism debate, the foundations of mathematics and logic, the nature of intentionality and of intentional objects, mereology, the relationships between psychology and phenomenology, logic and ontology, psychology and logic, and phenomenology and mathematics. In addition to those mentioned, we encourage papers addressing and discussing thinkers like Herbart, Bolzano, Lotze, Brentano, and Frege, as well as the impact of phenomenology on 20th century thinkers such as Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz, Hermann Weyl, Ludwig Binswanger, and others. As always, we welcome papers that deal with the full spectrum of early phenomenologists.

Abstracts should be 400-600 words, and include a short bibliography. Abstracts must be prepared for blind review and sent to Rodney Parker (rodney.k.b.parker@gmail.com)

Deadline for submissions is February 1st, 2017.

Decisions will be sent out no later than March 1st, 2017

Organizers: Rodney Parker, Wai-Shun Hung, Daniele De Santis
Host: Philosophy Department, Seattle University.

CFP: Phenomenology of Religious Experience

Call for abstracts

Phenomenology of

Religious Experience

4-5 November, 2016

Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute
2311 Hearst Avenue, Berkeley, California

Organizers

Susi Ferrarello (University of San Francisco & California State University)
Olga Louchakova-Schwartz (UC Davis & Sophia University)

The conference is hosted by the Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute (His Eminence Metropolitan Nikitas) and the Graduate Theological Union (GTU), and sponsored by Sofia University and California State University of East Bay.

Call for Papers

The conference is divided into two main sections: (1) The theologies and philosophies of religious experience, and (2) the descriptive psychology and phenomenological method, with examples and case studies (in people and texts).

In the first section, we welcome all valuable contributions that focus on the relationship between phenomenology and metaphysics. These contributions can come from philosophical perspectives as well as from traditional religious scholarship, but the speakers are asked to self-identify their stance. In particular, we are interested in reading papers that examine the existential status of religious experience. Recent writings on the philosophy of religion questions if religious experience actually exist (e.g. constructivist perspectives such as e.g. Penner, or recent debates in cognitive science of religion). In addition, we welcome contributions on the views of religious experience in the works of Husserl, Heidegger, Walther, Hering, Stein, Henry, Levinas, Marion, Conrad-Martius, Ricoeur and other phenomenological philosophers.

The second section is focused on descriptive phenomenological psychology. In this section we are accepting papers that discuss how phenomenology can increase our actual knowledge of religious experience. In this section we will be expanding from philosophy to phenomenological psychology, mysticism, and psychology of religion. In particular, we welcome papers that develop two directions of inquiries: The phenomenological method through which it is possible to pursue the study of religious experience and the descriptive phenomenology of experience itself, which has been pitifully, insufficiently pursued. Accepted papers will be considered for further publication in the De Gruyter Open Access topical issue.

Abstracts of 300 words can be submitted to  olouch@ucdavis.edu  or s.ferrarello@gmail.com by September 15, 2016. Authors will be notified of acceptance by September 20, 2016.

Conference website

http://xn--expriencereligieuse-dzb.com/

Space is limited so advance registration is required. To attend, email susi.ferrarello@gmail.com.

GTU and Sofia University students attend at no charge (donations welcome) but have to register in advance.

Why we support the Open Commons, and your society should too!

Many of you have probably already seen on your social media feeds that the Open Commons of Phenomenology (who just happens to host our blog) has launched a crowdfunding campaign through Indiegogo. Their goal is to raise $35,000.00 USD over the next month in order to support their projects through to the end of 2017. If this model is successful, they can continue to provide their services in open access with the ongoing help of backers.

Yesterday, NASEP contributed $600.00 to the campaign. And we think other phenomenological societies should do the same.

For the average grad student or post-doc, a contribution of $20-40 is reasonable when they can afford it. For the average tenured professor, $85-100 seems to be the going rate for contributions. That also seems reasonable.

But learned societies can play a much bigger role. And they ought to.

NASEP is a young(ish) society with a tight budget and just a handful of dues paying members. But the decision to use some of our funds to support the Open Commons was an easy one. All of the executive members agreed that this was a worthy cause, and since we know our members use the Open Commons for their research, we decided to step up and give more than moral support. This is exactly what our resources should be going toward – promoting phenomenology and phenomenological research.

The $600 contribution allows us to choose an author whose complete bibliography will be added to the Open Commons database. We chose Adolf Reinach for a couple of reasons. First, he was a member of both the Munich and Göttingen Circles of phenomenology, and was a central figure in the early phenomenological movement. Second, because of his untimely death, all of his works are in the public domain, which means that in addition to having his bibliography on the Open Commons, scans of all of his works will be added.

We truly hope that this will inspire other societies that focus on phenomenology and related branches of philosophy to follow suit. With pooled resources, getting that $600.00 from a society shouldn’t be difficult. And it’s money that goes back into our philosophical communities. It’s an investment in our field of research. It’s an investment in preserving and sharing knowledge. And for those of us in positions of privilege, however slight, it’s a chance to assist our colleagues – both the team behind the Open Commons, and its users – in achieving their goals.

Join us and contribute to the campaign by clicking here.

 

CFP – Max Scheler: His Thought and Influence

Call for Papers

 Max Scheler:

His Thought and Influence

A colloquium in commemoration of the 100 year anniversary of the publication of Scheler’s Formalism in Ethics (Bds. I and II)

November 17-19 2016, Maynooth University, Ireland
Renehan Hall, St Patrick’s College Maynooth (ca. 30 min from Dublin)

A Joint Colloquium by the Irish Philosophical Society & the Max Scheler Gesellschaft

Organized by Dr. Susan Gottlöber (Maynooth University)

Keynote Speakers

Professor Roberta de Monticelli (San Raffaele University, Milan)

Professor Joachim Fischer (TU Dresden)

Description

The year 2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of Scheler’s most influential philosophical work, Formalism in Ethics and Non-Formal Ethics of Values: a New Attempt Toward the Foundation of an Ethical Personalism. To celebrate this event, the Irish Philosophical Society and the German Max-Scheler-Society invite contributions which explore Scheler’s position in the philosophical and sociological context, as an interpreter, transmitter of and respondent to philosophical and sociological traditions, as interlocutor in the debates of his time, and as inspiration for subsequent and current philosophical and sociological debates. The goal is to draw attention to how Scheler is firmly rooted in and engaged with the philosophical and sociological tradition and to establish a dialogue between the scholars from within the Scheler research and the related disciplines.

The organizer invites papers exploring  (but not restricted to) the following topics:

  1. All major aspects of his work
  2. Scheler’s impact on the phenomenological and sociological tradition
  3. Scheler in dialogue with his contemporaries
  4. Scheler’s engagement with the philosophical and sociological tradition, both with as movements as well as individual thinkers: ((Neo)-Kantianism, vitalism, pragmatism, ethics, Dilthey, Nietzsche, Philosophical anthropology, Christian philosophy, personalism)
  5. The influence of Scheler’s thought in the contemporary development of sociology, philosophical anthropology and political philosophy

Interested participants are in addition invited to participate in short interviews concerning the work on impact of Max Scheler during the conference. The interviews will be cut to three short Max-Scheler films which will be made public on YouTube. These videos will conduce the international reception of Max Scheler in the Social Media.

Paper Submission

Conference papers may be presented in English or German.

Please send the title of the proposed topic and an abstract of 300 to 500 words to susan.gottlober@nuim.ie

Deadline for submission: July 31, 2016

Notifications of acceptance may be expected no earlier than September 1, 2016.

Presentations should be ca. 30 min, followed by 10-15 minutes discussion.

Publication

Goal of the conference is the preparation of the first comprehensive companion to all important aspects of Scheler’s work and his standpoint comprehensively within the philosophical and sociological tradition. Speakers and other scholars are invited to submit their contributions for double blind peer-review for such a volume.