> Humane Philosophy and the Arts CFP > > The Humane Philosophy Project, Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford > Oxford, United Kingdom > Details > > Humane Philosophy and the Arts – call for papers > > 19th July 2014 > > Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford > > This call for papers is directed to graduate students and researchers in > philosophy and aims for submissions connected to, or developing the > conference theme. > > Philosophy’s relationship to the arts has been volatile. There have been > periods when it has been widely understood that there is an intimate > connection between philosophical and artistic endeavour. This was the case as > recently as the nineteenth century. Benjamin Jowett in his introduction to > Plato’s Republic warns his reader of Plato’s surprising hostility to poetry. > He expresses confidence that to the contemporary reader, the idea of an > ideological tension between poetry and philosophy will seem foreign. Less > than a century later however T S Elliot, on declaring his retirement from > philosophy in order to dedicate himself fully to the arts felt warranted to > comment that the two had always been uneasy bedfellows. Today the rift > between philosophy and the arts is especially severe in the Anglophonic > world, where it is taken for granted that philosophical enquiry must take as > its model the physical sciences. At the other end of the spectrum on the > Heideggerian perspective, philosophy, in order to fulfil its ultimate task, > should turn into mytho-poetical prophecy. These positions manifest two > extremes, – on the former the artistic imagination should be excluded from > the area of philosophical interest entirely; on the latter the arts and > philosophy would arguably be indistinguishable. Between the two a whole range > of views may be available. > > The aim of the conference is to re-examine the philosophical import of the > arts and the relationship between philosophical enquiry and artistic > endeavour. However, rather than attempting to develop another philosophical > theory of art, or an aesthetic taxonomy of its artefacts the intention is to > investigate whether and where the two can meet each other, and to what extent > those encounters can lead to mutual enrichment. Equally though this does not > necessarily mean an attempt at ‘decoding’ philosophical claims conveyed in > artistic form. Indeed whether it is possible to convey what is achieved by a > work of in any other medium, philosophical content included, is by no means > certain. > > Topics authors wish to focus on may include but are not limited to > > – What is the relationship between philosophy and the arts? > – Art as the medium of human self-understanding > – Art and the re-enchantment of the world > – Art as the medium of metaphysics > – The social and moral functions of the arts > – Imagination in art and philosophy (status and function) > – Why do humans produce and appreciate art? > – Can philosophy be carried out in art? > – What could be meant by ‘Aesthetic understanding’? > – Can the philosophical import of an artwork be put into words? > – Why should Robert Nozick think that gesturing at a Rothko painting might be > an appropriate response to the question 'Why is there something rather than > nothing?' > > We invite abstracts of up to 500 words, to be sent in MS Word or PDF format > to: [email protected] > > Abstracts should be received by May 31st 2014 and acceptance notifications > will be sent out by June 28th. The subject line of the email should be "Paper > Submission". The cover page should include your name, your institutional > affiliation, the title of the paper, and your email address. > > There are six to nine places available for presentations. Selected papers > will have a 20 minute presentation followed by a 10 minute question time. A > post conference publication containing selected short papers is being > considered. > > For further details please refer to the conference page: > > http://www.bfriars.ox.ac.uk/hall/news/?id=89 > > This conference is organised by the Humane Philosophy Project. The Humane > Philosophy Project is an international initiative based at the Universities > of Oxford and Warsaw which aims to provide a home and a platform for the best > contemporary examples of humane philosophy. For more information please > contact [email protected] (UK) or [email protected] (PL). > > > Ralph Weir > Blackfriars Hall > https://oxford.academia.edu/RWeir > >
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