* * *
CALL
FOR PAPERS
Subjectivity, selfhood and
agency in the Arabic and Latin Traditions
An international conference
on the history of philosophical psychology and moral psychology
August 15-18, 2012, Uppsala,
Sweden
Subjectivity,
consciousness, self-awareness, and the intentional aspects of perception and
apprehension are popular topics in the contemporary philosophy of mind. A
common thread amongst the various approaches to them has been dissatisfaction
with the Cartesian paradigm of a self-constituted subject that is perfectly
free in its volitions and epistemically transparent to itself, typically
presented as standard for the modern age. Working from the opposite end,
historians of philosophy and ethicists have noted that ancient and medieval ethics
operated in a strikingly different understanding of self. Far from subscribing
to the Cartesian notion, pre-modern moral philosophy generally took its cue
from the assumption that human selfhood is socially construed. Our instinctive
apprehension and evaluation of reality has as much to do with our upbringing as
it does with our conscious acts of cognition and evaluation.
It is in
the Middle Ages that these two lines of thought converge. Historians of philosophy
have noted that Descartes’ understanding of subjectivity did not develop in a
vacuum; rather, it represents the culmination of medieval debates, which in
turn build on ancient precedents. At the same time, the virtue ethics tradition
underwent significant transformations, thanks in part to pressures arising from
religious and legal considerations. These include a preoccupation with the
freedom of choice and one’s culpability for the character one acquires.
The present
conference invites abstracts for submissions relating to these issues in
Antiquity, the Latin and Arabic Middle Ages, and the Early Modern period. Relevant
questions to consider are, for example: descriptions and explanations of
consciousness and self-consciousness; degrees of self-consciousness; the
conceptual shift from soul as the form of the human body to human self; human
selves and the divine self; techniques of the self, constructability of the
self; social conditioning of human selfhood; and the dual concept of microcosm
and macrocosm.
The submissions will be
allotted 30 minutes for presentation and discussion. An abstract of max. 300
words should be sent for evaluation by January 31st, 2012, to
jari.kaukua@jyu.fi. At present, confirmed keynote speakers include Calvin
Normore and Udo Thiel.
Uppsala
is located about 70km north of Stockholm (20-30 minutes from Arlanda airport).
The fourth largest city in Sweden, Uppsala is an historical treasure with
beautifully preserved monuments from both the pre-Christian and the Christian
era. Uppsala University is the oldest in Scandinavia and presently a leading
international centre of higher learning and research.
The conference is jointly
financed by the University of Jyväskylä and Uppsala University, and organized
by two research groups, SSALT (Subjectivity and Selfhood in the Arabic and
Latin Traditions) in Jyväskylä and Understanding Agency in Uppsala.
For all further
enquiries, please consult jari.kaukua@jyu.fi.
