CALL FOR PAPERS - "Intersubjectivity and Values: Phenomenological Perspectives"

CALL FOR PAPERS
International Conference: "Intersubjectivity and Values: Phenomenological Perspectives"

IFILNOVA, Lisbon, 6-7 June 2016
Organizers: Luís de Sousa, Ana Falcato, Marta Faustino, Gianfranco Ferraro

  
IFILNOVA invites submissions for its international conference “Intersubjectivity and Values: Phenomenological Perspectives”, to be held at the New University of Lisbon, on the 6th-7th of June, 2016.
 
The theme of the conference is the social and axiological dimensions of phenomenological thinking.  Today the relevance of phenomenology is mostly seen to lie in its contributions to epistemological issues, to the philosophy of mind and even to metaphysical issues. We would like to explore a dimension of phenomenology that is equally vital for present concerns in current philosophical debate. The main goal of the conference is to bring to light phenomenological perspectives on intersubjectivity and value theory and, if possible, to assess its consequences for social, moral and political philosophy. 
Participants may focus on specific perspectives on these issues developed by any of the better-known phenomenologists – such as Husserl, Scheler, Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Levinas, etc – or confront phenomenology’s views on the subject with perspectives and theories developed by philosophers such as Kant, Hegel or Nietzsche as well as their countless heirs and critics such as Habermas and the Frankfurt School, Hannah Arendt, Foucault or the Pittsburg School, to name just a few.
 
Possible topics for discussion include:
1) Phenomenological accounts of intersubjectivity
• How do we experience others?
• Which role does the other play in the constitution of the world I call mine?
• Does the idea that the world is intersubjectively constituted entail a transformation of the notion of ‘transcendental’?

2) Implications of phenomenology’s accounts of intersubjectivity on the conception of subjectivity and selfhood
• Given that, as Husserl and Merleau-Ponty argue, all ‘subjectivity is an intersubjectivity’, how should we characterize the self whose experience not only is intermingled with that of others, but who, as Heidegger contends, has being-with-others at the very core of its way of being?
• What kind of status should be conferred to social subjectivity?
• What role does the other (or others) play in phenomenological and existential accounts of authentic subjectivity and on such issues as self-creation?

3) The axiological, moral and political consequences of phenomenological perspectives on intersubjectivity and values. 
• What is the relation between the intersubjective constitution of the world and the fact that things, other people, traditions, customs, etc., appear to us endowed with value?
• How are we to conceive the nature of our moral norms and commitments in the light of their intersubjective constitution?
• Is there a specific contribution of phenomenology on intersubjectivity and values to political philosophy? 
• Does Phenomenology entail any new form of understanding political phenomena? 
• Does Phenomenology’s standpoint and practice imply some sort of political commitment?
 
Participants may focus on one of these questions or any other related problem. We welcome submissions from doctoral students, early career researchers or established academics. Paper proposals of 300 to 500 words, accompanied by a short biography (150 words), should be submitted (in either English or Portuguese) to intersubjectivityandvalues@gmail.com by 15/03/2016. Notifications of acceptance will be given by 01/04/16. 

For further information, please contact intersubjectivityandvalues@gmail.com