ESEMP Conference: Why and How Do We Study Early Modern Philosophy Today?

(Crossposted at Handling Ideas Blog)

Following our Call for Abstracts last November, I am now happy to report that the Society for Early Modern Philosophy (ESEMP) runs it’s seventh conference at Hagen University, the place where the society was actually founded in 2004. In the meantime, we’ve finalised the downloadable conference programme (more details will be added on the conference website in the coming days). In case you want to register as a guest, there is an extra page for this.

At this point, I take the liberty to thank my wonderful team at Hagen for working ceaselessly to make (not only) this conference happen as well as the Hagen Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft for generous financial support.

The aim of this conference is to bring together leading experts and young talented scholars from all over the world to explore ways of approaching early modern philosophy and reflect anew on the aims of doing so. Following recent discussions in the field, we will wonder, for instance, whether we should favour historical over so-called rational reconstructions of texts or what precise aims are served by extending the canon. Likewise, we will ask how advances in the digital humanities shape our field. Even if one works in more traditional ways, one has to inquire whether common assumptions about how to place and study texts, figures or debates still stand. A second focus of our conference concerns (practical) issues concerning especially early career researchers. In this spirit, the conference includes a mentoring programme intended to connect mentees with experienced researchers who will provide advice on papers.

300 Years of Leibniz’s Monadology (Edinburgh, 12-13 May 2014)

Leibniz’s enigmatic Monadology, written in 1714, is rightfully recognised as one of the most important and interesting texts in the history of philosophy. It is Leibniz’s most succinct and systematic outline of his metaphysics of monads and it includes highly influential discussions pertaining to mereology, modality, theology, and the philosophy of mind. This conference will be dedicated to celebrating the 300-year anniversary of this crucial work by exploring its legacy and reception through an examination of several philosophers who have attempted to develop his system. Continue reading

CFP: Brussels Seminar in Modern Philosophy (Brussels, 7 may 2014)

The first meeting of the Brussels Seminar in Modern Philosophy will be held Wednesday 7 May 2014 at the Université libre de Bruxelles. The seminar aims at fostering interaction among junior and established scholars working in the history of modern philosophy (roughly from late scholasticism up to Kant). The languages of the seminar are English and French.  Continue reading

CFP: “Ars Effectiva et Methodus: The Body in Early Modern Science and Thought” (Germany, 30 June – 1 July 2014)

Herzog August Library, Wolfenbüttel, 30 June – 1 July 2014. Organised by Karin Friedrich (Aberdeen) with the support of the Herzog August Library, Wolfenbüttel, the Aberdeen Humanities Fund/Hunter Caldwell Awards and the Centre for Early Modern Studies, University of Aberdeen (Scotland). Continue reading

Colloque franco-italien “Diderot et l’Italie” (Rome, 23-25 janvier 2014)

Società italiana di studi sul XVIII secolo ; Société française d’Étude du 18e siècle

 Ce colloque est organisé avec la participation de Paris III-Sorbonne nouvelle (CIRCE, Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherche sur la Culture des Echanges, et EA 174 – Formes et idées de la Renaissance aux Lumières), et du CELLF17-18, UMR 8599 du CNRS et de l’Université Paris-Sorbonne), des universités Roma I-Sapienza et Roma II-Tor Vergata, avec le soutien de l’Accademia dei Lincei (Paolo Casini, membre honoraire de la Società italiana di studi sul XVIII secolo). Continue reading

CFA: Locke Workshop (New York City, March 17-18, 2014)

Lehman College, CUNY
Bronx, NY
Keynote speaker: Kenneth Winkler (Yale)
Send abstracts (of no more than 500 words) for papers on any topic in John Locke’s philosophy to Jessica Gordon-Roth no later than October 1. Program announcement: November 15, 2013.
Website.
Contacts: Jessica Gordon-Roth and Benjamin Hill.

NYU Conference on Issues in Modern Philosophy: “Consciousness” (New York City, November 8-9, 2013)

This conference examines the development of the problem of consciousness from early modern philosophy to the present, exploring the evolution of formulations of the problem and of approaches to resolving it. By examining the work of philosophers of the past both in historical context and in relation to contemporary philosophical thinking, the conference allows philosophy’s past and present to illuminate one another. Continue reading