MolinariSociety.org

Call for Papers

for the Society’s Symposium to be held in conjunction with the American Philosophical Association Pacific Division meeting, April 4-8, 2012, Seattle.

Symposium Topic:
Explorations in Philosophical Anarchy (II)

Submission Deadline:
September 30, 2011

The past two decades have seen a resurgence of interest, both in activist and academic circles, in Anarchist politics and theory, with new and challenging work from several different directions. Renewed academic interest in Anarchism has drawn attention to the importance, vitality and philosophical fruitfulness of key Anarchist arguments and concepts – such as the conflict between authority and autonomy; tensions between collectivism and individualism; critical challenges to hierarchy, centralized power, top-down control and authoritarian conceptions of representation; and the development of concepts of spontaneous social order, decentralized consensus, and the knowledge problems and ideological mythologzing inherent in relations or structures of domination.

Most of this discussion has, naturally enough, taken place within the field of political and moral philosophy. But Anarchist theory (like marxist or feminist theory) embodies more than a policy orientation or a system of moral or political theses. The Anarchist tradition offers a wide-ranging, diverse and vigorously argued literature, concerning the nature and foundations of human society, with implications for every aspect of philosophy, including not only political and moral theory but also aesthetics, social-science methodology, epistemology, and the philosophies of science, religion, history, language and logic. We are looking for papers that address possible connections, approaches, challenges or insights that anarchy and its conceptual environs may suggest for philosophy broadly – or that philosophy may suggest for anarchy – beyond the familiar territory of political and moral theory, especially in such areas as epistemology, philosophy of language, philosophy of logic, and metaphilosophy or philosophical method. Papers from all analytical and critical standpoints (both with regard to philosophy and with regard to Anarchism) are welcome.

Please submit complete papers of 3,000-6,000 words for consideration for the 2012 Symposium by September 30, 2011. Papers should be of appropriate scope and length to be presented within 15-30 minutes. Submitting authors will be notified of the acceptance or rejection of their papers by October 10, 2011.

Submit papers as e-mail attachments, in Word .doc format or PDF, to longrob@auburn.edu or feedback@radgeek.com.

For any questions or information, contact us at the above email addresses.

* * *

Some possible topics include – but are by no means limited to:

• Authority and Epistemology
• Anarchy and Logic
• Illusions of control in philosophy
• Decentralism or spontaneous order in philosophy of language
• Philosophical implications of the work of “canonical” Anarchist theorists (Godwin, Proudhon, Molinari, Tucker, Spooner, Kropotkin, Tolstoy, De Cleyre, Goodman, Bookchin, Rothbard, Wolff, Zerzan…)
• Anarchy and Rationality
• Hierarchy, legibility and knowledge problems
• Philosophical Method and Anarchism
• Claims of representation and claims of knowledge
• Etc.

Please spread the word to anyone who you think would be interested in the symposium topic!

Addendum:

More info here.

The Fall 2011 meeting of the Alabama Philosophical Society will be September 23-24 in Pensacola, Florida. (Why Florida? See last year’s hint.)

My Auburn colleague Mike Watkins (author of the best book ever on the metaphysics of colour – see my remarks here) will be the keynote speaker.

Papers can be submitted either to the regular program or to the undergraduate essay contest. Submission deadline: 7/22; hotel reservation deadline: 8/30. More details on the website.

Hilton Pensacola Beach Gulf Front Hotel

• The schedule for this week’s previously mentioned Auburn Philosophy Conference (Feb. 25-27) is online, along with a few of the papers. Ontology as you like it!
   
• The date (Sept. 24-25) and venue (Pensacola, Florida) for the Fall 2010 meeting of the Alabama Philosophical Society have been announced. Papers can be submitted to the regular program or the undergrad essay contest. Submission deadline: 8/16; hotel reservation deadline: 8/24.

Why, you may ask, is the Alabama Philosophical Society going to be meeting in Florida? I’ll give you a hint. (And the disparity is even worse for our undergrad majors, whom we like to take to these events.)