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A scuola di libero pensiero con le Giornate della laicità di Reggio Emilia
Simona Silvestri – Left (26 Maggio 2021)
 
Le Giornate della laicità di Reggio Emilia tornano in presenza, dal 10 al 13 giugno 2021. A quasi un anno e mezzo dall’inizio della pandemia, dopo mesi di isolamento e difficoltà, ci riappropriamo finalmente di quella dimensione sociale del confronto e della discussione che è propria del nostro modo di essere e fare cultura.
Di fronte a uno scenario così complesso come quello della ripartenza, sono tanti i motivi per cui è importante tornare a parlare di laicità e pensiero critico. Il primo è forse il più evidente, perché mai come oggi il pensiero critico, razionale e scientifico e la conoscenza rappresentano le uniche armi in nostro possesso per interpretare la realtà che ci circonda e affrontare le sfide del futuro.
La pandemia prima o poi finirà, ma le scelte che prenderemo oggi segneranno gli anni a venire. Proprio per questo diventa fondamentale rilanciare quei principi alla base del pensiero laico – concetti quali la libertà, il rispetto, la tolleranza e la solidarietà – come anticorpi contro il rischio e l’avanzata di visioni confessionali o reazionarie, che puntano a ridurre i diritti delle persone e la loro possibilità di autodeterminarsi.
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In love with innovation, but slaves to the click
Anna Masera - Breaking Latest News (24/05/2021)

We are in love with innovation, but slaves to the click. After twenty years of utopian narration on the magnificent and progressive fates of the digital world that must be embraced in order not to be left behind or even cut off, the reaction is a dystopian narrative that is just as worrying, but clearly needed to see clearly. One of the most controversial points that need to be investigated is the new reality of the world of work in the digital age. [...] According to the philosopher Maurizio Ferraris, a new form of welfare could simply consist in the redistribution of the surplus value produced by users in favor of the platforms, with the advantage both of the platforms and of the users, who would see their work recognized. [Read the full article]

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No al modello israeliano per il cloud unico della P. A.
Michele Mezza - 9 Colonne (25/05/2021)

Nel lontano 1967 un grande giornalista francese, Jean-Jacques Servan Schreiber, fondatore e direttore del prestigioso settimanale L’Express, pubblicò un libro profetico: La Sfida Americana. Nel volume documentava l’invasione tecnologica dell’Europa da parte del comparto informatico statunitense e concludeva così il suo avvertimento ad una politica già sorda e incompetente: “noi paghiamo gli americani perché ci comprino”. Sta accadendo la stessa cosa oggi per le strategie sulla digitalizzazione degli stati.[...] Dobbiamo disporre di una funzionale autonomia e sovranità nell’organizzazione ed elaborazione dei dati comportamentali, quelli che nel suo ultimo testo Documanità, Maurizio Ferraris, chiama appunto “il sistema di registrazione della nostra vita”. Su questo nodo non sono ammissibili semplificazioni e scorciatoie: la politica e le parti sociali devono riprendersi ruolo e responsabilità: solo una reale discussione che metta al centro la capacità del paese di riorganizzare la propria pubblica amministrazione conservando e valorizzando i propri dati potrà darci la spinta per uno sviluppo realmente competitivo. E almeno evitare la beffa di dover pagare chi vuole comprarci. [Continua a leggere]

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Tiziana Andina, Collaborare con chi verrà dopo di noi
Donna Moderna - 27 maggio 2021

"Sia io sia voi siamo stati parte di una generazione futura. Abbiamo ricevuto 'qualcosa' da chi ci ha preceduti che ora siamo chiamati a conservare per chi verrà dopo di noi: la cultura, la ricerca scientifica, la invenzioni tecnologiche. Questa è 'cooperazione transgenerazionale' che ha permesso alla nostra specie progressi incredibili. Eppure oggi molti segnali sembrano indicare che stiamo erodendo quelle riserve di futuro cui dovrebbe attingere chi verrà dopo di noi".
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Un’agorà digitale Capire il presente e puntare al futuro
Daniele Vulpi – Il Piccolo (23/05/2021)

ItAliens è lo spazio delle idee di Italian Tech. Non è soltanto un blog. Esperti dell’information technology e della scienza, della sociologia della comunicazione, dell’arte, dell’intelligenza artificiale a cavallo tra etica e hi-tech. Esperti del marketing, dell’economia che insegue i cambiamenti della società, della ricerca che studia le tecnologie a noi ancora sconosciute. Insomma gli attori della digitalizzazione. Tanti ne abbiamo accolti – tra questi Maurizio Ferraris, Flavia Marzano, Massimo Banzi, Anna Masera, Luciano Pietronero, Marco Pratellesi, Leonardo Chiariglione, Virginia Stagni, Giovanni Boccia Artieri - e tanti ne accoglieremo ancora per farci spiegare ciò che sta accadendo e immaginare quel che sarà. Un tesoro di spunti, che non sarà mai un coro che canta lo stesso motivo ma un insieme di voci con diverse intonazioni. Il gioco di parole del titolo li vuole anche un po’ alieni. Sì, perché sono tra quelli che muovono la straordinaria trasformazione che ci cambierà per sempre. [Continua a leggere]



 

Labont Seminar: Günter Figal
University of Turin, 17 May

Abstract: In line with Kant’s Critique of the Power of Judgment, aesthetic experience is often regarded as subjective. This, however, is not compatible with the very existence of artworks as objects that, when experienced, per se effect an aesthetic attitude. Artworks as such withdraw from conceptual determination and thus draw attention to their mere perceptibility. They are made for intensified perceptive experience, which normally is called “aesthetic”. Considering the structure of artworks I will first attempt to clarify this more in detail. Subsequently I wish to show that intensified perceptive experience as enabled by artworks is a discovery of the primordial perceptibility that grounds everyday life as well as scientific research, but remains implicit or is marginalized with every meaning-dominated and conceptual practice. Thus art gives access to the original character of the “life world” in terms of Husserl’s phenomenology. However, art and its aesthetic experience thereby do not reveal a particular truth that otherwise remains concealed. Art rather complements science, and it does so in a way similar to scientific practice. As I intend to show in reference to Valéry’s reflections on Leonardo da Vinci and also to Husserl’ considerations on the origin of geometry, art performs an abstraction from the world of meaningful entities in order to reveal the purely perceptible, whereas science performs a similar abstraction, but in order to establish a formal system, which allows a mathematical determination of things. Such determination really is a cognition, and not construction. Both art and science are objective in a contrary, but complementary way.

«La rivoluzione tecnologica ci ha portato dentro un nuovo ecosistema. Lasciamo l’homo faber nel capanno degli attrezzi e chiediamoci di nuovo: chi siamo noi? da dove veniamo? dove andiamo?» Parliamo con Maurizio Ferraris, uno dei più influenti e originali filosofi contemporanei, del suo nuovo libro "Documanità. Filosofia di un mondo nuovo", appena uscito per Laterza

 DEADLINE APPROACHING  G20 TechSprint 2021
Submission deadline: 31 May 2021

Description: Banca d’Italia together with the BIS Innovation Hub have launched the second edition of the G20 TechSprint, an international contest to search for innovative solutions. This year’s contest focuses on operational problems in green and sustainable finance. The G20 TechSprint 2021 challenges the international community of innovators, entrepreneurs, startuppers, changemakers, creators, developers, data scientists, designers, digital marketing and communication experts who are passionate about creating extraordinary impact by solving one of three operational problems in the field of green and sustainable finance. If you have what it takes and share the desire to use your talents to change how things are done, well, this is the place. Join forces with other talented people and take part in this challenge.

Istructions: Participation is open to all those interested in technology and innovation from any country or jurisdiction. Participation is free of charge and is expected in the form of teams. Parental consent is required for team members who are younger than 18 years of age at the time of the registration. Eligible participants must sign in and submit proposals to address one or more of the identified problem statements for this year’s G20 TechSprint. Banca d’Italia will award 50,000 euro final prize to each of the three winning solutions and a 10,000 euro competition prize to all shortlisted teams.
Webpage

Description: “Sociality” is a fuzzy word that can be found in a wide range of scopes and debates, from antiquity to the contemporary age. Notwithstanding or rather just in virtue of its wide currency, however, there is no explicit consensus on the meaning “sociality” has. While biology and sociology have rather wide notions of sociality, the focus of social ontology is on the social world, that is, the ontological domain which is populated by social entities. While according to some sociality occurs as long as there is interaction among people, involving joint commitments and plural subjects, others refer to the social world as mostly made of institutional facts or social objects, or deal with social actions and practices.
This issue of Rivista di Estetica aims at shedding light on sociality by addressing two core classic subjects of social philosophy: groups and solidarity. Indeed, groups are the most obvious result of sociality as the tendency of grouping, depending on living and interacting with others. On the other hand, as another branch of sociality, solidarity has only recently attracted remarkable attention from social and political philosophers; while some propose to unpack it in terms of joint action, others explore the forms of mutual recognition that are combined in solidarity.
Topics and research questions include (but are not limited to):

 

Instructions: Submissions focusing on other aspects of social groups and solidarity, both from a theoretical and an ethical point of view are welcome. Articles must be written in English or in Italian and should not exceed 40.000 characters, notes and blank-spaces included.

Advisory editors: Giovanna Pinna, Serena Feloj, Robert Clewis
 

Description: The last few decades have seen an increased interest in the aesthetics of German Idealism. In particular, this turning point in the history of philosophical reflection on beauty and art has been made fruitful for explorations of contemporary artistic practices. The focus, however, has so far been put primarily on a limited number of themes and authors, with a marked prevalence of investigations into Hegel and the issue of the ‘end of art’. The publication of the transcripts of Hegel’s lectures and new annotated editions of other works (such as Schelling’s Philosophie der Kunst or Solger’s Vorlesungen über Ästhetik) have significantly broadened the textual base. This fresh material has allowed scholars to explore in more depth the development of the thought of individual authors, as well as the relationships, affinities and distances between their differing positions. The aim of this volume is to reconsider post-Kantian aesthetics by dwelling on the variety of thinkers, and theoretical issues that defined it, in order to discuss the outcome – in terms of aesthetic theory – of these positions and their possible contribution to current discussions on art and its social and philosophical relevance.
 

Instructions: Submissions focusing on the relationship between German Idealism and Romanticism, or on the position of authors like Hölderlin, Fichte, Schelling, Vischer, or Solger within the framework of post-Kantian aesthetic thought, or on specific aspects of the theory of Idealism, including relatively overlooked topics like the comical or humorous, are welcome. Articles must be written in English or in Italian and should not exceed 40.000 characters, notes and blank-spaces included. Mail to: giovanna.pinna@unimol.it and redazionerivistadiestetica@gmail.com

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The Monist
Transgenerationality, community and justice
Deadline for submissions: 31 December 2021
Guest editors: Tiziana Andina (University of Turin), Fausto Corvino (University of Turin)
 

The research on intergenerational justice has followed in the last decades three main directives: neo-contractualist models that aim to demonstrate that there can be mutual advantage in indirect cooperation or to find moral patches based on intra-familiar love; studies on the implications that utilitarianism, prioritarianism and sufficientarianism have with respect to future generations (e.g., the social discount rate, the repugnant conclusion, the hermit’s paradox, and so forth); analysis of how it is possible to conceive intergenerational harm in the face of the non-identity problem. There is, however, a third possible line of research, which, despite having received much less attention over the years, presents much less theoretical complications than the approaches set out above, and this is transgenerational communitarianism. Avner De Shalit outlined, more than twenty years ago, the concept of transgenerational community, that is, a community that despite the lack of face-to-face interactions between all its members (due to obvious temporal asymmetries) manages to ensure moral similarity between them through free and rational processes of collective reflection.

Although this idea is able to give normative foundation to intergenerational obligations without incurring the theoretical complications that meet the most known and discussed theories that are based on a strict methodological individualism, such as complications related to the identity of future people and population ethics, it has not been developed in the literature as due. At the same time, however, a consistent metaphysical research has gone ahead on the concepts of transgenerationality and of transgenerational actions, i.e., actions that can be realized only with the contribution of subjects other than those who initiated them – which is, in essence, the theoretical assumption of any transgenerational community.

Accordingly, the purpose of this special issue is to investigate the relationship between transgenerationality, on the one hand, and a community-based normative foundation of justice towards future generations, on the other. In particular, we are interested in addressing three theoretical issues:

– What are the metaphysical underpinnings of the concept of transgenerationality and under which circumstances one or more transgenerational actions can create duties of justice, positive or negative, towards future generations?

– What is a transgenerational community and what kind of obligations does it create among its members belonging to different generational cohorts? And what is the temporal extension of these obligations?

– What are the drawbacks of a communitarian approach to intergenerational justice? For example, can it give the right theoretical value to intergenerational problems, such as climate change, which have a clear cosmopolitan scope?

Invited authors

Avner de Shalit (Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel)

Luigi Bonatti (University of Trento, Italy) and Lorenza Alexandra Lorenzetti (Università Cattolica, Milan, Italy)

Janna Thompson (La Trobe University, Australia)

Jean Comaroff (Harvard University, USA) and John Comaroff (Harvard University, USA),

May Sim (College of the Holy Cross, MA, USA)

Ferdinando G. Menga (Università della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Italy)
Submission Information: All submissions should be prepared for anonymous review and sent to:
tiziana.andina@unito.it <mailto:tiziana.andina@unito.it> and fausto.corvino@unito.it <mailto:fausto.corvino@unito.it>

Word limit: 8000 words, including notes and references.

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  DEADLINE EXTENDED  Argumenta
Special Issue: The Source of Modality
Submission deadline: 21 June 2021
 
Guest Editors: Giacomo Giannini (LSE), Joaquim Giannotti (University of Birmingham)

Invited Contributors: Jessica Leech (King’s College London ), Michael Wallner (University of Graz), Jennifer Wang (Simon Fraser University), Tobias Wilsch (University of Tübingen), Al Wilson (University of Birmingham)

Description: It is hard to overestimate the centrality of modality and modal notions in philosophy. As Boris Kment notes, ‘since the work of Kripke, Lewis, and others ushered in the modal turn in analytic philosophy, modality has become one of the most active areas of research in metaphysics and modal notions have been central to philosophical theorizing across the board—from the foundations of logic to moral theory’ (2014:1). Recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in the topic of the foundation of modality: in virtue of what, if anything, do modal facts and truths hold? What is it to be necessary or possible?  Traditional answers, involving possible worlds (whose nature has been central to discussions in modal metaphysics for most of the second half of the last century), have, on the one hand, received new blood from unexpected sources, such as Everettian interpretations of quantum mechanics (Wilson 2020), and, on the other hand, have been joined and challenged by new theories that give possible worlds a much less central role (Cameron 2010). These include primitivist theories about modality (Wilsch 2017, Wang 2013) or counterfactuals (Lange 2009), non-descriptivist theories (Thomasson 2020), as well as ‘hardcore actualist’ (Contessa 2009) approaches, which seek to ground modality in something more fundamental than simple possibility, necessity, or primitive counterfactuals, while also attempting to do away with possible worlds altogether, thereby identifying the sources of modal truths only in local features of the actual world. For instance, Dispositionalists (Vetter 2015; Borghini and Williams 2008; Jacobs 2010) claim that dispositional properties of actually existing things are the loci of modal truths, while Essentialists aim to ground modality in the essences of actually existing entities (Fine 1994; Hale 2013; Correia 2012; Lowe 2013; Leech forthcoming). This flourishing literature not only reveals that we are far from any consensus as to the source of modality, but also invites productive conversations and debates to be had between the proponents of these new theories. The question of whether these alternatives to classic possible-worlds approaches can deliver what they promise remains. To the purpose of advancing the debate concerning the metaphysics of modality, we invite submission of original work on new theories of modality, broadly construed, that address the following non-exhaustive list of questions:

• Are there promising candidates for grounding modality that have not yet been canvassed by the literature?
• What is the source of possibility and necessity? What does it mean to provide the source of modality?
• What is the relationship between the various recent theories of modality? How do they fare with respect to one another?
• Should we get rid of possible worlds, at least for the purpose of grounding alethic modality? What is the role of possible worlds models in theories of modality that do not take them to offer the foundation of modality?
• Is there a fundamental (alethic) modality from which the others can be derived, or are there irreducible varieties of (alethic) modality? Do they have the same foundation?
• Can Blackburn’s dilemma (Blackburn 1986) be solved, and if so, how? Do any of the recent theories have a unique advantage in tackling it?
• What notion of locality is at play in New Actualist theories of modality? Is there a common notion across the board?

Instructions: Articles must be written in English and should not exceed 8000 words.  For the presentation of their articles, authors are requested to take into account the instructions available under Information for Authors. Submissions must be suitable for blind review. Each submission should also include a brief abstract of no more than 250 words and four keywords for indexing purposes. Notification of intent to submit, including both a title and a brief summary of the content, will be greatly appreciated, as it will assist with the coordination and planning of the special issue.
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Journal of Transcendental Philosophy
Kant and the Role(s) of Doctrines of Method
Submission deadline: 1 April 2022

Guest editors: Andrew Chignell (Princeton University), Gabriele Gava (University of Turin)

Description: Each of Kant’s three Critiques includes a ‘doctrine of method’. There is a ‘Transcendental Doctrine of Method’ in the Critique of Pure Reason (1781/1787), a ‘Doctrine of Method of Pure Practical Reason’ in the Critique of Practical Reason (1788) and a ‘Doctrine of Method of the Teleological Power of Judgment’ in the Critique of the Power of Judgment (1790). Additionally, there is an ‘Ethical Doctrine of Method’ in the Doctrine of Virtue, which is the second book of the Metaphysics of Morals (1797). These doctrines of method have been comparatively neglected by Kant scholars. In part this is no doubt because these chapters come at the end of very long and complicated books. In part, this is due to the false assumption that Kant only included these sections to adhere to a traditional architectonic division of philosophical works (see Kemp Smith 1918: 563).
Recently, however, there has been a wave of studies thatshow that Kant’s doctrines of method contain materials that were important to Kant and relevant to debates among Kant scholars as well as to some contemporary discussions. For example, consider the distinction between the methods of philosophy and of mathematics that Kant discusses in the ‘Discipline of Pure Reason’ chapter in the Doctrine of Method of the first Critique. The past thirty years has witnessed a series of important interpretations that appreciate the relevance of this distinction (see Wolff-Metternich 1995; De Jong 1995; Carson 1999; Shabel 2003; Sutherland 2004; Dunlop 2014), especially in relation to Kant’s philosophy of mathematics. Another group of scholars have highlighted the significance of the ‘Architectonic of Pure Reason’ chapter (also in the first Critique) to understanding Kant’s effort to generate a scientific metaphysics (see La Rocca 2003; Manchester 2003 and 2006; Sturm 2009; Gava 2014; Ferrarin 2015). More recently, the ‘Canon of Pure Reason’ chapter has attracted the most attention -- in particular the last section, wherein Kant develops a sophisticated account of different types of ‘taking-to-be-true’ (Fürwahrhalten). Among these are ‘opinion’ (Meinung), ‘belief’ (Glaube), ‘conviction’ (Überzeugung), persuasion (Überredung), and ‘knowledge’ (Wissen) (see Stevenson 2003; Chignell 2007a, 2007b, forthcoming 2022; Pasternack 2011 and 2014; Höwing 2016; Willaschek 2016; Gava 2019). Still other works have investigated what is peculiar to the ‘practical’ doctrines of method contained in Kant’s practical works (see Bacin 2002 and 2010). Despite this recent and growing interest in Kant’s doctrines of method, there is much about them that remains unclear. For one thing, in addition to ongoing debates and remaining questions regarding the issues that have already attracted scholarly attention, large sections of Kant’s doctrines of method are comparatively neglected. We welcome contributions that seek to refine our understanding of the familiar issues as well as those that explore new territory. Second, there are outstanding questions about what a doctrine of method is exactly, and what unifies the various doctrines of method found in Kant’s works. While the first and third Critiques connect their doctrines of method to the issue of whether a body of cognition can be considered a science, Kant explicitly denies that the ‘practical’ doctrines of method play this role (see 5:151). Therefore, one question that urgently needs discussion is just: what do ‘theoretical’ and ‘practical’ doctrines of method’ have in common that justifies their sharing a name? But even focus just on the ‘theoretical’ doctrines of method: how do their different components belong to a common project and contribute to showing that a body of cognition is a science (Wissenschaft)? We welcome contributions that seek to answer these unifying questions, as well as those that connect Kant’s doctrines of method to previous or subsequent methodological discussions (e.g. in the German rationalist, German idealist or pragmatist traditions).
We will organize and fund a workshop with the authors of the accepted papers at Princeton University in October 2022. The workshop will give authors the opportunity to receive additional feedback from other authors and various distinguished auditors before they submit final versions of their contributions. Participation in the workshop is mandatory for inclusion in the volume.

Instructions: Papers should be submitted by April 1st 2022, using the journal’s submission site. Upon submitting your manuscript, please specify in your cover letter that the manuscript is meant for this special issue, so that it can be assigned to the appropriate guest editors. Papers must be no longer than 10.000 words, including notes and references, and be prepared for blind review, removing all self-identifying references. The formatting of the submission is up to the author; accepted papers will be asked to adhere to journal style (see the journal’s website for further information: https://www.degruyter.com/view/journals/jtph/jtph- overview.xml). No more than one submission per author is accepted.

Description: “When we go out in the morning to collect trash…” “When we fly with our private jets…” “At 6 AM, when all of us prisoners wake up…” None of the aforementioned examples do sound like typical examples for the Everyday Aesthetics discourse. Looking critically at examples mentioned in articles on everyday aesthetics, one easily gets the feeling, that they touch mostly upon the aesthetics of the lives of the Western middle class. There are, of course, differing approaches too. Some touch upon issues like junkyards and roadside clutter (Leddy), and, of course, a lot in the discussion is just about theoretical frameworks, e.g. about seeing the everyday as a set of objects (Saito) or patterns that we are routinized to do and experience (Haapala). This special issue of Popular Inquiry would like to explore perspectives in Everyday Aesthetics from this point of view: what is lacking in the discussion? Everyone has an everyday life, and everybody has an everyday aesthetics. What does the aesthetics of the everyday look like in rural areas in Sahel and Central Asia, in an Inuit village in the Artic, in the slum in the outskirts of Delhi or Lagos – or on a farm in Ukraine? What about refugee camps, prisons and hospitals? And what is the everyday for someone living in the streets, or for the mentally ill who does not share experiences with fellow individuals? In what way does aesthetics and particularly Everyday Aesthetics make sense and offer theoretical concepts for characterising, analysing, understanding, and improving different forms of the everyday, that we haven’t thought of yet?
We ask for reflections on the aesthetics of the everyday, in particular, but not exclusively, in relation to the Everyday Aesthetics debate, to discuss the critical potentials of the discussion (this includes the possibility to claim that there is no such thing). The editors of this special issue would like to challenge the Western middleclass approaches. We encourage authors to dive into history, unseen lifestyles, forced lifestyles (prisons, hospitals) and any other topics, that, through their examples, might also touch upon a string in the more theoretical frameworks typical for the topic.

Instructions:  We welcome contributions in different academic stylistic traditions.
Deadline for articles: August 10. E-mail: popular.inquiry@aalto.fi
Manuscript Submission Guidelines
Read our articles
CfP webpage

ESPES. The Slovak Journal of Aesthetics
Everyday Aesthetics: European Perspectives
Submission deadline: 15 July 2021

Guest Editors: Elisabetta Di Stefano, (University of Palermo), Sanna Lehtinen (Aalto University)
Host editor: Adrian Kvokacka (University of Prešov)
 

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Philosophy of Technology and the French Thought
Submission deadline: 1 August 2021

Guest Editors: Alberto Romele (University of Tuebingen), François-David Sebbah (Paris Nanterre University)

Description: French philosophers have never been very interested in technology, but surely, a French or francophone philosophy of technology indeed exists. Parrocchia (2009) has reconstructed the history of it from Descartes to the present day. More recently, the contributions of prominent contemporary authors in this field have been collected in a single volume (Loeve, Guchet, and Bensaude-Vincent 2018). Numerous French philosophers of technology are experiencing great success on an international scale. Consider, for instance, the case of Gilbert Simondon, whose work is now receiving extensive recognition after a long period of slumber (Bardin, Carrozzini, Rodriguez 2019). One should also consider the important contribution given by French scholars such as Bruno Latour, Michel Callon, and Madeleine Akrich to the development of the science and technology studies (STS). Not to mention the relevance, in France, of the epistemology and history of science and technology as a proper field of study. However, this TC of Philosophy & Technology does not wish to focus on the French philosophy of technology, but rather on the relations between philosophy of technology and the “French thought”. With this term, we express something broader than the so-called “French theory”. Cusset (2008, p. 305) ironically defined French theory as “an American interpretation of French readings of German philosophers.” According to Esposito, who refers to authors such as Derrida, Foucault, Nancy, Lyotard, and Deleuze, the French theory has “neutrality” as its core category. For instance, Derrida’s deconstruction “is neutral, suspended between yes and no, positioned at their point of intersection. It marks its distance both from the paradigm of crisis and that of critique. [...] The distancing (and self-distancing) aims for a certain self-ironic quality that, at a certain point, might inhibit any position, be it negative or affirmative” (Esposito 2015, 109-110). While the expression “French theory” mainly indicates a limited list of heretical, radical, and critical French theorists, mainly philosophers, “French thought” aspires to include all those French authors whose reflections, especially from the second half of the Twentieth century onwards, had a strong impact on the global debate in philosophy, as well as in other human and social sciences. This TC builds on the observation that while most of the representatives of the French thought have not shown any particular interest in technology, an increasing number of scholars is importing ideas and insights from the French thought into the philosophy of technology. Recent publications in this journal engage, for example, with authors such as Foucault (Dorrestijn 2012), Ricoeur (Reijers and Coeckelbergh 2018), Levinas (Bergen and Verbeek 2020), and Bourdieu (Floridi 2019; Romele 2020).
The goal of this TC is twofold. Firstly, it wishes to question the reasons of what appears to be a sort of rehabilitation. In fact, the “empirical turn” (Achterhuis 2001) of the philosophy of technology could be understood as a rejection of the “logocentrism” that characterizes the approach of many representatives of the French thought. Is there now a partial dissatisfaction for some consequences of the empirical turn? Is the French thought offering an alternative means for a critical, both ethical and political, understanding of technology? Secondly, it proposes to investigate new paths that have not been explored yet: authors whose perspectives have not been mobilized, applications of the French thought to new technological fields and objects, and so on.

Instructions: We seek submissions of roughly 8,000 words in length. While the motivating questions should be of a philosophical nature, we welcome high-quality submissions regardless of philosophical tradition or research. Questions addressed may include, but are not limited to:

Timetable:
August 1s, 2021t: deadline for paper submission
October 1st, 2021: decision and revisions returned
December 1st, 2021: deadline for revised papers
February 1st, 2022: publication of the TC

To submit a paper for this TC, authors should go to the journal’s Editorial Manager http://www.editorialmanager.com/phte/
The author (or a corresponding author for each submission in case of co- authored papers) must register into EM.
The author must then select the special article type: “Philosophy of Technology and the French Thought” from the selection provided in the submission process. This is needed in order to assign the submissions to the Guest Editors.
Submissions will then be assessed according to the following procedure:
New Submission Journal Editorial Office ⇒ Guest Editor(s) ⇒ (double-blind) Reviewers ⇒ Reviewers’ Recommendations ⇒ Guest Editors’ Recommendation ⇒ Editor-in-Chief’s Decision ⇒ Author ⇒ Notification of the Decision.
The process will be reiterated in case of requests for revisions.

For any further information please contact: Alberto Romele, romelealberto@gmail.com.

Submission deadline: May, 31 th , 2021
Notification of acceptance: June, 30 th , 2021

Advisory editors: Matteo Favaretti Camposampiero, Luigi Perissinotto
Invited Contributors: Stefano Gensini, Massimo Mugnai, Lucia Oliveri, Jean-Baptiste Rauzy

Description: Leibniz’s investigations into the structures of both natural and artificial languages as well as into the impact of language use on human cognition are widely acknowledged to have achieved real breakthroughs with respect to the early modern standard assumptions. Leibniz linked his linguistic interests with his views on mental activity by expounding the idea that language plays a fundamental role not only in communication but also in human cognition, insofar as words and signs in general serve as the indispensable thread for human thought. He used this insight into the linguistic component of thought to approach semantic phenomena such as metaphorical speech and “empty” words or phrases as well as psychological phenomena such as cognitive errors and the weakness of the will. Furthermore, his views on psycho-physical parallelism led him to explore the hypothesis that even abstract, conceptual representations have a physical counterpart in the human brain insofar as they are necessarily verbalized in a language or expressed in any other system of perceptible symbols. Only a minority of Leibniz’s writings on these topics were published during his lifetime. Most were posthumously discovered during the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth century, while several manuscripts are still unpublished. This state of affairs has fostered a tendency to consider Leibniz’s contributions to the philosophy of language and cognition as a sort of hidden treasure that had (and partly has) to wait for the modern scholar in order to be adequately appreciated and understood. However justified in terms of the history of manuscripts, this picture has the drawback that it obscures how much Leibniz’s ideas on language and cognition actually contributed to shaping our modernity by inspiring or influencing diverse – sometimes even
opposite – philosophical trends. On the one hand, his universalistic commitments – the possibility to discover the alphabet of human thoughts, the rational grammar, and the Universal Character – fueled various modern attempts at unveiling the genuine, logical form of propositions, describing the deep structure of languages, and introducing an artificial notation for the perspicuous expression of thoughts. On the other hand, his recurring emphasis on the linguistic or generally symbolic character of blind thought became a prominent source for later accounts of higher cognitive activities as dependent on language acquisition and therefore influenced by the specific language acquired. Thus, even the origins of the so-called linguistic relativity could be traced back to some Leibnizian root. This journal issue aims, first, to expand our knowledge of Leibniz’s views on language, its cognitive function, and its role in other dimensions of human nature and behavior, especially moral agency; and second, to reassess Leibniz’s influence on modern philosophy of language and cognition up to the present day. Contributions may address one or more topics related to this Call and focus on Leibniz’s works, his reception, or his contemporary significance.

Instructions: Articles must be written in English and should not exceed 6.500 words. The instructions for authors can be consulted in the journal’s website: ‘Editorial Guidelines’. Submissions must be suitable for blind review. Each submission should also include a brief abstract of no more than 650 words and five keywords for indexing purposes. Notification of intent to submit, including both a title and a brief summary of the content, will be greatly appreciated, as it will assist with the coordination and planning of the issue. Please submit your proposal by email to jolma_editor@unive.it or using the specific section ‘Contacts’ of the ‘Journal info’ page.

Invited contributors: Angela Breitenbach (University of Cambridge), Helga Varden (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

Description: The XXXV (2022) volume of Studi Kantiani will host a special section dedicated to Kant and Environmental Ethics. The topic is broadly construed to include contributions that tackle this problem from different angles. We welcome submissions that focus on the interpretation of Kant’s works, asking whether there is space for anything like a concern for the environment in them. We also seek papers that defend a Kantian approach in current debates around environmental ethics.

Instructions: Papers should be sent to clr@unige.it by September 1st 2021. They must be prepared for blind review, removing all self-identifying references. They should not exceed 50.000 characters (spaces included) and must include an abstract of 1.500 characters and key words. Papers will be selected through a process of double-blind review. Studi Kantiani accepts contributions in 5 languages (English, French, German, Italian, Spanish).

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