One cannot escape today the refrain that Europe is in crisis: economic,
social, political, and environmental. Yet there is no consensus on what
defines this crisis. Even the meaning of the subject, “Europe”, is a matter
of contention. It would seem that there is a neglected existential-political
dimension of the crisis concerning Europe’s identity, task, role in the
world, and indeed whether it even exists in the relevant sense. In response,
this conference aims to investigate the idea of Europe as a philosophical
concept and project.
We welcome proposals for papers exploring any aspect of this topic,
including how philosophical ideas of Europe (or not) might interact with
questions pertaining to the role and function of concrete political
institutions. Of particular interest are investigations and critiques of the
Czech philosopher Jan Patocka’s concept of “post-Europe” and the idea of
“Europe as Care for the Soul”. But we aim to attract a broad range of
perspectives, including those that would reject the notion of Europe as a
philosophical concept or project.
Please send abstracts of between 300-500 words to darian.meacham@uwe.ac.uk.
The deadline for submissions is February 5th. Confirmation of acceptance
will be by February 15th. Presentations will be 20 minutes followed by
questions.
Confirmed speakers include:
Stathis Kouvelakis (Kings College London)
Ludger Hagedorn (Institute for Human Sciences, Vienna)
Karel Novotný (Central-European Institute of Philosophy, Charles University,
Prague)
Nicolas de Warren (University of Leuven)
Francesco Tava (University of Milan)