Concepts and their uses

Symposium of the Swiss Philosophical Society 2023

Bern, 28.-30.8.2023

Philosophical knowledge is often described as being conceptual. Therefore, concepts have been an important topic in philosophy since Plato’s theory of forms. Very recently, the study of concepts has taken new and exciting routes. Experimental philosophers investigate the understanding of concepts with tools that are unprecedented in philosophy. Drawing on research from the empirical sciences, philosophers have taken new approaches to what concepts are and do. Finally, an increased awareness of problematic concepts – e.g. concepts that contribute to discrimination – has help to establish the new field of conceptual ethics. Against this backdrop, the symposium of the Swiss Philosophical Society aims at gathering and discussing new work on concepts. In this way, we also hope to reflect upon the self-understanding of philosophy and the contribution that work on concepts can make for broader society.

Submission Guidelines

We welcome submissions on the conference topic for the sections listed below. Apart from scholarly quality, the most important selection criterion is topicality in view of the general theme of the conference. We have thus specified example questions or topics for each section. But submissions need not concentrate on them, if they refer to the conference topic in a different way. Papers in the history of philosophy are welcome in every section; on top, there is also a purely historical section. Per talk, we reserve 40 minutes (max. 25 minutes per talk, at least 15 minutes Q&A).

Submissions should be anonymized and will be reviewed by members of the Scientific Board. Please submit an extended abstract of about 650-850 words (excluding references), a short abstract (ca. 100-150 words) and at least 3 keywords. Submissions can be in English, German, French or Italian. We expect that English contributions will draw the largest audience. Contributions by postdocs and advanced Ph.D. students are particularly welcome. About 50-60 papers will be selected for presentation. A selection of the conference papers will be published in a special issue of the journal Studia Philosophica.

There will be a fee of CHF 50 for participation (with a reduction of 50% for students including Ph.D. students). We are sorry we cannot offer travel grants or accommodation.

List of Sections

• Metaphysics (e.g., what are concepts?)

• Ethics (e.g., conceptual ethics; basic concepts in ethics and their relationship)

• Metaphilosophy (e.g., experimental inquiry of concepts (papers can present concrete experimental work about specific concepts, but should contain some general reflection on types of concepts or so); conceptual engineering vs. conceptual analysis)

• Epistemology (e.g., conceptual knowledge; concept possession of AI)

• Philosophy of language (e.g., concepts and words)

• Philosophy of science (e.g., development and evaluation of scientific concepts)

• Logic (e.g., formal models of concepts)

• Political philosophy (e.g., politics of concepts)

• Philosophy of mind (e.g., conceptual content of mental states)

• Aesthetics (e.g., conceptual art)

• History (e.g., concepts in ancient philosophy; concepts in early modern philosophy; concepts in 20^th century philosophy

Committees

Program Committee

• Guenda Bernegger

• Georg Brun

• Matthias Egg

• Nadja El Kassar

• Michael Festl

• Janette Friedrich

• Anna Goppel

• Vera Hoffmann-Kolss

• Richard King

• Julia Langkau

• Andreas Müller

• Matthieu Queloz

• Kevin Reuter

• Matthias Rolffs

• Wolfgang Rother

• Jean-Pierre Schneider

• Markus Stepanians

• Pascale Willemsen

Organizing committee

• Claus Beisbart and team

Contact

All questions about submissions should be emailed to claus.beisbart@unibe.ch

Sponsors

SAGW

Institute of Philosophy at the University of Bern