Metaphors in Philosophy
Symposium organized by the Centre for Philosophy of Culture
University of Antwerp
Wednesday, May 20th 2009
Room R.008
––––– Call for Papers –––––
Although philosophy has always insisted on clear and rational argumentation, philosophers seem not to be able to do without metaphors and figurative language. The Wörterbuch der philosophischen Metaphern, edited in 2007 by R. Konersmann, has uncovered this area in a systematic way. It testifies to the actuality and importance of the reflection on metaphors in philosophy, and on the relation between philosophical concepts and their roots in prephilosophical language.
Contemporary linguistics, literary theory, communication science, psychology etc. show great interest in metaphor in general. It is no longer considered a mere rhetorical ornament, but, on the contrary, a central phenomenon in language, thought, culture and science. In philosophy too, different theories of metaphor in general have been developed.
The symposium will not focus on the theory of metaphor in general (in linguistics, literary theory or philosophy), but more specifically on the role of metaphors in philosophy. Blumenberg may serve as a background reference. However, the scope of the symposium is wider than Blumenberg's metaphorology, and includes various approaches to metaphors in philosophy from the perspective of the philosophy of culture and the history of philosophy.
Keynote speaker : Ralf Konersmann (University of Kiel)
Other speakers will include Benjamin Biebuyck (University of Ghent), Alexander Roose (University of Ghent) and Walter Van Herck (University of Antwerp).
The language of the symposium is English. The keynote lecture will be held in German.
Paper presentations
Scholars are invited to give a short presentation of their research on the subject of the symposium (20 minutes, followed by 10 minutes of discussion).
Application
Please send an abstract of min. 300 – max. 800 words to the address mentioned below by February 1st 2009. The organizing committee will report back about acceptance before February 15th 2009.
Publication
The organizing committee plans to edit a book containing the selected papers of the symposium. Papers should count a min. of 6 000 words and not exceed 10 000 words. Instructions for the authors will be made available later.
Contact and information
Walter Van Herck, University of Antwerp – City Campus, Dep. Philosophy, Prinsstraat 13, B-2000 Antwerpen, Belgium, walter.vanherck@ua.ac.be
Information on hotels etc., see: www.visitantwerp.be
Organizing committee
Arthur Cools, Walter Van Herck and Koenraad Verrycken (University of Antwerp)