February, 2013
Hartmann offers the idea that philosophy is at the very brink of discoveries in ethics and in ontology, not at the end of its route; he is always willing to go back to the roots of thought, always willing to concede that some problems in metaphysics, though genuine, may always elude our efforts to understand and answer them, but he is nonetheless certain that we can make progress: his doctrine of categories, the theory of modalities, his description of the virtues, the phenomenology of aesthetic experience are but a sample of his contributions to philosophy. Careful analysis of the categorial connections that link them together show that there is a way of systematically develop philosophy without falling into the inflexibility of a closed system. Hartmann understood reality as essentially dynamic, and gave the category of process a central place within his categorial framework. We welcome papers on any portion of Hartmann’s philosophy, its place in the history of philosophy, and its relevance for contemporary issues.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
• Ontological categories, their nature and organization
• Modalities and spheres of being
• Levels of reality
• Values, including ethical and aesthetical ones, their nature and organization
• The interplay between metaphysics, ontology and epistemology
• Philosophical methodology (how to study and teach
philosophy)
Applications should be sent to both Eugene Kelly (ekelly@nyit.edu) and
Roberto Poli (roberto.poli@unitn.it)
Important Dates:
Abstracts due: April 1, 2012
Notification of acceptance: June 30, 2012
Conference: New Orleans, Louisiana (USA), February 20-23 2013.
