Deviant Thinking: Early Modern Philosophy and the Enlightenment
Australasian Seminar in Early Modern IN PHILOSOPHY (ASEMP)
The University of Sydney
15-17 November, 2017

More info: https://wordvine.sydney.edu.au/files/844/15770/.

What the Enlightenment stands for has been subject to much discussion in recent years, and many valuable contributions have been made that help us to understand better the significance of this period. This conference takes this discussion further by connecting up the Enlightenment with the early modern period and the “rebellious” ideas that were already formulated and passed around during this time. We seek papers that bring into focus the many challenges philosophers of the 17th and 18th century posed to established intellectual, political, religious and social norms. These challenges touch on a diverse range of topics, spanning from fundamental questions concerning the status of the human being in the natural world, and the prospect of gaining knowledge of that world, to the redefinition of sentiment and affect as defining features of the moral potential of humanity. Reflections on the foundations of the state, self-governance and the rights of individuals and groups often followed on from these questions and thereby led to a novel engagement with the conditions that structure and shape human life.

SIHN’s Enlightenment Thinking Project will be hosting this conference, a central aim of which is to use the wider discussion of 17th- and 18th-century thought to launch a new series, the Australasian Seminar in Early Modern in Philosophy (ASEMP). In future years, ASEMP will be held at rotating locations at universities in the Australasian region. By establishing this conference series, we seek to provide a regular opportunity for high-quality discussions of research presentations in early modern philosophy, while encouraging closer collaboration and network opportunities between Asia-Pacific and Australian universities. Each conference will have a mentoring stream that teams up PhD students and early career researchers with senior scholars to prepare conference submissions for publication.

We are interested in receiving abstract submissions on the following subjects:

• Early modern and enlightenment ideas that in some important respects deviated from the norms established in 17th and 18th century thought.
• Philosophical thought that questioned or challenged ideas that are today understood as central ideals of the Enlightenment.
• Interpretations of early modern and enlightenment ideas/figures that deviate from standard interpretations of those ideas/figures.

We also welcome submissions (for both papers and panels) on early modern topics that fall outside the main conference theme.

The deadline for the submission of abstracts (max 800-1000 words) for conference papers (30 minutes presentation time) is 30 June, 2017. Please prepare your submission for anonymous review and add a separate cover sheet with your details.

Please email your submission to Anik Waldow.