Call for Papers:
"Ontology and History" conference - 29-31 May 2015, Delphi
International
Conference at the European Cultural Centre of Delphi
29-31 May 2015
in Delphi, Greece
Ontology and
History:
A Challenging
and Auspicious Dialogue for Philosophy and Theology
This conference will attempt to explore the relationship between ontology
and history in the context of both philosophical enquiry and Christian
theology. Ontology is the study of being qua being, a field that is typically
viewed as distinguishable from––if not also antithetical to––history.
However, while the study of being (insofar as it exists) and history may seem
unrelated, there is either an explicit or implicit interaction between the
two in a number of philosophical traditions; when not explicitly articulated,
this implicit interaction emerges as a philosophical problem. And while this
is particularly true for various forms of philosophical idealism (e.g. German
idealism) and the historicisation of idealism, it emerges as a core problem
in the context of Christian theology and its eschatological promise. If the
true state of being and beings resides in an eschatological future, not in
the present or a distant past (as masterfully expounded by Maximus the
Confessor), and if this true state of being and beings is yet to be
witnessed, then temporality in general and history in particular become a
vital part of ontology proper. This bears immense implications for the
philosophical enquiry into ecclesial witness.
Apart from this, a reoccurring challenge within Christianity concerns how
we are to make past events present. Rudolf Bultmann tried to make sense of
this by elevating word over event. In so doing he formulated an
‘existentialised’ eschatology in which the focus is on the immediate. In
current biblical studies there is strong emphasis on making sense of the
Resurrection through history, and history is given priority over confession.
As a result the ecumenical creeds are denigrated and metaphysical
clarification risks being perceived as anti-biblical. In both Catholicism and
Orthodoxy there are various construals of anamnesis in which the historical
event is made present as a kingdom event through the liturgical experience of
the Eucharist. In line with the desire to understand the relationship of the
‘once’ and the ‘always’, there is the challenge of making sense of the particular
and the universal. Karl Rahner conflates them: the particular is the
universal. Or stepping back in time with Origen, there is the temptation to
universalise the particular with salvation. How best can one reconcile the
continuity of salvation history and the radical (interruptive) newness of
Christ? Political theology, which grew out of a particular account of
eschatology, raises the joint concern of how our social histories are
legitimated by moral and theological insights about the nature and destiny of
the human person. Clearly, the relationship between ontology and history has
immense wide-ranging philosophical and theological implications.
Featured
Speakers:
John Panteleimon
Manoussakis
(Associate
Professor of Philosophy – College of the Holy Cross, Boston MA)
Alan J. Torrance
(Professor of
Systematic Theology – University of St Andrews)
Christos
Yannaras
(Emeritus
Professor of Philosophy – Panteion University, Athens)
Metropolitan
John (Zizioulas) of Pergamon
(Academy of
Athens)
Organised by:
Dr Sotiris
Mitralexis (Freie Universität Berlin)
Andrew TJ
Kaethler (University of St Andrews)
CALL FOR PAPERS
We welcome short
paper proposals (presentation duration: 20 minutes) on all areas addressed in
the conference's general description and/or in the thematic workshops'
abstracts. Prospective
participants can EITHER submit an abstract for a short paper
addressing a subject pertaining to the general theme of the conference for a
non-thematic session OR submit an abstract for a short paper to be
included in one of the following thematic workshops/panels. If your paper is aimed at a specific workshop, please do indicate the workshop's title after your
abstract. Each participant can present only one short paper, be it in a
workshop panel or in a non-thematic panel.
All papers must
be presented in English. Please send us the title and a short abstract of
your paper (200-400 words) in English, along with a short CV, via
e-mail to ontologyandhistory@gmail.com. The deadline for abstract submissions is Sunday,
15 February 2015. You will be informed concerning the acceptance of your
paper on Wednesday, February 18 2015, and you will be asked to submit the
registration fee via bank transfer or PayPal.
The full
registration fee is 200€ and the student registration fee is 120€. Upon registering,
please send us your (1) full name with title, (2) institutional affiliation,
(3) e-mail, (4) cellphone number and (5) postal address to ontologyandhistory@gmail.com with the subject “Registration” by no later than
Sunday, 22 February 2015. Subsequently, you will be provided with information
concerning the bank transfer of the registration fee.
The registration
fee covers registration, hotel accommodation in Delphi for two
nights (29-31 May 2015), one dinner (29 May) and one lunch (30
May), bus transport to and from Athens, the coffee breaks throughout
the conference, as well as conference material.
VENUE
The conference's
venue is the European Cultural
Centre of Delphi in Delphi,
Greece. Accommodation for 29-31 May 2015 is provided through the registration
fee for participants, while a bus transfer from and to Athens will be made
available.
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