__________________________________________________
Call for Papers "Concerning Peace: Utopia or Pantopia?" International Peace Workshop 2008 International Research Group Transcendental Philosophy/German Idealism arttransponder Institut für Philosophie, Technische Universität Berlin Berlin (Germany) 2-4 October 2008 __________________________________________________ Main concept True peace, in the time of "global war zones" and "home-grown terrorists", seems stranded in utopian fantasy. War as a daily media phenomenon obscures our apprehension of reality, truth, and appearance; political battle-fields have come to seem so omnipresent that they escape our notice. But the globalization that has since thoroughly entrenched itself in our world is there really no longer any external refuge we can set our hopes on? compels us to find solutions to the problem of global peace. This means, first of all, that we have to begin by clarifying the concept of peace, by examining the conditions of its possibility. While common sense treats peace in terms of realpolitik and conceives it merely as the desirable but unstable political opposite to warlike disputes and conflicts, there is urgent need for richer and more differentiated conception of peace. Just as health is not just the absence of sickness, peace seems to be more than just the absence of war. This vacuum in our conception of peace makes itself felt in the great religious institutions and political ideologies that have all lost any credible claim to a sustainable solution to the prob-lem of peace. For these reasons, we seek to shed light on the conditions and possibilities for the existence of peace from different perspectives. This three-day workshop aims to sound out new perspectives on this question. Could it be that the purely positivistic concepts of peace, as they are used in politics and everyday life, in history, in psychology and sociology, are too narrow and are unsuited for a full grasp of the complex philosophical profundities of a systematic conception of peace? Could it be that the original ground of the distinction between war and peace is to be found deep within the human con-sciousness, in its underlying morality? This would be the case if the conditions of peace were pri-marily located not in the visible world referenced by positivistic scientific discourses, but in the prima facie invisible realm of the logical conditions of rational life. Following the collapse of the monopoly that churches and ideologies had claimed on the re-alization of true peace, we aim at a holistic perspective on the concept of peace within the condi-tions of modernity, independent of religious paradigms a perspective that can present us with new aspects, relations and questions about true peace. It seems that as humans we cannot help but imagine peace as an everlasting and omnipresent state, a pantopia, and hope and strive for this. However, our finite globe does not seem to be a very suitable place to realize this idea; thus this conception quickly turns utopian, turns to unworkable fantasy. What we are seeking are the conditions under which we can think and live the idea of peace under the assumption of this finitude; thus we consciously frame the concept of peace between the extremes of utopia and panto-pia, between the clear unreality of peace and its very concrete reality that makes the utopian fan-tasy conceivable in the first place. We are searching for means and methods, philosophical and artistic, to provide both a theoretical and a practical solution to this dilemma. What is the place of peace in the arts and philosophy? Which representations can be found for true peace between utopia and pantopia? This conference aims to locate peace philosophically and artistically between its real possibility and its possible reality and to sketch the first drafts for a systematic topology of peace. Thus it is the main purpose of this workshop to reflect on the comprehensive structures of peace as they pertain to all areas of life and in doing so to give new currency and relevance to our understanding of the phenomenon of peace. The workshop invites artists and philosophers to take the concept of true peace as a point of departure in order to conceive and realize peace as a stance and as a creative act. The congress defines itself as explicitly interdisciplinary and seeks above all to open a creative dialogue between artists and philosophers. Proposals for potential themes and sections 1. Utopia, fiction and perspective: the unreal possibility and impossible reality of peace: This module examines the relation between peace, fiction and utopia. How could a new uto-pia be achieved? Can an aesthetic presentation of peace still succeed today under the condi-tions of modernity? We are looking for an aesthetic of peace that dares to envision a new uto-pia and creates robust fictions of true peace in a finite world, as well as for philosophical approaches that shed light on the meaning, structures and functions that utopias and fictions have for the concept of peace. 2. Dystopia, perversion and corruption: a dead peace as real impossibility: This module examines the problematic relations between peace and utopia. Human attempts to live together in peace have always ended in catastrophes and perversions of the original ideal. On the artistic side, we are calling for visions for a dead peace, of peace as corruption of humanity and nature. On the philosophical side, we are looking for analyses that work out structures and criteria for peace as perversion. 3. Pantopia, omnipresence and modern metaphysics: the real possibility of living peace: Though peace is nowhere secure and nowhere guaranteed, true peace seems to demand a kind of absolute certainty. Peace remains the irreducible aim of humans. What makes us hold so tightly to this apparently unrealistic goal? What sort of reality can we find in this seemingly ineradicable hope? Are there philosophical and artistic approaches that can move beyond the fictional quality of peace in this finite world? Could it be that the reality of peace is found in its pure possibility or could be found there? We are looking for philosophical as well as aesthetic approaches showing how a possibility could be more real than tangible reality. We are in search of artists that practically implement the visions of peace in their work, who put these visions into action and who deal with the substantial omnipresence of the possible as the reality of peace. We are looking for philosophers who are working to analyze and legitimate the complex realm of the possibility of peace. Procedure For this conference from October 2 - 4, 2008, we would ask all those interested in participating to send us an abstract of their contribution by April 20, 2008. The abstract should be a short presen-tation of the lecture or of the artistic contribution (i.e. an artist lecture, a performance, etc.) cen-tered on one of the themes that we propose or on an idea of the participant's own. It is our goal for the philosophical side of the conference to present systematic contributions that develop an original position in a way that is understandable for non-philosophers. The artistic participants are asked to offer contributions that are accessible to a non-artistic public. During the congress in October 2008, the participant will have 30 minutes to present his or her contribution, after which a further 30 minutes are planned for an open and critical discussion with the public. A publication of the contributions is planned. The congress will be conducted in both English and German, following the wishes of each participant. Requirements We plan to finance the project through fellowships. In order to be able to produce a homogenous and thematically profiled application, we need the following information from interested partici-pants: - a short abstract of the proposed presentation, no longer than 500 words, in English or in German - a short CV, including relevant academic or artistic achievements - a list of relevant publications or projects relating to the proposed abstract - contact information including current address All information must be sent before April 25, 2008 to: Kai U. Gregor, [email protected] or Serguei Spetschinsky, [email protected] Organization: Dr. Christoph Asmuth, Kai U. Gregor and Serguei Spetschinsky __________________________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: http://interphil.polylog.org Intercultural Philosophy Calendar: http://cal.polylog.org
