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Call for Papers "The City of Others: Cosmopolitanism in German-Jewish Thought and Cultural Practice (1860-1950)" International Conference University of London University of Southampton Southampton (UK) 10-12 November 2010 __________________________________________________ Keynote speakers (provisional): Sander L. Gilman Fania Oz-Salzberg Adrian del Caro Susan Neiman Christian Wiese Monica Grin Conveners: Dr Christine Lopes Professor Joachim Schloer Dr Ken Gemes Philosophers and thinkers have long been attracted to the idea of cosmopolitanism. The cosmopolitan can be defined as the person who values human practices and rituals for the reason that they have the potential to create laws and orders (political, social, and religious) that are not immediately founded upon the natural order. The cosmopolitan may be understood as a city dweller, a citizen (that is, a city dweller with political voice), or someone who identifies her/himself as a citizen of the world rather than any particular region, culture, or creed. The concept of cosmopolitanism has a history that stretches from Plato, with his considerations about the ideal city, the Stoics, through Kant and Hegel, to Habermas and Rawls. The City of Others conference will focus specifically on the philosophical, cultural, and religious-based attitudes towards cosmopolitanism in German-Jewish thinkers of the period 1860-1950. Questions about how to value human beings were raised at that time, which still concern us in the twenty-first century. For instance: Is there some intrinsic link between the value of beliefs, feelings, and practices, and geographical, linguistic, cultural, or religious regions? Whatever the natural and non-natural elements of human associations on cosmopolitan scale, what are the arguments for valuing one set of elements over the other? Are cities, namely as metropolises, truly places of refuge? We welcome the submission of papers that address the concept of cosmopolitanism from the standpoint of Philosophy as well as Cultural History, especially on the following topics: - Images of Jewish cosmopolitanism - Philosophy and cosmopolitanism - Cities as places of natural and non-natural forms of life - Cities as places of refuge - Urban research and the "Jewish City" (G. Simmel - Chicago School) - The rise and fall of the Enlightenment ideal of cosmopolitanism - Cosmopolitanism versus nationalism Queries, and papers prepared for a 40-minutes presentation (15-minutes discussion), should be sent to: [email protected] __________________________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: http://interphil.polylog.org Intercultural Philosophy Calendar: http://cal.polylog.org
