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Call for Papers Theme: Living with the Past Type: International Conference Institution: Philosophy Department, University of the Witwatersrand Location: Johannesburg (South Africa) Date: 3.–5.6.2011 Deadline: 30.3.2011 __________________________________________________ The Philosophy Department of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, is hosting a conference on the topic "Living with the Past". Keynote speakers: Howard McGary (Rutgers) Lionel K. McPherson (Tufts) In 2008 the U.S. House of Representatives issued an apology to African Americans for the practice of slavery and subsequent Jim Crow laws. In the same year, the Australian government issued a formal apology to its aboriginal peoples for policies that "inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss". In South Africa, the "Truth and Reconciliation Commission" was tasked with responding to past wrongdoing through discovering and publishing the truth about the past, and through giving victims a forum, as well as (in theory) reparations. This conference explores certain moral issues arising from the above and similar responses to past wrongdoing, with a focus, but not an exclusive focus, on group wrongdoing. Questions to be addressed by the conference include (but are not limited to) the following: - How should we respond to past atrocities? - Is the notion of collective guilt defensible? - Does accepting an apology where there have been no reparations compromise the victims? - Are reparations still required generations after the original victims of atrocity have died? What alternatives are there to reparations? - What are the moral obligations of the descendents of the perpetrators of atrocity to the descendents of the victims of atrocity? Deadline for submission of papers: 30 March 2011 Papers should be sent to <[email protected]>, and should be suitable for presentation in no more than 40 minutes (i.e. 3500 to 4000 words). Enquiries: Dylan Futter Email: [email protected] Lucy Allais Email: [email protected] __________________________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: http://interphil.polylog.org Intercultural Philosophy Calendar: http://cal.polylog.org __________________________________________________
