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Conference Announcement Theme: Modern Pluralism and the Clash of Values Subtitle: Kant, Max Weber, Carl Schmitt, and the Impossibility of a Rational Grounding of Values Type: International Workshop Institution: Philosophy Department, Boğaziçi University Location: Istanbul (Turkey) Date: 11.–12.6.2018 __________________________________________________ One central feature of the modern world is pluralism of values. Many of these values clash. As the German sociologist and philosopher Max Weber has put it, there is a constant struggle between different orders of life and their respective gods and values. From his background in a Christian culture Weber points out: “It is really a question not only of alternatives between values but of an irreconcilable death-struggle, like that between ‘God’ and the ‘Devil’. Between these, neither relativization nor compromise is possible”. Weber’s diagnosis is of particular relevance for a country like modern Turkey that is still struggling to find a common ground. Not only are the values of the part of society that considers itself secular in conflict with the ones of the part that regards itself religious; the value of the nation is itself contested by the incompatible values of different social groups, which have conflicting world views, think in categories of “us” and “them”, and have opposing attitudes toward human rights and the universal value of life. This has become particularly evident when the moments of silence called for the victims of the Ankara and Paris bombings were interrupted by booing crowds in October and November 2015. The workshop investigates modern pluralism and the clash of values by critically reexamining Max Weber’s insights on these topics with the aim of applying them to the Turkish reality today. The most challenging aspect of Weber’s philosophy of conflicting values is his claim that there “is no (rational or empirical) scientific procedure of any kind whatsoever which can provide a decision here”. For Weber, the struggle between conflicting values and ends in life cannot be arbitrated. Everyone is forced to take his or her own decision regarding which of the conflicting values is ruled by God and which by the devil. This attitude is closely related to the “Dezisionismus (Desicionism)” of Carl Schmitt, which will be included in the discussions of the workshop, since he argues that political and legal decisions “are born out of nothingness” which also means that they have no rational basis. Despite Weber’s bleak diagnosis, the workshop will close by exploring options for reconciliation or compromise between values. How much room is there for negotiation between values? There are certainly values that derive from the same family of orientation or from the same foundations which should make negotiations and reconciliation easier. Is the dualism between people who consider themselves secular and those who regard themselves religious really an unchangeable opposition or a passing historical phenomenon and a difference that could be construed in alternative ways? To be sure, one appropriate response to modern value pluralism is tolerance as an attitude and virtue that allows people to permit those values that they don’t approve. Program Monday, 11th June John Freely Hall, JF507 10:00-10:30 Opening speech Manuel Knoll, Professor of Philosophy at İstanbul Şehir University 10:30-11:30 “Between Tolerance and Universality” Jovan Babić, Professor of Ethics at the University of Belgrade 11:30-11:45 Break 11:45-12:45 “When Angels Go to War: Kant on Pluralism and Moral Conflict” Lucas Thorpe, Assist. Prof. of Philosophy at Boğaziçi University 12:45-14:15 Lunch at University Cafeteria 14:30-15:30 “Cosmopolitanism without Commensurability: Why Incommensurable Values are Worthless” Kenneth R. Westphal, Professor of Philosophy at Boğaziçi University 15:30-15:45 Break 15:45-16:45 “Habermas and Max Weber: About the Legitimation of Public Norms” Gilles Marmasse, Professor of Philosophy at Université de Poitiers 16:45-17:15 Break 17:15-18:15 “The Impossibility of a Rational Grounding of Values and Normative Theories: Max Weber on the Clash of Approaches to Ethics” Manuel Knoll 19:00 Dinner at Hisarüstü, Bakar Meyhane Tuesday, 12th June John Freely Hall, JF507 10:00-11:00 “The Ethics of World Religions: Weber's Eurocentric Perspective on the Problem of Salvation” Lütfi Sunar, Assist. Professor of Sociology at Istanbul Medeniyet University 11:00-11:15 Break 11:15-12:15 “Max Weber, Secularization, and Turkey: An Uneasy Relationship Nurullah Ardıç, Professor of Sociology at İstanbul Şehir University 12:15-12:30 Break 12:30-13:30 “The ‘Impure’ Origin of Values. A Non-Logocentric Perspective on Weber’s Conception of the Clash of Values” Nihat Ülner, Assist. Professor of German Literature, Hacettepe University 13:30-15:45 Lunch at University Cafeteria 16:00-17:00 “Carl Schmitt on Vocation and the Autonomy of the Political Sphere” Enes Güran, Boğaziçi University 17:00-17:15 Break 17:15-18:15 “Politics and Law: Sources of Value in Weber and Schmitt” Barry Stocker, Assist. Prof. at Istanbul Technical University’s Faculty of Science and Letters 19:30 Dinner at Taksim, Müşterek Meyhane Convenors: Prof. Dr. Manuel Knoll (İstanbul Şehir University) Enes Güran (Boğaziçi University) Assist. Prof. Lucas Thorpe (Boğaziçi University) Contact: Dr. Lucas Thorpe Philosophy Department Bogazici University Istanbul 34342 Turkey Phone: +90 212 3596558 Email: ltho...@gmail.com __________________________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: https://interphil.polylog.org InterPhil List Archive: https://www.mail-archive.com/interphil@list.polylog.org/ __________________________________________________
