The Radical Enlightenment: the big picture and its details
Brussels
16-17 May, 2013
Organizers: Centre for Ethics and Humanism and the Centre for Logic and Philosophy of Science , Department of Philosophy and Moral Sciences at the Free University of Brussels (Vrije Universiteit Brussel).
The objectives of this conference are: to push forward our historical and philosophical understanding of the ‘Radical Enlightenment’, to identify important figures (materialists, atheists, freethinkers, Spinozists, pantheists, freemasons, /philosophes/, etc.) within the Radical Enlightenment and to unravel their significance and influence, to understand the origins and spread of the Radical Enlightenment and the reactions against it (with attention to correspondence networks and communities, manuscripts, pamphlets, clandestine literature, etc.), and to reflect on the impact of the Radical Enlightenment on contemporary thinking. We welcome general historical and philosophical contributions and detailed case-studies of both well-known and lesser known figures.
Invited speakers:
- Jonathan I. Israel (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton)
- Beth Lord (Department of Philosophy, University of Aberdeen)
- Eric Schliesser (Department of Philosophy and Moral Sciences, Ghent University)
- Winfried Schröder (Institut für Philosophie, Philipps-Universität Marburg)
- Wiep van Bunge (Faculty of Philosophy, Erasmus University Rotterdam)
- Else Walravens (Department of Philosophy and Moral Sciences, Free University of Brussels)
The organizers welcome contributed papers that fall within the scope of the conference. Abstracts consisting of 500 words should be sent as a .doc or .docx file to steffen.ducheyne@vub.ac.be. A separate sheet containing the author’s affiliation should be included. 30 minutes are allotted to contributed papers (including Q&A). The deadline for submission is 31 March 2013. Notification of acceptance will be given by 5 April 2013. A selection of the presented papers will be published afterwards.
