National 2011 - Philosophical Association of the Philippines (PAP), Inc.

CALL FOR PAPERS

PAP National Conference 2011
4-6 April 2011
Miriam College, Quezon City

“The death of philosophy—debating the end, possibilities, and future of thinking”

Keynote Speakers:

Dr. Julius Mendoza, University of the Philippines, Baguio
Dr. Remmon Barbaza, Ateneo de Manila University
Dr. Napoleon Mabaquiao, De La Salle University


As a primordial way of thinking, philosophy, inasmuch as it is obsessed with the idea of “origin” (Ursprung), is obsessed with the idea of “death”: the ontological status of death, the death of man, the death of God, the end of the world! But what about philosophy’s very own death? Is this, in the first place, a philosophical question? Or, to put it in a rather Heideggerian expression, does the question of the death of philosophy belong to philosophy, as philosophy’s manner of questioning its very own being? If, indeed, philosophy’s very own death is an issue—whether or not philosophy is dead or perhaps moribund—how should philosophy approach the question of its very own end?

The wonderment of man, Plato intimates in the Theaetetus, is the origin of philosophy. This primordial perplexity of man also marks the beginning of science. The human propensity to know (science) is an inflection of the human propensity to think (philosophy). At the wake of the bourgeoning of science and its embodiment in modern technology, one could arguably surmise that we have reached the promise, for better or for worse, of our propensity to know. Indeed, the pathologies of human knowledge we glean from history (Auschwitz, the atom bomb, 9/11, etc.) or from our banal, unnecessarily complex, and meaningless toil in an ultra-consumerist society. Does the exhaustion of science also imply the exhaustion of thinking, that is to say, the end of philosophy? For Heidegger, it’s not the exhaustion of thinking per se, but, rather, the end of a particular way of thinking about the world we call “metaphysics.” But ultimately, it is Derrida who sings the requiem: “beyond the death, or dying nature, of philosophy, perhaps even because of it, thought still has a future, or even, as is said today, is still entirely to come because of what philosophy has held in store . . ..”

As philosophers, we are forced to rethink the status of philosophy—both as a primordial way of thinking and as an academic discipline. Is philosophical thinking under the threat of exhaustion? Aren’t the closure of top rated Departments of Philosophy, such as, in Middlesex University in the UK and our constant struggle to fight, tooth and nail, for the pedagogic significance of basic philosophy courses (e.g., logic, philosophy of man, ethics) in our very own local universities already symptoms of the end of philosophy? Does this obliviousness to the importance of philosophy cause the decline in “thinking” about our socio-political problems? Isn’t the rather blatant commodification of our educational system and its deliberate neglect for the humanities already a sign of the end of thinking? But if we listen closely to Heidegger and Derrida, aren’t they gesturing towards the open space that such end promises? Aren’t they gesturing towards an emphatic rethinking, welcoming, of new possibilities in thinking? The open-ended nature of our query into the death of philosophy invites us to question the self-understanding of philosophy. Indeed, the question of its very own death belongs to philosophy!

We are, therefore, sending out this Call for Papers to invite you to join us in the next Philosophical Association of the Philippines National Conference 2011 in singing the Derridian requiem for philosophy, “The death of philosophy—debating the end, possibilities, and future of thinking,” to be held on April 6-8, 2011 at Miriam College, Quezon City.

We welcome paper abstract submissions from academics, graduate students, and independent scholars on the theme outlined above. Please submit an abstract of not more than 300 words with a tentative outline to Dr. Jove Jim S. Aguas (jovejim24@yahoo.com) by March 4, 2011. The abstract should be in a Word or RTF file and prepared for blind review, meaning the name of the author should not appear in the file. Please attach the file to your email. The following author’s details should be indicated in the body of your email: Name and designation of the author, institutional affiliation and position, and title of the abstract.

We look forward to receiving your abstracts soon and we welcome you to yet another exciting PAP conference this summer!

Click here to download the Call for Papers