15-17 February 2008
Geneva, Switzerland
CALL FOR PAPERS BECAUSE http://www.unige.ch/lettres/philo/because.html University of Geneva, Switzerland 15-17 February 2008 Topic of the conference: The use of explanatory concepts, as expressed by means of locutions like 'because' or 'in virtue of', pervades all philosophical disciplines. In many cases what is at stake are causal links, but in many other cases causation is not involved. A currently hotly debated example is provided by the topic of truth-making. A truth-maker is something which makes a truth-bearer (a sentence, or a proposition, etc.) true, and the truth-making relation is commonly spelt out in terms of a non-causal explanatory relationship: for a truth-bearer to be made true by an entity is for it to be true in virtue of that entity, or in virtue of the existence of that entity. Other examples can be found in discussions about ontological dependence, supervenience, substances, essence, reduction, the realism vs. anti-realism debate, or again knowledge. The papers presented at the conference will deal with topics where non-causal explanatory links are crucially involved, as used in order to treat certain philosophical issues, or as the proper topic of philosophical inquiry. Submissions: We welcome submissions on the topic of the conference for 60 minute talks followed by a 30 minute discussion. The language of the conference is English. Abstracts of approx. 1000 words should be sent to fabricecorreia@gmail.com <mailto:benjamin.schnieder@uni-hamburg.de> by December 1st, 2007. Notification of acceptance will be sent by December 15th. Travel and accommodation: The speakers' travel and accommodation expenses will be reimbursed. Volume: A volume on the topic of the conference will be edited, in which a selection of contributions is expected to be included. Organisation: The conference is organised under the auspices of the newly created Genevan center of metaphysics EIDOS (http://www.unige.ch/lettres/philo/eidos.html) by: Fabrice Correia (University of Geneva, EIDOS) Kevin Mulligan (University of Geneva, EIDOS) Benjamin Schnieder (University of Hamburg, Humboldt-University of Berlin) Contact: For any information please contact Fabrice Correia at fabricecorreia@gmail.com <mailto:fabricecorreia@gmail.com>.