International, hybrid conference
The sense of metaphysics / ontology Object, method, concept, grounds, criticism
6-7.06.2024
Conference organizer:
Subject Patronage:
Media Patronage:
Date: June 6-7, 2024 (paper submission by April 30).
Place: Poland, Katowice, 8 Bankowa St. and online (Teams application)
Language: Polish, English (simultaneous interpreting)
Regulations: available soon
Participant registration: 30.04.2024
Paper and/or article submission: 30.04.2024
Submission of the finished article: 30.09.2024
Conference and/or article publication payment: 07.05.2024
The participation fee includes the costs of the conference, conference materials, catering on both days of the conference. The publication fee includes the cost of publishing the participant’s article in the post-conference monograph (printed version).
Participation with presentation of a paper in onsite form – 35 €
Participation with presentation of a paper in online form – 25 €
Participation without a paper in onsite form – 35 €
Participation without a paper in online form – 0 €
Submission of an article for publication – 35 €
Account no: 80 1140 1078 0000 4048 1400 1042
University of Occupational Safety Management in Katowice
Address: Bankowa 8
40-007 Katowice, Poland
payment reference: name and surname – Sense of Metaphysics
payment deadline: by May 7, 2024.
you can also pay separately for the publication of the article until June 30, 2024
email: filozofia@wszop.edu.pl
Conference Scientific Committee
prof. Peter van Inwagen (University of Notre Dame)
prof. dr hab. Jan Hertrich-Woleński (University of Information Technology and Management)
dr hab. prof. UJ Sebastian Kołodziejczyk (Jagiellonian University in Krakow)
rev. dr hab. Miłosz Hołda (The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow)
Konrad D. Rycyk PhD OFM (The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow)
Rafał Katamay PhD (University of Occupational Safety Management in Katowice)
Organising Committee
Aneta Siwczyk PhD (WSZOP)
Krystyna Sobecka MSc (WSZOP)
Agnieszka Morgała MSc (WSZOP)
“That the human mind would someday entirely give up metaphysical investigations is just as little to be expected, as that we would someday gladly stop all breathing so as never to take in impure air. There will therefore be metaphysics in the world at every time, and what is more, in every human being, and especially the reflective ones; metaphysics that each, in the absence of a public standard of measure, will carve out for themselves in their own manner. Now what has hitherto been called metaphysics can satisfy no inquiring mind, and yet it is also impossible to give up metaphysics completely; therefore (…) it must be examined and put to a general test, since there are no other means to relieve this pressing need, which is something more than a mere thirst for knowledge”.
Immanuel Kant, Prolegomena (trans. G. Hatfield)
“There is indeed the inexpressible. This shows itself; it is the mystical”.
Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus logico-philosophicus (trans. F.P. Ramsey)
Conference themes
Kant’s critique of metaphysics clipped its own wings, declaring it incapable of living up to its object. Neo-positivists like Rudolf Carnap considered it to be devoid of any sense altogether. If ‘sense’ is understood through a too narrow framework, the concept could be misapprehended by the critics of metaphysics who could see it as an opportunity to smuggle in additional assumptions, such as the ontological naturalism or their own vision of ‘a great physical organism’. Meanwhile – it seems – the metaphysical residuum is inherent in almost every field of science incapable of dealing with such problems. Owing to its ongoing critique, metaphysics undergoes constant cycles of rebirth thanks to its different varieties, ranging from phenomenology, neo-Thomism, process philosophy to analytic philosophy or metaphysics of science.
Subject of the conference
What is the nature of the world, how to render it in conceptual terms, what is its basics and why does the world exist at all? If metaphysics is a search for answers to such questions, the domain has to rely on solid foundations itself. The question about the meaning of metaphysics/ontology is a metaquestion concerning its rationality, its cognitive capacity, the object of its inquiry and its method. Furthermore, it is a question about its grounds, what justifies its existence, in particular in the light of its criticism and alleged unsubstantiality. Also important here are the concepts of metaphysics and ontology, classical, modern and contemporary, their different typologies and meta-objective approaches.
The question about the meaning of metaphysics/ontology is also a question about its purpose and value, that is, whether, in addition to its presumed theoretical merit, it also has a practical application, and regarding its value in an axiological or social sense. We ask about the sense of metaphysics/ontology today, but also about the meaning itself. Today will become tomorrow’s history. The perspective employed here focuses on its relevance as such, and therefore invites a look into those aspects of metaphysics and ontology which, if they are to make sense at all, they would have made sense both in Aristotle’s time and now.
Conference objectives
We want to focus on the broadly conceived rationality of metaphysics / ontology, its object, method, concepts, rationale and criticism. We invite researchers exploring the topic, in particular philosophers concerned with metaphysical or ontological problematics and the methodology involved in these disciplines as well as scientific methodologies in general, without confining the reflection to a concrete tradition or conception of metaphysics / ontology, but opening it up to its various forms, mentioned or omitted above.
Each of the conference’s two days includes an opening lecture, themed sessions, and a panel discussion. Presentations of papers (30 min.) will be followed by a discussion (15 min.). The panel discussion will focus on themes linked to selected papers and will be held as an open exchange of ideas, overseen by a chairing person.
The conference is in hybrid mode. In-person presentations will be delivered onsite, at the WSZOP main building at 8 Bankowa Street in Katowice, while online presentations will take place via MS Teams. Both, the papers delivered at the conference and submitted after will be considered for publication in conference proceedings.
Publication
The prospected monograph The sense of metaphysics/ontology will be published in paper form, will be a collection of articles developed from the papers or submitted separately. Each article should range between 20,000 and 40,000 characters including spaces. In case of articles exceeding the limite, please contact us directly (filozofia@wszop.edu.pl).
Previous conference 2-3.06.2021
Platonism in metaphysics / ontology
(in Polish)
Contact
Wyższa Szkoła Zarządzania Ochroną Pracy w Katowicach
University of Occupational Safety Management in Katowice
Address:
Bankowa 8
40-007 Katowice
