CFP: Studia UBB. Philosophia: Descartes’s Scientific and Philosophical Disputes with his Contemporaries
Call for papers: Issue no. 3/2013 of Studia UBB.
Philosophia: “Descartes’s Scientific and Philosophical Disputes with his
Contemporaries”
“I beg all who have any objections to take the trouble
to send them to me,” wrote Descartes a number of times in his career.
Descartes’s eagerness to impose his views, in the name of “the search after
truth,” engaged him in various controversies, from 1637, the year of the
publication of the Discourse on method, to the end of his life. Apart
from the famous “Objections and Replies” to the Meditations (1641),
the Cartesian correspondence presents a large number of equally interesting
disputes, on both scientific and philosophical topics. The letters often
resemble a battlefield in which an attentive observer can distinguish various
defense strategies: Trojan horses, conceptual traps, misquotes, etc. Often the
aim was to disqualify the opponent not only as a bad thinker, but also as a
hidden atheist. By the late 1640s, Descartes’s position within the fragile
intellectual circle composed of French Catholics, novatores of various
persuasions or Calvinist theologians became very unstable. His decision to
accept Queen Christina’s invitation to Stockholm appears like an escape attempt
from this imbroglio.
The present issue of Studia UBB will be
dedicated to these confrontations. It aims to show, on the whole, the
historical and conceptual relevance of contemporary reactions to Cartesianism
for an assessment of both the novelty and the consistence of Descartes’s
project.
Papers
should be written in English, French or German. Articles cannot be longer than
75.000 characters, including spaces and footnotes. Reviews cannot be longer
than 25.000 characters. The deadline for submission is 15 September 2013.
Papers should follow the guidelines for the authors (http://www.studia.ubbcluj.ro/download/instr/philosophia.pdf)
and be prepared for blind review. Submissions should be sent both to the
editor, Ion Copoeru: copoeru@hotmail.com, and the guest editor, Vlad
Alexandrescu: valexandrescu@gmail.com.