The 12^th International Conference of
	ISSEI	In cooperation With
	International Society for the Study of European Ideas

Call for Papers

Thought in Science and Fiction

Scientific knowledge is so vitally important for the welfare of mankind that it no longer needs any justification. Nevertheless, the negative consequences of science and technology require continual vigilance. This vigilance need not necessarily lead to the radical reductionism that posits science as just another ‘fiction’. As suggested by the theme of the 11^th ISSEI conference in Helsinki, 2008, Language and the Scientific Imagination, we must foster the dialogue between science and literature in order to show their crucial interdependence. The pivotal role of language in ‘the two cultures’ is based on our conception of thought and is commonly believed to originate in sense perception. What we call fiction is thus the free rearrangement of our perceptual thought in language.

Historically, the great works of western literature preceded philosophical speculation on knowledge and science. Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides came before Plato and Aristotle, just as Dante, Cervantes, and Shakespeare came before Galileo, Descartes and Newton, and Flaubert, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky before Einstein.

The organizers of the 12^th conference of ISSEI invite scholars from various disciplines such as History, Politics, Literature, Art, Philosophy, Science, and Religion, to re-examine, redefine and reassess the scope of interdisciplinary dialogues in the past and present.

The previous ISSEI conferences were held in 1988 – Amsterdam; 1990 – Leuven; 1992 – Aalborg; 1994 – Graz; 1996 – Utrecht; 1998 – Haifa; 2000 – Bergen; 2002 – Aberystwyth; 2004 – Pamplona; 2006 – Malta; 2008 – Helsinki.

What one regular conference participant had to say about the ISSEI conferences:

ISSEI’s composition is an invitation to move beyond the limits you have set for yourself, the constraints you have imposed on your own thinking, breaking through to new levels of performance and ability.

ISSEI’s engaging in age-old questions brings new dimensions and casts new light on situations and events of Europe’s history and perspective. – Prof. Dr. Heinz-Uwe Haus, Dept. of Theatre, University of Delaware, USA.

If you would like to participate in the conference by presenting a paper in one or more of the workshops please note the following:

Length of Paper:

Papers should not exceed 3000 words or 10 double spaced pages, including Notes. Notes need not be included in the presentation of the papers but they should be in the version intended for the proceedings.

Deadline

The deadline of submitting your abstract to a workshop is June 30, 2010.

To whom shall I submit my paper?

On the conference website, http://issei2010.haifa.ac.il/ you will find a list of approximately 80 workshops with Chairs from over 30 countries. Papers should be submitted to the workshop Chair. If you are not sure for which Workshop(s) your paper(s) would be most suitable please send a short abstract of your paper to Prof. Ezra Talmor (issei@nachshonim.org.il). He will then suggest a workshop Chair for you to contact.

We look forward to seeing you in Ankara in 2010.

Ezra Talmor, ISSEI, co-Chair Cem Karadeli, Çankaya University, co-Chair

issei@nachshonim.org.il issei2010@cankaya.edu.tr

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