Since Plato conceptualized chora as the keystone of cosmological existence, discussions pertaining to place and space have been part and parcel of philosophy. While discussions of place and vacuum/void played a vital role in antiquity and the scholastic tradition, modern philosophy took up the notion of ground in the wake of Newtonian physics. The 19th and 20th centuries saw Nietzschean and phenomenological thought opening up new ways of accessing place and space through discussions pertaining to world, earth, origin, beginning, lifeworld, limit, and horizon, along with the configuration of certain landscapes, e.g., forest, city, desert, and sea. More recently, space and place have become even more relevant for political, ecological, and feminist discourses, presenting a way in which the concepts of border, territory, environment, homeland, or sexual difference can be elaborated. This conference aims to bring together various perspectives regarding place and space from the philosophical viewpoint of ontology, phenomenology, geography, politics, ecology, feminism and aesthetics. Topics of interest may include, but are certainly not limited to
Ontology and Phenomenology of Place and Space
- Reading of the notions of place, space and ground e.g. chora, topos, kenon, arche, principium, world, earth, origin, beginning, environment, lifeworld, limit, horizon.
- Discussions of various localities, e.g. city, sea, desert, agora, and their pertinence for place, space and ground.
- Relationship between place, space, and ground, and matter and/or time.
Politics of Place and Space
- Reading of the concepts of home, locatedness, territory, borders and limit.
- Relationship between center/periphery, city/wilderness and oikos/agora.
- Examination of colonialism, autochthony, homelessness, alienation, uncanniness,
gentrification, immigration, exodus and incarceration. - Relevance of place, space and ground for sexual difference
Place and Space from the Perspective of Ecology, Geography and Aesthetics
- Examination of architecture and mapping/cartography.
- Reading of nature, Earth, naturalness and Earthliness.
- The effects of human intervention, e.g. climate change, deforestation, desertification, on place/space, and/or on our perception thereof.
- Reading of inhabiting, dwelling, nomadism and sedentism.
Submissions from any area of study addressing these topics are welcome. Papers should be limited to 3,000 words and prepared for blind review. Please include name, university affiliation, and submission title in the body of your email, and send all submissions and inquires to depaul.philosophy@gmail.com