24th Conference of the European Society for Philosophy of Religion

Human Nature and Religion

The 24th Conference of the European Society for Philosophy of Religion (ESPR) will take place at the
University of Trento, Department of Philosophy and Literature, Trento (Italy) from September 3 - 6, 2024.

The ESPR Conference 2024 will focus on the theme of "human nature" from the perspective of the philosophy of religion and theology. Although the notion of human nature may be questioned from different perspectives and even rejected (for example, from the perspective of evolutionary biology, cultural anthropology, and moral relativism), it continues to play a significant role in philosophical reflection. On the one hand, "human nature" has a descriptive meaning, indicating how the human being is made, the set of physical, biological, and cognitive components distinguishing human beings from other living and non-living entities and making them unique. On the other hand, "human nature" has a prescriptive meaning, indicating the set of attitudes, abilities, and actions that make human beings rich in value and human life rich in meaning. In this sense, the notion of human nature still seems ethically relevant, especially today when technology can produce radical transformations in human beings. ESPR Conference 2024 invites papers that explore those issues within any of the following sub-themes:

Sub-theme 1: Metaphysical and epistemological issues
Over the centuries, philosophers have formulated various theories of human nature based on different metaphysical assumptions (dualism, materialism, hylomorphism, etc.). How do such theories interact with current empirical research on human nature? Is there room for them in the framework of the progressive naturalization of philosophical anthropology? What is the proper method for investigating human nature at the intersection of philosophy, science, religion, and theology? Philosophical theories of human nature can be combined with religious worldviews. What's the right way to do it? Is it the mysterious character of human nature that leads to the religious dimension? Is it rational to think that human beings’ knowledge of themselves ultimately derives from a divine revelation? Does the connection with religion derive from the fact that human beings have a “desiderium naturale Dei”, that is, they are “capax Dei”? Is there a philosophical theory of human nature that can best be combined or even integrated into a religious worldview? Traditionally, dualism has been the best candidate for this, but today, for example, "Christian materialists" contend this privilege. What might the philosophy of mind contribute to a solution of this problem?

Sub-theme 2: Human Nature, Human Destiny, and Transhumanism
The question of human nature is relevant for earthly life and understanding the phenomenon of death and, if it exists, the afterlife. Is death, as it seems, something that essentially belongs to human nature? From a religious perspective, does the finitude of the human being imply death in any case? In what form can religions reconcile the human being with the phenomenon of death? Are religious imagination and theological doctrines of the afterlife rationally and morally plausible? The moral and spiritual flourishing of the human being is conceived by different religious traditions as a state of "perfection". Does such a notion make sense? What is the relationship between "perfection" and "perfectibility"? Is it plausible to think of the perfection of the human being as a result of physical and cognitive enhancement? Are the finiteness and vulnerability of the human being at odds with an ideal of perfection or perfectibility, both religious and secular? Today, the belief that science and technology can bring about human immortality is spreading. Are "transhumanism" and "posthumanism" religious substitutes or are they the religions of the future? If human beings survive the death of the physical body, how do they continue to exist? Does only one component of the human being continue to exist, or does it continue to be a "whole"? Is it plausible to think that in earthly immortality or in the afterlife, a human being continues to be a "subjectivity" or a "person"? Religious worldviews offer different views of the afterlife but agree on its existence. Is there any evidence of an afterlife? Are there convincing philosophical arguments in favor of reincarnation or resurrection? Does human survival in the afterlife as "souls" make sense?

Sub-theme 3: Human Nature and Religious Diversity
"Human nature" is often presented as a universal concept; however, every great religion has its own understanding of human nature. What are the different religious notions of human nature? To what extent do they converge, and to what extent do they diverge? Can the notion of human nature be employed to develop a comparative view of religions? Might the project of global philosophy of religion benefit from it? This notion potentially has a critical function concerning religious diversity. Is it legitimate to relativize religious differences in the name of a supposedly common human nature? Does it still make sense to aspire, as people did in the 19th century, to a future "religion of humanity"? Should a hypothetical future “religion of humanity” be conceived as the result of religious syncretism or as a "super-religion" entirely different from existing ones? More modestly, can the notion of human nature be useful for interreligious dialogue and interreligious theology? Might it play a role in the critique of religious fundamentalism?

Sub-theme 4: Ethical and Political Issues
"Human nature” traditionally has ethical connotations. It points to what suits human beings for their moral and spiritual flourishing. However, does use of the term commit us to a particular conception of human beings? Is the diversity of goods to which human beings aspire adequately represented by such a concept? Can it accommodate sexual and gender diversity? To what extent is its meaning expandable without losing its function? Classical political philosophy, both ancient and modern, is based on a particular conception of human nature. Does it still make sense in a pluralistic social context? Is the notion of human nature a privileged tool for biopolitics, or might it offer a barrier? Are the notions of human nature and that of the common good of a political community connected? Can we still give a religious meaning to the relationship between the “common good” and the “supreme good”? Human rights are often based on the notion of human nature. How do different religious conceptions of human nature contribute, or fail to contribute, to the ethics of human rights?

Philosophy of Religion in Classical German Philosophy - Call for Papers

CFP: Reason in Check. Philosophy of Religion in Classical German Philosophy

The Journal "Verifiche" will publish a special issue devoted to the topic ‘Reason in Check. Philosophy of Religion in Classical German Philosophy’. We welcome contributions that investigate philosophy of religion in its historical and systematic development in classical German philosophy, with a specific focus on the models of rationality that are still relevant in contemporary debates on philosophy of religion.

Rationale of the Issue

The special issue aims to investigate the crucial role to be ascribed to philosophy of religion in the context of classical German philosophy. Philosophy of religion proves to be the locus to discuss the relationship between the finite and the infinite, the concept of the absolute, and of our community-oriented nature. Thus, philosophy of religion succeeds in disclosing paramount conceptual resources to address thinking and action at once, so as to elaborate new models of rationality and, through those models, to meet the challenges of epochs of crisis. The purpose of this issue of Verifiche is, in other words, understanding to what extent philosophy of religion in classical German philosophy goes hand in hand with the configuration of new models of rationality and agency which in turn enable a critical, fundamental reassessment of reason and freedom. While it is not hard to see how all philosophical efforts by the representatives of classical German philosophy strive towards the determination of these two terms, one can reasonably argue that questioning reason and redefining the meaning of free action lie at the origin of the most diverse philosophical projects: transcendental philosophy, non-philosophy, speculative philosophy, positive philosophy, among others. In this sense, philosophy of religion turns out to be the prismatic centre of a constellation of instances that closely addresses topics of epistemology, ontology, metaphysics, ethics, aesthetics, and philosophy of history, to the point of radically questioning the concept of philosophy itself, as well as its means, aims, and methods.
The rationale for the issue is thus the conviction that philosophy of religion, once considered at the crossroads of these pivotal instances, represents a privileged place to deal with the questions that are at stake between the late 18th and the early 19th Centuries: theoretical, practical, aesthetic as well as historical-political. It is precisely these questions that force us to assume a critical attitude towards the challenges for present-day philosophy of religion. The issue of Verifiche intends to tackle these questions and to highlight the critical potential of philosophy of religion as shaped in the context of classical German philosophy, assuming a historical and systematic lens.

In particular, the volume aims to address the following topics:

1. Reason and freedom in the philosophy of religion of Kant, Jacobi, Reinhold, Fichte, Hölderlin, Schleiermacher, Hegel, and Schelling (among others):
   ● the idea of God and the absolute
   ● freedom of the finite and freedom of the infinite: human being, God, absolute
   ● religion and morality: mutual relationship and irreducibility
   ● subjectivity, community, and Bildung in philosophy of religion intersecting with anthropology and philosophy of history
   ● rationality, historicity, and the critique to positivity

2. Philosophy of religion and the method of philosophy:
   ● the meta-philosophical dimension of philosophy of religion for philosophy as a science
   ● philosophy of religion as a discipline: philosophy after the crisis of ontotheology
   ● the status of philosophy of religion between classical German philosophy and contemporary debates concerning philosophy of religion

3. Actualisations of classical German philosophy in the models of philosophy of religion developed within the contemporary debate:
   ● philosophy of religion in the metaphysical and post-metaphysical frameworks
   ● the subjective, intersubjective, and dialogical dimensions of the religious experience in the phenomenology of religion
   ● demonstrative reason in the analytic philosophy of religion
   ● absolute and normativity in political theology

Manuscripts must be no longer than 50.000 characters. Papers can be in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.
Before sending your contribution, please consider the Guidelines for authors and this sample.

Full papers should be received by June 30th, 2023.

The review process is double-blind, and reviewers are selected by the Editors. Notifications regarding acceptance will be made via email. The Manuscript file should be fully anonymized for blind review. Email a copy of your paper, as an attachment, in Microsoft Word (.doc), Rich Text Format (.rtf), or Adobe Portable Document Format (.pdf) to the editors: Barbara Santini (barbara.santini@unipd.it) and Giulia Bernard (giulia.bernard@unipd.it).

Please include the following information:
(1) Paper’s title
(2) Author’s name
(3) Short biography (affiliation, research interests, recent publications, etc.)
(4) Author’s email address