We are glad to give notice of the XII International Congress of the Brazilian Hegel Society, “Hegel: Identity and Difference”, which will take place on November 7th-10th, 2023, in Brasília, Campus Darcy Ribeiro of the Universidade de Brasília.

The congress is organized by: Erick Calheiros de Lima (Brasília), Fábio Mascarenhas Nolasco (Brasília), Luiz Fernando Barrére Martin (President of the Brazilian Hegel Society, São Paulo), Verrah Chamma (Manaus).

For further information and for subscription, please visit the congress’ website or contact congressohegel2023.shb@gmail.com.

Please find below he general presentation as well as the list of the keynote speakers of the international congress.

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The idea of the reciprocity between identity and difference is one of the most characteristic traits of Hegel’s philosophy and particularly responsible for the fierceness and radicality of his critique of traditional metaphysics and transcendental philosophy. Nevertheless, many have objected that this reciprocity weighed far more to identity rather than difference. Since the critical attempts by Feuerbach, Trendelenburg and Schelling, which date back to 1840s, until Heidegger, Adorno and French post-structuralism, it became common-sense to depict Hegel’s Logic as philosophy of identity, responsible for an insurmountable preponderance of the universal over the singular and, consequently, the overshadowing of the particular. The identity of identity and non-identity would be, thus, according to the underlying principle of all idealist philosophies, tautologic – with terrible consequences for the non-identical, the particular, the different, the contingent, in short, for the object in its factual priority.

In the last four decades, however, this scenario was shaken by the publication of the historic-critical edition of Hegel’s works and lectures. Hegel’s Science of Logic, Philosophy of Nature and Philosophy of Right were re-inaugurated for interpretation, allowing readers to, so to speak, make amends with what is particular in Hegel’s theory of identity and difference and, consequently, to revise the diverse perspectives which criticized it. Hence, in view of this more recent scenario, in which the questions directed at Hegel’s philosophy no longer have predefined answers, it seems only urgent to re-evaluate if, and how and where, identity for Hegel prevails over difference, or if the inverse is the case, or if identity and difference are rather co-dependent and indissoluble one in another. Needless to say, this is a matter touching not only the Doctrine of Essence, but certainly also the other two parts of the Science of Logic, as well as the Philosophy of Nature and of Spirit.

The 12th International Congress of the Brazilian Hegel Society aims, thus, to bring to light the relation of identity and difference in the diverse spheres of Hegelian philosophy, focusing the elucidation of specific and particular aspects of Hegel’s thinking, as well as the many connexions with contemporary philosophical debate.

Keynote speakers: Alison Stone (Lancaster), Andreas Arndt (Berlin), Christoph Asmuth (Neuendettelsau), Claudia Wirsing (Braunschweig/Hamburg), Daniel Brauer (Buenos Aires), Karen Ng (Nashville), Michael Quante (Münster), Myriam Gerhard (Oldenburg).

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