We are glad to remind the call for abstracts for the Early Career Scholars Panels at the International Hegel Conference 2017, that will be held in Stuttgart from 14th to 17th June 2017.

The deadline has been extended until 8 March.

The conference is organized by the International Hegel Association and  the theme of this year will be “Second Nature”.

Please, find the updated text of the call for abstracts below.

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Update:

• An earlier version of this call mistakenly asked for 2,000 words – intended was an abstract of maximally 2,000 characters. We will accept longer abstracts due to our mistake, but if possible, please submit something shorter.
• The deadline has been extended until 8 March.

As in every six years, the International Hegel Association organizes its recurring Congress in Stuttgart Germany, bringing together over 50 distinguished scholars around one central topic that relates the work of Hegel to contemporary debates in the spirit of Hegel’s idea that philosophy should “capture its time in thought”. In 2017, the theme of the conference is “Second Nature”. A preliminary conference program and list of speaker can be accessed at https://hegelvereinigung.org/conference2017/

The concept of second nature that Hegel takes up and develops from ancient philosophy aims at overcoming a false contrast between nature and freedom. According to Hegel, the nature of human freedom is just that it becomes possible because human beings are naturally capable of acquiring a second nature – developing their natural capacities through integration into a ethical social whole such as to become realize their capacity for individual and collective freedom. In post-Hegelian philosophy, this idea has been developed in three distinct traditions. In the Marxist tradition, the notion of second nature gains a critical connotation, referring to the quasi-naturalness of social constraint and domination in capitalist societies. In the Aristotelian tradition in modern ethics, attention has to be drawn to the role of habitually acquired capacities to recognize moral considerations; finally, many philosophers are now using the concept to discuss the role of natural foundations within society. In addition, the concept of second nature has been proven to be useful in debates about free will, social and political philosophy, critical theory, aesthetics, sociology, religious studies, anthropology and psychoanalysis.

The International Hegel Association invites early career scholars (defined as scholars who received their Ph.D. degrees not more than ten years ago) to submit abstracts for three panels that will be chaired by Prof. Rolf-Peter Horstmann, Prof. Gunnar Hindrichs and Prof. Francesca Menegoni. Submissions relating to all aspects of Hegel’s concept of second nature will be considered. We particularly encourage submissions of abstracts that draw on Hegel’s arguments to intervene in contemporary debates.

Please submit an abstract of not more than 2,000 characters to kongress2017@hegelvereinigung.org until 8 March 2017. Abstracts can be submitted in the conference languages German, English, French and Italian. Topics should be suited for a talk of 25 minutes. Decisions about acceptance will be made until 15 April 2017. Please submit an abstract that is suitable for blind refereeing, accompanied by a separate document with contact information.