Category: Calls

Call: “Theory and Practice After the Practice Turn”

Posted on by Alexander Max Bauer

On April 17, 2026, the Research Center Normative Orders at Goethe University Frankfurt will host an online workshop titled “Theory and Practice After the Practice Turn – Where Social Theory and Empirical Philosophy Meet.”

Proposals for contributions can be submitted until February 14. The call reads:

Sociology and philosophy have always shared a close relationship. Critical Theory famously tied the two disciplines together to unravel societal phenomena, and feminist philosophers regularly borrow sociological concepts to understand domination and power asymmetries. Similarly, sociologists often draw on philosophical concepts to sharpen their analyses. In recent years, this dialogue has gained new momentum through the so-called “practice turn” in epistemology and philosophy of science. Contemporary philosophy of science and applied epistemology increasingly incorporate empirical methods originally developed within the social sciences such as interviews and ethnographic studies. But while empirical approaches from sociology are frequently adopted, social-theoretical concepts remain rarely integrated within epistemology and philosophy of science.

It is the goal of this workshop to explore the potential of social theory for empirical approaches in philosophy of science and epistemology. What are instances of fruitful applications of social theory to philosophy of science and epistemological scholarship? How does social theory transform when it is resituated in a different disciplinary setting? What are caveats and best practices when using social theory as a philosopher of science/epistemologist?

We are looking for workshop contributions that are focused on but not limited to:

  • Examples of using social theory along with empirical methods in philosophy of science and
    epistemology.
  • Reflections on methodological and conceptual challenges when transferring social-theoretical
    concepts into philosophical work.

Workshop contributions will also be considered for publication in a special issue (target journal: Synthese) on social theory in empirical philosophy of science & epistemology.

Send submissions to: sophie.juliane.veigl@univie.ac.at; riegler@em.uni-frankfurt.de

Call: “The Fifth Annual Formal and Experimental Philosophy Workshop”

Posted on by Alexander Max Bauer

Lake Forest College’s philosophy department is hosting “The Fifth Annual Formal and Experimental Philosophy Workshop” (FAX5), which will take place from March 20 to 21, 2026.

Abstracts for posters can be submitted until October 10. The call reads:

The Fifth Annual Formal and Experimental Philosophy Workshop (FAX5) at Lake Forest College brings together philosophers who use formal and experimental methods to address a wide range of philosophical questions. Although these methods have developed largely in isolation, they share data-driven foundations, often aim to answer similar questions, and can greatly enrich one another when integrated. Over two days, leading scholars and emerging researchers will share advances, explore collaborations, and develop new ways to combine empirical and formal methods. By fostering cross-methodological dialogue and building learning networks, FAX5 aims to strengthen, expand, and integrate these methods across the discipline.

Call for Poster Abstracts: The Fifth Annual Formal and Experimental Philosophy Workshop (FAX5) at Lake Forest College invites poster abstracts on topics in formal or experimental philosophy. Submissions (max 500 words) should be emailed as a single PDF and include: a title; an abstract; a full author list with the presenting author(s) in bold; and institutional affiliations. Please name your file “FAX5_Poster_LastName.pdf” (the first presenter’s last name) and use the subject line “FAX5 Poster Abstract Submission.” Send submissions to phenne [at] lakeforest [dot] edu. Posters will be selected for clarity, originality, and relevance to integrating or advancing formal or experimental methods in philosophy.

Call: “Valence Asymmetries”

Posted on by Alexander Max Bauer

The Valence Asymmetries project, led by Isidora Stojanovic at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, is looking for expressions of interest from people who would like to join. The call reads:

We are interested in including new team members in our project. Before opening a new position, we are inviting those interested in joining us to express their interest.

The new team member(s) should have research interests that align directly with the objectives of the project, broadly understood. They will already have a very solid publication track, will cherish interdisciplinary research, and will want to combine theoretical and empirical methodology.

We are particularly interested in the following research profiles:

  • Decision theory, philosophy of rationality & framing effects
  • Formal value theory & formal semantics
  • Philosophy of emotions & social and/or moral psychology
  • Moral cognition & philosophy of well-being

Additionally, any other research profile that offers a novel perspective on the project’s objectives is potentially welcome.

The duration of the contract will depend on the range of project tasks that the new team member will be hired to work on, and in any case cannot exceed the duration of the project (i.e. July 2029).

In addition to prospective candidates who would like to join us for a longer duration, we are also inviting tenured faculty who have a demonstrably heavy teaching load to consider joining us for a one year period (assuming that they can get a leave of absence from their home institution) that they can devote to research.

The expected gross salary is approx. 31.000 gross per year (negotiable for senior and/or already tenured faculty).

NB: The project’s team members must live in Barcelona (region), they regularly meet in person, attend seminars and conduct in-person research. The position is incompatible with living and/or spending considerable periods of time elsewhere.

If you are interested in joining the project, please send an email to Isidora Stojanovic (PI), explaining your motivation and interests, together with a complete CV.

Call: “Valence Asymmetries”

Posted on by Alexander Max Bauer

Isidora Stojanovic, Lorenza D’Angelo, Morgan Moyer, and Michelle Stankovic organizing a conference on “Valence Asymmetries,” which will take place at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra from March 19 to 20, 2026.

Abstracts for presentations can be submitted until September 30. The call reads:

The Valence Asymmetries ERC team is happy to announce that it will be organizing the first VALENCE ASYMMETRIES conference on March 19th–20th 2026 at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain. The event is funded by Isidora Stojanovic’s ERC Advanced Grant “Valence Asymmetries: the positive, the negative, the good and the bad in language, mind and morality” (GA n° 101142133).

This interdisciplinary event will discuss themes which are central to the Valence Asymmetries project, including the role of valence asymmetries in perception, emotion, morality, language, and communication. Discussion will draw upon insights from philosophy, psychology, and linguistics.

There will be invited talks by Hans Alves, Frederique de Vignemont, Saif Mohammad, and Pascale Willemsen. There is also room for 4–6 additional talks, to be selected from open submissions. Each selected talk will be assigned a 50 min slot, including discussion.

We especially encourage submissions on the relation between value, valence, and polarity; theoretical and empirical accounts of valence asymmetries in language, including in negative strengthening, scalar inferences, and irony; the asymmetry between virtue and vice, and between praise and blame, in normative and applied ethics; as well as other discussions of valence asymmetries in linguistics, cognitive science, moral psychology, and cognate areas.

If you are interested in presenting your work at this venue, please submit a 2-page abstract to valence.asymmetries@upf.edu by Sep 30th, with the subject line “valence asymmetries submission.”

Call: “Folk Epistemology”

Posted on by Alexander Max Bauer

Mirko Farina, Artur Karimov, Anna Sakharova, Mikhail Khort, Daniel Lavrishchev, Vladislav Stasenko, and Natalia Khairullina are organizing a conference on “Folk Epistemology – Exploring Everyday Conceptions of Knowledge,” which will take place at the Kazan Federal University from October 24 to 25. The conference will be hybrid, featuring a dedicated online section in English.

Abstracts for presentations can be submitted until October 10. The call reads:

What is knowledge? Philosophers have long sought answers to this fundamental question within the confines of their studies. Yet contemporary epistemology faces a profound challenge: How universal and adequate are the intuitions underlying theories derived from “armchair” conceptual analysis? This challenge has emerged alongside intensive research into folk epistemology – the study of ordinary people’s conceptions of knowledge, truth, justification, reliability, and other epistemic categories. Data from experimental philosophy (x-phi) reveal that what seems obvious and universal to the armchair philosopher may vary significantly across cultural, social, linguistic, or educational contexts. Does this call into question the possibility of a unified theory of knowledge? Are folk intuitions a reliable test for the adequacy of philosophical concepts their inevitable foundation (as x-phi advocates argue) – or merely “empirical noise” unrelated to epistemology’s inherently normative aims?

Conference Goals

This conference aims to create a platform for critical and constructive discussion on the role of folk epistemic conceptions and intuitions in modern philosophy. Participants are invited to address the following key questions:

  • Conceptualizing Folk Epistemology: What are its boundaries? How is it manifested in language (epistemic modalities, knowledge verbs), social and cognitive practices (distribution of epistemic authority, source credibility, non-expert assessments of justification reliability)? How can we account for pragmatic and moral “encroachments” in knowledge descriptions?
  • Relevance of Folk Conceptions for Philosophical Theory: Should epistemological theories explicitly incorporate, refute, or methodologically disregard data on folk conceptions? What are their heuristic values and limitations?
  • Critical Analysis of X-Phi Methodology in Epistemology: How can empirical data enrich philosophical reflection? What are the limitations of experimental approaches in clarifying normative questions? How does variability in intuitions impact debates about epistemic universalism, contextualism, or relativism?
  • Applied Potential of X-Phi Data: How can research on folk epistemology (especially cross-cultural variations in epistemic conceptions) inform practical applications? How might this data improve AI systems (e.g., model training, dialogue agent design) and optimize human-AI interaction (e.g., fostering epistemic trust in intelligent assistants)?

Call for Interdisciplinary Dialogue

We aim to transcend disciplinary boundaries and welcome contributions from all scholars engaged in folk epistemology research. In addition to papers on the above themes, we particularly encourage:

  • Presentations of empirical/experimental studies on epistemic conceptions and intuitions by philosophers, psychologists, anthropologists, sociologists, and linguists.
  • Proposals for planned empirical research (experiments, surveys, linguistic analyses, etc.), including hypotheses, designs, and methodologies.

This segment will foster discussion on methodological challenges, brainstorming for refining x-phi tools, and exploring collaborative opportunities.

Submission Guidelines

To participate, please:

  • Complete the registration form: https://forms.gle/rCu72uaTJwc8GQZx6
  • Include your full name, contact email, presentation title, and abstract (100–250 words).
  • If you have any difficulties filling out this form or have any questions about the conference, please contact mikhort@gmail.com (Mikhail Khort).

Deadline: October 10, 2025.

Updates & Information

The conference schedule, detailed announcements, and additional information will be available via: Telegram Channel: https://t.me/kznphil

Call: “Philosophers on Philosophy”

Posted on by Alexander Max Bauer

Renée Smith and Emily McGill prepare an edited volume with the working title “Philosophers on Philosophy – What is philosophy, how is philosophy done, and why do philosophy?”

Abstracts for chapters can be submitted until October 3. The call reads:

We invite chapter proposals for an edited volume exploring philosophers’ views on different aspects of metaphilosophy. The target audience is undergraduate and graduate students in philosophy and laypeople. These populations are often surprised that philosophers do not agree about what philosophy is, how it is done, whether it makes progress, what its value is, etc. Contributions to this volume will shed light on these topics and introduce the variety of metaphilosophical views contemporary philosophers hold.

Contributions will generally fit into one of the following topical areas and address several of the suggested subtopics; however, clearly there is the possibility of overlapping topics, and the following suggested subtopics are not exhaustive. Final essays should defend a particular view rather than merely describe it, be fewer than 2000 words, and be written for the target audience. Neither proposals nor final essays should make use of AI in any way.

What is philosophy? What distinguishes philosophy from other fields?

  • Topics, methods
  • Questions, disagreement
  • Goals, product
  • Philosophy, science, humanities

How is philosophy done? How do the methods in philosophy compare to those in other fields?

  • Logic, reason, analysis
  • Distinctions
  • Thought experiments, intuition
  • Experimental philosophy
  • The history of philosophy
  • Phenomenology

What does philosophy do? What is the goal/purpose of philosophy?

  • Progress in philosophy
  • Philosophical knowledge
  • Applied philosophy

What is the value of philosophy?

  • Philosophy in the undergraduate curriculum
  • Philosophy and society
  • Philosophy as a way of life
  • Philosophy, knowledge, understanding, uncertainty
  • The future of philosophy

Proposals

Please submit an abstract/proposal of approximately 200–300 words clearly identifying the overarching topic your essay will address and a current CV.

Timeline

  • Abstracts and CV: October 3, 2025
  • Essays: February 30, 2026
  • Peer review begins: March 15, 2026
  • Proposed publication: Spring 2027

Submissions/Questions

Please send your submissions/questions to Renée Smith, rsmith@coastal.edu, or Emily McGill, emcgill@coastal.edu, Coastal Carolina University.

Call: “Moral Epistemology and Social Progress”

Posted on by Alexander Max Bauer

Antonio Gaitán Torres and Hugo Viciana organize a workshop on “Moral Epistemology and Social Progress – Experimental and Philosophical Perspectives,” which will take place at the Universidad de Sevilla from November 4 to 5.

Abstracts for presentations can be submitted until September 17. The call reads:

This focused workshop explores the intersection of empirical research on moral cognition and philosophical theories of social and moral progress. We bring together experimental philosophers and moral epistemologists to examine how empirical findings about moral intuitions, attitude change, and intellectual virtues inform our understanding of moral improvement at both individual and societal levels. The workshop features invited speakers alongside selected contributions from an open call for abstracts, fostering intimate discussion among researchers working at the forefront of experimental and theoretical approaches to moral progress. Submissions addressing experimental studies of moral judgment, philosophical accounts of moral progress, or the epistemology of moral improvement are particularly welcome.

We welcome submissions for 3–4 additional presentations at this workshop. Interested researchers should submit an abstract of 350–750 words addressing topics at the intersection of moral epistemology, experimental philosophy, and social progress. Abstracts might explore empirical studies of moral cognition, philosophical theories of moral improvement, experimental metaethics, intellectual virtues, the psychology of moral change, or related themes in moral epistemology. Please send your abstract to both hviciana@us.es and agaitan@hum.uc3m.es with the subject line “November Workshop.” The deadline for submissions is 17 September 2025. Selected presenters will have approximately 30 minutes for their presentation followed by discussion.

Call: “Laws Many Users”

Posted on by Alexander Max Bauer

Alex Davies and Nikolai Shurakov organize a conference on “Law’s Many Users – Legal Interpretation Within and Beyond Legal Institutions,” which will take place at the University of Tartu from November 12 to 14.

Abstracts for presentations can be submitted until August 12. The call reads:

Law is interpreted and implemented by many hands. Some of them belong to judges, legislators, or lawyers – but many belong to nurses, teachers, municipal officials, or department heads: professionals who encounter law not in courtrooms or casebooks, but in institutional documents, contracts, checklists, and internal protocols. These actors do not interpret law as legal theorists or as abstract “laypeople,” but as role-bound individuals embedded in specific organizational contexts. Their understanding of legal norms is shaped by institutional incentives, bureaucratic hierarchies, resource constraints, inherited routines, and pressures to defer to internal authorities. They are interpreters, but also implementers – conduits through which law acquires practical meaning.

While experimental jurisprudence has deepened our understanding of how legal concepts like causation, intention, or rights are grasped by legal experts and ordinary citizens, it has rarely focused on this middle terrain: how individuals interpret legal rules as part of their job, within the constraints and affordances of organizational life.

This conference is an occasion for exploring that terrain.

Call for Abstracts (submission deadline: August 12, 2025)

We invite submissions from scholars across disciplines interested in how laws and regulations are interpreted, implemented, and transformed in real-world institutional settings.

Legal meaning is shaped not only in courts or legislatures, but in offices, classrooms, clinics, and council chambers – by actors whose interpretations are framed by professional roles, organizational logics, and institutional incentives. This conference invites reflection on the interpretive practices that emerge in such contexts, and how these practices affect what law becomes in use.

We welcome work from experimental jurisprudence, philosophy of language, linguistics, law & economics, public administration, and related fields. Contributions may be theoretical, empirical, or methodological.

Possible topics include (but are not limited to):

  • Studies of how non-lawyers interpret and apply legal or regulatory texts
  • Experimental investigations of interpretation in institutional settings
  • Pragmatic and semantic analysis of policy and legal communication
  • Incentive structures and role-based reasoning in interpretation
  • Legal meaning as mediated through contracts, guidelines, or protocols
  • Interpretive drift and discretion in organizational environments
  • Extensions or critiques of experimental jurisprudence beyond traditional contexts
  • Interdisciplinary methods for studying law “in the wild”

Abstracts are applications for either 30-minute slots (20 minute talk + 10 minute discussion) OR 1-hour slots (30–40 minute talk + 30–20 minute Q&A). Abstracts (max. 600 words – excluding a list of references) should: (a) make clear the line of argument for the conclusion defended; (b) make clear the relevance of the envisioned talk to the conference theme; (c) make clear whether your applying for a 30-minute or 60-minute slot; and (d) be prepared for anonymous review.

Submitting Abstracts: Abstracts should be submitted with a separate coversheet (author, email, institution) to laws.many.users@gmail.com.

Call: “Experimental Argument Analysis”

Posted on by Alexander Max Bauer

Eugen Fischer and Dimitra Lazaridou-Chatzigoga are preparing a special issue on “Experimental Argument Analysis – Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Verbal Reasoning” in Philosophical Psychology.

Manuscripts can be submitted until April 30, 2026. The call reads:

The Special Issue will bring together researchers from experimental philosophy, cognitive psychology, and experimental linguistics, to open up the experimental philosophy of verbal reasoning as a new interdisciplinary field of study.

To help develop interdisciplinary experimental argument analysis as a fruitful successor project to traditional conceptual analysis that benefits from advances in cognitive psychology and experimental linguistics, this SI will address questions about methods, cognitive mechanisms, and philosophical applications.

Methods:

  • How can empirical studies support the reconstruction or evaluation of verbal reasoning?
  • Which conceptual and empirical tools can be adapted for this purpose, and how? How can formal and experimental methods be combined to facilitate normative evaluation?

Mechanisms:

  • How do automatic comprehension and production inferences shape verbal reasoning?
  • What biases affect such inferences? Which factors affect specifically the contextualization of default inferences?
  • How are irregular polysemes processed? What norms do people rely on for specific arguments of interest? How much individual variation is there in this respect?

Applications:

  • How can insights into language processing, and specifically polysemy processing, support the assessment of philosophical arguments?
  • How effective are verbal arguments at changing people’s minds?
  • Which aspects of automatic language processing influence the persuasiveness of verbal arguments? To what extent do such arguments contribute to philosophical puzzles and paradoxes?
  • How can insight into automatic language processing support the improvement of our conceptual tools?

Submission Instructions

The Special Issue accepts theoretical, experimental, and review papers that address the questions set in the Call for Papers, or directly related questions.

  • Papers should be concisely written and tightly argued.
  • Papers should ideally be ca. 10,000 words long, but there is no formal word limit.
  • Authors should bear in mind the interdisciplinary readership of Philosophical Psychology.
  • When submitting papers to ScholarOne, please select “Experimental Argument Analysis” as the special issue title.
  • Inclusion in the special issue is conditional on the outcome of peer review. Peer review is initiated upon submission.
  • Accepted papers will be published online without delay prior to being included in the special issue.

We encourage submission well in advance of the submission deadline. Please email the guest editors if you have any further queries.

Call: “XPHI UK Work in Progress Workshop Series”

Posted on by Alexander Max Bauer

The “XPHI UK Work in Progress Workshop Series,” organized by James Andow and Eugen Fischer, continues. Anyone interested in presenting something can contact the organizers. They write:

We are delighted to announce the next series of our monthly online workshop devoted to discussion of work in progress in experimental philosophy. The workshop is usually held via Teams, the second Wednesday of each month, 16:00–18:00 UK time. Full details of 2025/26 season TBC.

Anyone interested in presenting work in progress in 2025/26, please email the organizers by July 31, 2025: james.andow@manchester.ac.uk.