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Call for Papers: 2019 Whitehead Psychology Nexus Workshop

Center for Process Studies

Concepts of “now” in process ontology and psychopathology
Fontarèches (Avignon), April 6-10

 

Dear Colleagues and Friends,
The 2019 Whitehead Psychology Nexus Workshop will focus on the issue of lived temporality in process (lato sensu) ontology and psychopathology.

We seek to gather two types of provocative papers: on the one hand, philosophical discussions of the present state of affairs in psychology; and, on the other hand, critical studies of the relevance of the imaginative generalizations of Whitehead for psychology and/or of the impact contemporary psychology on Whitehead’s system of thought.

There is no inscription fee; boarding and accommodation are provided; there is a limited amount of travel subsidies available. Papers proposals should be sent to weber@chromatika.org. The deadline is December 20, 2018 Confirmation of acceptance will be made no later than January 1. Papers will be selected according to their relevance to the WPN project (see below) and to the 2019 focus.

 

*The Whitehead Psychology Nexus is an international open forum dedicated to the cross-examination of Alfred North Whitehead’s “organic” or “process” philosophy and the various facets of the contemporary psychological field of research and debate. It seeks to encourage psychology in a Whiteheadian atmosphere and Whiteheadian scholarship informed by psychology. Bold speculations balanced by “complete humility before logic, and before fact” (Process and Reality, 17) are especially valued. “It is a disease of philosophy,” stresses Whitehead, “when it is neither bold nor humble, but merely a reflection of the temperamental presuppositions of exceptional personalities” (PR17). Openness (as in “open forum”) means here—at the very least—two things. With regard to the focus of the evoked cross-elucidation: no philosophical or psychological system of thought is a priori excluded, provided that it allows discussion in a Whiteheadian spirit. Whitehead claimed that “to sustain a civilization with the intensity of its first ardour requires more than learning. Adventure is essential, namely, the search for new perfections” (Adventures of Ideas, 258).