Philosophizing with explicated terms: Student conference in Bonn
Of course, philosophizing always has many prerequisites, but in this conference for students, we consciously want to do away with some of them: names of philosophers, formal notations, and, most importantly, unexplained technical terms. What is often observed in presentations is that we philosophers hear or speak without further explanation using words like ‘dialectic,’ ‘category table,’ ‘noesis,’ or ‘quantifier scope’ in an attempt to demonstrate that a philosopher was right (or wrong) with a certain thesis. This often comes with a pressure to perform because one wants to convey a sense of theoretical certainty to be taken seriously in the discourse. This can be quite frustrating.
In this student conference, we want to try a new approach: Each presentation will introduce a thesis and attempt to justify it without explicit reference to the names and works of well-known philosophers. Every technical term and formal notation used by the presenter must be initially explained in their own words and in a generally understandable manner. This means that we want to develop and refine our conceptualizations along a specific subject matter. Afterwards, the audience can ask questions. All students from any discipline are welcome to listen. Let’s get straight to the point with our theses.
When does the conference take place? June 9th to 11th, 2023 (Friday to Sunday)