For more information see https://www.ozsw.nl/34th-dutch-flemish-philosophy-day/

34th Dutch-Flemish Day of Philosophy
Saturday, August 31th, 2013
Eindhoven University of Technology

Conference theme: “Progress”

Keynote speakers

• Prof. dr. Ingrid Robeyns (Erasmus University Rotterdam)
• Prof. dr. Eric Schliesser (Ghent University)

About the Day of Philosophy
The annual Day of Philosophy offers a special opportunity for philosophers working at Flemish and Dutch universities to exchange views from different disciplines and traditions. As of this year, the Day of Philosophy is an activity of the Dutch Research School of Philosophy (OZSW).

Costs of participation- DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION: FRI. AUG. 23
Please register if you plan to attend by sending an e-mail to s.a.voerman@tue.nl with “Day of Philosophy Registration” in the subject line and your name, your affiliation, and whether you are a senior researcher, PhD student or Research Master student. Costs (incl. lunch) are covered by TU/e for all employees, students, and graduate students of universities. Other interested people can contact the organization. Travel costs will not be reimbursed. Deadline for registration: August 23.

Invited submissions – DEADLINE HAS PASSED
We are inviting abstracts in all areas of philosophy. Contributions may be related to the theme of the day, but may also be about one’s own research. PhD- and Masterstudents are explicitly invited to present their research. Abstracts should be roughly 500 words in English or Dutch. Please send your abstract to Sander Voerman, s.a.voerman@tue.nl before July 1, 2013. In addition, please provide us with a short biography of up to 150 words.

Conference theme: Progress
Progress is one of the core ideas in the history of western thought and one of the most central values in our current societies and political ideologies. In philosophy, progress is often viewed as a sign of rationality and the possibility of knowledge. Philosophers of science have tried to formulate progress in terms of the rational requirement to reject old theories and adopt new ones. Ethicists often point to the strong intuition that progress has been made in moral thinking about slavery or women’s rights to cash out implications of moral truths, facts, or knowledge.

Others have argued that the concept of progress allows us to account for the practice of science and ethics without the need for problematic metaphysical assumptions about objective facts or truths. But what domains of inquiry are subject to progress, exactly? Has there really been progress in aesthetics, politics, culture, or, for that matter, morality or science? Furthermore, it has been debated whether biological evolution also involves a form of progress, and conversely, whether cultural change is really just another form of evolution that lacks progress altogether. Paradoxically, progress has been especially hard to establish when it comes to philosophy itself: none of the really fundamental philosophical problems have, after all, received fully satisfactory solutions. Is there progress in philosophy?

Finally, the desirability of thinking in terms of progress itself may be questioned. Technological innovation has always been both praised and criticized where its moral impact on mankind is concerned. As for economic progress – is it healthy, productive, and sustainable to aim for improvement, growth, increase? Or is that the very idea that has lead to the unsustainable and wasteful usage of resources upon which our current global economy depends?