The International Conference on Phenomenology and Practice

In September 8-10, 2016 University of Gdańsk (Poland) organizes the International Conference “Phenomenology and Practice. The 2nd Conference on Traditions and Perspectives of the Phenomenological Movement in Central and Eastern Europe.”

The conference “Phenomenology and Practice” is a continuation of the conference “Horizons Beyond Borders” which took place on June 17-19, 2015 in Budapest. During this year conference we plan to narrow the research scope to the problem of practice and action. As it is well known, Edmund Husserl developed phenomenology mainly as a theoretical project that at the very beginning concerned a refutation of psychologism, and a reform of theory of knowledge (Erkenntnistheorie). The problem of practice seemed to be completely marginal, however, Husserl presented an thorough analysis of many questions connected with practical philosophy, i.e., with axiology, ethics, he presented a description of praxis, and of practical involvement of a phenomenologist. Starting from his early lectures on ethics, through talks on Fichte, articles about the renewal, and the late project of ethics of love Husserl investigated the problem of practice. The main idea of the conference “Phenomenology and Practice” is to explore the practical consequences of phenomenology in philosophy in Central and Eastern Europe. This purpose stems from a recognition that historical and political circumstances in Central and Eastern Europe have led to a significant reformulation of the ways how to do phenomenology. It is well known that phenomenology was regarded as an idealistic, and bourgeois philosophy. Although some phenomenologists wanted to abandon any political commitment, many of them used phenomenology as a background of their political-practical reformulation of philosophy. Well known examples are Jan Patočka, Józef Tischner, and Karol Wojtyła.

The conference will gather 25 participants from 11 countries. Plenary lectures will be given by: Natalia Artemenko (St. Petersburg State University, Russia) – Špet’s Project of Hermeneutic Phenomenology, Michael Gubser (James Madison University, USA) – The Definitive No: Phenomenology and Czechoslovak Dissidence in the 1970s, Dalius Jonkus (Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania) – The Primacy of Intuition in Phenomenology: Critical Realism or Transcendental Idealism?, Carlos Lobo (Collège International de Philosophie, France) – Idealization of Practice and Idealization in Practice. Or how one can be Idealist in Ethics without being Intellectualist.

The conference schedule is available here.