The Canadian Journal of Philosophy hereby calls for papers on the topic “Representation and Evaluation” for a special volume edited by Matt Bedke and Stefan Sciaraffa. The volume provides an occasion to explore the role of representation in theories of meaning and mind with special attention to the implications this has for metaethical, or more broadly metanormative, theory. As such, we welcome fresh assessments of the representational purport (or lack thereof) of normative language and thought (e.g., assertions and thoughts concerning oughts, reasons, values, justification and the like). The due date is June 15, 2017. Submission guidelines are below the fold.
Here is a suggestive, but not exhaustive, list of topics.
- Defense of a non-representational theory of meaning, such as pragmatism, neo-pragmatism, inferentialism, or global expressivism, and its application to normative language/thought
- Challenges for non-representational theories of meaning, particularly challenges posed by normative language/thought
- With an eye toward metanormative implications, clarification of the relationship between representation and various meaning-relevant topics, such as
- semantic content, extension, truth condition
- minimalism about truth or other varieties of minimalism
- quietism about various metanormative matters
- meta-semantic theorizing
- Within a generally representational theory of meaning, how to create space for non-representational fragments of language/thought in a way that expands the usual menu of options for metanormative theory (e.g., emotivism, prescriptivism, expressivism)
- Any other novel insights into the representational purport (or lack thereof) of normative language/thought
Submission Guidelines
Submissions (10,000 words maximum) and a brief abstract should be submitted through the Canadian Journal of Philosophy website (http://www.edmgr.com/rcjp/default.aspx). Use the pull-down menu for ‘Representation and Evaluation’. Submissions must be received by June 15th, 2017. Submissions should follow the CJP house style (http://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?show=instructions&journalCode=rcjp20). Inquiries can be sent to Matt Bedke at mbedke@mail.ubc.ca or Stefan Sciaraffa at sciaraf@mcmaster.ca.
Contributions
The special volume will include about 15 papers. 8 of the papers will be invited contributions from the following philosophers:
- Matthew Chrisman
- David Copp
- James Dreier
- William FitzPatrick
- Anandi Hattiangadi
- Terry Horgan and Mark Timmons
- Max Kölbel
- Laura Schroeter and Francois Schroeter
So we are hoping to accept another 7 papers from this CFP to fill out the volume. NB: the invited papers will be presented at a conference in Vancouver, June 23-25, 2017. If you are interested in attending the conference, please look for an announcement in the spring.