Disagreement – 2013 University of Alberta Philosophy Graduate and Post-Graduate Conference

I am happy to announce that the 2013 University of Alberta Philosophy Graduate and Post-Graduate Conference on Disagreement is going to take place on May 10-12, 2013. I am organizing this conference with Emma Chien, Juan Santos Castro, Yasemin Sari, Grace Paterson, and Andrew Tedder. I also want to thank my sister, Merve Tuna, for designing the poster.

DISAGREEMENT

At first, one might take ‘disagreement’ to be merely a matter of subjective opinion. Nevertheless, disagreement is a pervasive and genuine phenomenon of and in our experience which calls for philosophical reflection. This conference focuses on the notion of disagreement broadly construed.

We invite papers that discuss the nature, value of, and attitudes towards disagreement. Papers from both the analytic and continental traditions, as well as from disciplines and traditions of investigation other than philosophy are welcomed. Possible questions for consideration include but are not limited to: What constitutes disagreement? What distinguishes private from public disagreement; internal from external disagreement; or intra- from inter-personal disagreement? Are all disagreements resolvable, and on what grounds? Are disagreements structured by power dynamics? Is reconciliation always desirable or is there value in perennial discord? Can there be faultless or harmless disagreements in the realms of ethics/politics/aesthetics/epistemology, etc.? If so does this entail some sort of relativism or pluralism, and if it does is this a bad thing?

 Keynote Presentations

“Disagreement and the Justification of Democracy”

Thomas Christiano

University of Arizona

 

“Big disagreements, little disagreements, and the resolving power of evidence”

Adam Morton

University of British Columbia