Intelligibility – University of Alberta Philosophy Graduate and Post-Graduate Conference

The 2^nd University of Alberta Philosophy Graduate and Post-Graduate Conference will take place on May 9-11, 2014. This year’s theme is Intelligibility.  I am organizing this conference with James Bachman, Emma Chien, Luke Kersten, Esther Rosario, Yasemin Sari, Joshua St. Pierre, and Andrew Tedder. I also want to thank Balázs Máté one more time for giving us the permission to use his photograph for the 2014 conference poster. Please visit his website to see more of those brilliant photographs. I also want to thank my sister, Merve Tuna, for designing the poster.

Intelligibility

For something to be intelligible is for it to make sense or be afforded an explanation within a certain conceptual framework. Whether something is intelligible then seems both relative and intrinsic to the broader perspective from which we approach it. This makes the notion itself transparent to philosophical reflection. The aim of this conference is to bring intelligibility to the foreground, so that we can examine its nature and role within different discourses.

Papers from both the analytic and continental traditions, as well as from other disciplines and traditions of investigation are welcomed. We especially encourage submissions from women and other groups historically underrepresented in the profession. Possible questions for consideration include, but are not limited to: What are the criteria for intelligibility? Can intelligibility work as an explicit criterion in explaining our relationship to ourselves, others and the world? What makes scientific or philosophical explanations intelligible? What is the role that language plays in considerations of intelligibility? What is the relationship between intelligibility and rationality? What is the relationship between intelligibility and cognitive significance? Does or should intelligibility play a formative role in moral or aesthetic deliberation? Does the very notion of intelligibility hinge on a dubious notion of privileged access? If so, what are the dangers (ethical, political, social) of employing this notion?

 

Keynote Presentation

 

“Intelligibility and Ineffability”

 

Graham Priest

The City University of New York

Arché: Philosophical Research Centre

University of St Andrews