CALL FOR PAPERS
Canadian Jacques Maritain Association
Annual Symposium Friday, November 5 to Saturday, November 6, 2021
Theme: Maritain and the Metaphysics of Culture
The fall 2021 conference of the Canadian Jacques Maritain Association will explore the many dimensions of the metaphysics of culture. Jacques Maritain was a philosopher who was deeply interested in the role that culture plays in the life of human beings and was keen to think about its essence from a philosophical perspective. The metaphysics of culture engages an incisive reflection on the nature and foundation of culture. Although human beings live in and are shaped by their culture, it is another thing entirely to think about what culture is. The philosophical discipline of metaphysics touches upon perennial, timeless truths, whereas culture changes over time and deals with ephemeral aspects of life. To reflect on culture metaphysically is to straddle the divide between the permanent and transient elements of human life, and to think about those dimensions of human social existence that belong to our nature and those that change with time and place.
Some of the topics that impinge upon this theme include: the interrelationship between culture, society and politics; how reason and rationality influence and are influenced by culture; the temporal and historical aspects of culture in their relation to transcendent, supernatural realities; how religion, art, education, leisure, sport, and science define culture; the economic nature of contemporary culture; secularism and the rise of atheism; prospects for the rehabilitation of culture.
Due to the COVID-19 restrictions in place, this year’s fall conference will be a hybrid meeting. The conference will take place in person at the Dominican University College in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. However, the conference will be outfitted with technology for online participation as well for those who are unable to attend in person.
All participants of the conference, whether in person or online, will have to register in advance, no later than November 4. The conference registration fee is $20 CAD per person. Registration fees can be sent by cheque by regular mail to Dr Nikolaj Zunic at the address below, or online by means of Interac e-transfer to nzunic@uwaterloo.ca. Cheques should be made payable to “Canadian Jacques Maritain Association”.
The CJMA welcomes proposals from individuals who are interested in presenting a paper at its 2021 fall conference.
We invite papers, in English or French, relating to the conference theme understood broadly. Papers may explore aspects of Jacques Maritain’s philosophy or other perspectives related to the metaphysics of culture. Selected papers will be published in Études maritainiennes-Maritain Studies.
Those who wish to present a paper should send by e-mail a one-page abstract or proposal to:
Dr. Nikolaj Zunic
Department of Philosophy
St. Jerome’s University
290 Westmount Road North
Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G3
Canada
E-mail: nzunic@uwaterloo.ca
Deadline for submission of proposals: September 15, 2021
Papers should not exceed 35 minutes reading time.