Call For Papers

2003 Advanced Seminar in Objectivist Studies
Bentley College, Waltham, MA, June 25 - June 28, 2003.
Submission deadline: January 23, 2003

The Objectivist Center invites scholars of philosophy and allied fields to submit papers for presentation at the Center's 2003 Advanced Seminar in Objectivist Studies.

The Advanced Seminar will be held in the half-week prior to the Center's 14th annual Summer Seminar conference. This means it will take place at Bentley College in Waltham, Massachusetts,from June 25-28, 2003.

The Advanced Seminar is a two and half-day meeting of professors, graduate students, independent scholars, and advanced undergraduates that focuses on new writings on Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism. The purpose of the seminar is to encourage the development of a high-quality scholarly literature on philosophical topics that is written from an Objectivist perspective. It also has the purpose of helping to create a community of scholars working in and around these ideas.

The Advanced Seminar typically has 20-25 participants and six paper presentations. Each paper is the focus of a formal comment and an extensive moderated seminar discussion which allows plenty of time to wrestle with the issues it raises. The seminar discusses arguments critical and supportive of past Objectivist literature in an atmosphere of rational tolerance and debate. Methodologically, it seeks to integrate Objectivist emphases on essentialistic reasoning and attention to context with high academic standards. Papers from the 2001 and 2002 Advanced Seminars are available online.

We are interested in receiving proposals that advance our understanding of Objectivism as a philosophical body of ideas. Papers may seek to clarify specific principles of Objectivism, examine the evidence for and derivation of such principles, develop further implications of existing principles, propose and defend new principles or interpretations, or discuss methodological issues. Papers may also relate Objectivist ideas to other philosophical theories, historical or contemporary.

Proposals should include a draft of the paper to be presented. Papers should be 5000-10000 words in length. Exceptions to this rule may be made on a case-by-case basis. Please also include:

• A brief self-description for inclusion in the Advanced Seminar program. (50-80 words)
• Your academic status and degrees, if not mentioned in the self-description.
• A brief abstract or description of the paper for the Advanced Seminar program.
• The publication status of the paper (e.g. unpublished, accepted for publication, published). The Advanced Seminar seeks primarily unpublished papers.
• Your goal for the paper (e.g. venues of possible publication or presentation, or plans for further development).

The submission deadline is January 23, 2003.

The coordinator and moderator of the Advanced Seminar is William Thomas (wthomas@objectivistcenter.org), TOC's manager of research and training. Please contact him if you have any questions, complaints, ideas, or comments regarding the Advanced Seminar.

Please submit proposals to:

William Thomas, Manager of research and training
EMAIL: wthomas@objectivistcenter.org
The Objectivist Center
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