International Society for Philosophy in Film (ISPiF)
Call for Abstracts
Film Noir and Philosophy
First Annual Meeting
August 26th-27th, 2022
London, England
Mission Statement:
The International Society for Philosophy in Film (ISPiF) promotes philosophical engagement with film by conceiving film as a form or expression of thought. Rather than mere sources of entertainment or objects for aesthetic scrutiny, films express ideas and arguments worth engaging. From the perspective of ISPiF, to engage films philosophically means to think through, along with, and/or against films, to make sense of them, to learn from them, and to further expand the practice, study and teaching of philosophy into new regions through engagement with film.
Theme: Film Noir
Abstract Deadline April 1, 2022
(Completed papers due July 15th, 2022)
The Society for Philosophy and Film invites submission of extended abstracts for its first annual meeting (cnference), on the theme Film Noir. In line with ISPiF’s mission, papers ought to focus on developing the thought inherent in films, either individually or collectively, that fall under the category/genre/movement of noir cinema, broadly construed. Submissions may focus on one or more themes from this non-exhaustive list, vis-a-vis noir cinema:
- Ethical issues, including: the possibility of human flourishing; the (im)possibility of locating stable objects of desire; the disintegration of duty, the conditions of the (im)possibility of loyalty and trust; the search for atonement; and navigating genuine moral binds in noir.
- Metaphysical issues, including: the nature and construction of the self; the character of human freedom; the ontological status of time/or and memory; the distinction between reality and fantasy; and the relation between meaning and truth in noir.
- Social and political issues, including: the relation between individual and society; the possibility of community and meaningful projects; social decay; ideology; resistance movements; gender and sexual norms; the justification of violence, and the impact of dystopia in noir.
- Epistemological issues, including: the nature of inquiry; the distinction between facts and values; the possibility of unwinding conspiracy; the reliability of memory; the intelligibility of experience; the possibility of objective thought, knowledge, or meaning; and the nature of perception (voyeurism) in noir.
Submission Guidelines and Instructions:
Extended abstracts should be 500-750 words, with standard font and margins.
Deadline: The deadline for receipt of abstracts is April 1, 2022. Any submission received after midnight Pacific time on this date will not be considered.
Final papers, no longer than 15 pages, double spaced, must be provided by July 15th in order to be distributed to all participants in advance of the meeting. This is crucial to the format and success of the meeting, where authors will be provided only 10-12 minutes to summarize, emphasize, or develop further the contents of the full essay. This condensed presentation time, combined with all participants reading each accepted paper in advance, is intended to make available a significant amount of time for questions and discussion following each presentation.
Please send all submissions as either a Word Document or PDF attachment to: ispif2022@gmail.com
ISPiF Executive Board:
Steven Brence – Department of Philosophy, University of Oregon
Caroline Lundquist – Clark Honors College, University of Oregon
Alain Beauclair – Department of Humanities, MacEwan University
Chris McTavish – Centre for Humanities, Athabasca University
Sponsored by the Department of Philosophy at the University of Oregon