Call for papers: Issue no. 3/2013 of Studia UBB. Philosophia: “Descartes’s Scientific and Philosophical Disputes with his Contemporaries”
“I beg all who have any objections to take the trouble to send them to me,” wrote Descartes a number of times in his career. Descartes’s eagerness to impose his views, in the name of “the search after truth,” engaged him in various controversies, from 1637, the year of the publication of the Discourse on method, to the end of his life. Apart from the famous “Objections and Replies” to the Meditations (1641), the Cartesian correspondence presents a large number of equally interesting disputes, on both scientific and philosophical topics. The letters often resemble a battlefield in which an attentive observer can distinguish various defense strategies: Trojan horses, conceptual traps, misquotes, etc. Often the aim was to disqualify the opponent not only as a bad thinker, but also as a hidden atheist. By the late 1640s, Descartes’s position within the fragile intellectual circle composed of French Catholics, novatores of various persuasions or Calvinist theologians became very unstable. His decision to accept Queen Christina’s invitation to Stockholm appears like an escape attempt from this imbroglio.
The present issue of Studia UBB will be dedicated to these confrontations. It aims to show, on the whole, the historical and conceptual relevance of contemporary reactions to Cartesianism for an assessment of both the novelty and the consistence of Descartes’s project.
Papers should be written in English, French or German. Articles cannot be longer than 75.000 characters, including spaces and footnotes. Reviews cannot be longer than 25.000 characters. The deadline for submission is 15 September 2013. Papers should follow the guidelines for the authors (http://www.studia.ubbcluj.ro/download/instr/philosophia.pdf) and be prepared for blind review. Submissions should be sent both to the editor, Ion Copoeru: copoeru@hotmail.com, and the guest editor, Vlad Alexandrescu: valexandrescu@gmail.com.
http://studiaphilosophia.wordpress.com/call-for-papers-2/cfp-for-the-issue-no-32013-descartes-scientific-and-philosophical-disputes-with-his-contemporaries/