Academic

Conference Announcement: Death at York

By Lawrence Solum

Death: What It Is and Why It Matters

The Open University and the University of York, UK
17th and 18th July 2008
Heslington Campus, York, UK

This is a two-day conference on the nature and significance of death, organized by the Philosophy Departments of the Open University and the University of York. The conference is sponsored by the Royal Institute of Philosophy, the University of York and the Open University.

Description

Questions about death include the ethical (Is killing wrong? Should abortion and euthanasia be permitted?); the axiological (Is it bad to die? Which deaths are worse?); and the metaphysical (What is death? Do the dead exist?) Although the ethical questions have, in recent years, been very much discussed, the underlying issues in value and theory have received considerably less attention. Yet these issues are far from settled. Scientific advances are continuing to raise questions about what constitutes death, while both science and science fiction suggest novel possibilities for postponing it. Evolving theories of personhood and personal identity are prompting new questions about the importance of death, while recent work on emotion offers to throw fresh light on our responses to bereavement and to the prospect of death.  This conference aims to draw together philosophers working in metaphysics, philosophy of mind and ethics to address a range of fundamental issues about the nature and significance of death.

Invited speakers: Lisa Bortolotti, Matthew Hanser, Jens Johansson, Steven Luper, Eric Olson, David Pugmire

Call for Papers

       We invite submissions on conference themes (listed below) for 45 minute presentations (30 minutes' talk + 15 minutes' discussion). Submissions should not have been published previously. Please submit either a full version of your proposed paper or a 1000 word abstract, to the conference mailbox at arts-death-conference@open.ac.uk  by March 14th 2008.

       Conference themes

       *        The nature of death.
       *        Definitions and criteria.
       *        Human, animal and plant death.
       *        The irreversibility of death.
       *        Death, the mind and the brain.
       *        Posthumous harms.
       *        Death and non-existence.
       *        Issues concerning personhood.
       *        Death's badness.
       *        Grief and loss.
       *        Cryonics, sci-fi, and avoiding death.
       *        Immortality.
       *        Reasons to fear death.
       *        Better and worse times to die.
       *        Our deaths and the death of others

Further information and contact addresses

Website: http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/death
Email: arts-death-conference@open.ac.uk

Organizers

       Chris Belshaw, The Open University

       Carolyn Price, The Open University

       Steve Holland, The University of York

Full post as published by Legal Theory Blog on January 08, 2008 (boomark / email).