"St. Cyril and St. Methodius" University of Veliko Tarnovo
hosts

Academic Conference
25th years Philosophy Major
at "St. Cyril and St. Methodius" University of Veliko Tarnovo&International Colloquium in Contemporary
Philosophy and Culture(in conjunction with the Society for Philosophy as Global
Conversation)"Converging Differences: Global Thinking and Local Existence"

March 21-23, 2018

On the idea of the Colloquium
Philosophy has always been a conversation, one way or another,which today more than ever has become a global conversation. One
can think of a conversation as a convergence of differences in thisSaussurean sense in which in language there are only differences.
One can regard a conversation as global when it takes up differences
arising locally and shares them globally, or reversely – when it takes
up ones occurring globally and rediscovers them locally. One can calla conversation philosophical not just in the narrower disciplinary sense,
in which we speak, for instance, of Platonic (dialogical) and Hegelian(historical) dialectics, but also in the virtually unrestricted sense, inwhich any form of reflective difference takes place along the venuesof the whole culture.

Whereas 'global' is sometimes understood as planetary, sometimes asuniversal, we endeavor to explore its postmodern sense as arising in
the locality of the particular. This sense, towards which we havebeen most articulately swayed by Lyotard, has been long sincecirculated in the cultural traditions of both East and West. One
could read it in the Ancient Greek dialectic (literally "speaking across,or conversation"), in Augustine's view of truth, good, and faith, in Laotse's Tao and Te relation, or in Hindu Dharma alike.

In the contemporary philosophy, the encounter of the 'global' withthe 'local' finds its footing via an array of notions. From a certain
vantage point, a critical reader could trace it in Kierkegaard's subjective
truth, Nietzsche's will to power, Heidegger's Dasein and its Umwelt,
Jaspers' truth as communication, Levinas'tiers dans le visage de l’autrui,
Gadamer's hermeneutics and its Horizontverschmelzung, Wittgenstein's
language games, Habermas' communicative action, Rorty's politicalpragmatism, Foucault’s genealogy of power, Derrida's différance,Cixous'écriture féminine, Baudrillard's symbolic exchange, amongst others.
It could be also sought for in much of the rest of the culture –human and social sciences, literature, conceptual art, alternative
theater, contemporary music, cinema, contemporary dance, fashionand design, architecture, cultural management, advertising, etc.

In this sense, the topics of interest to the colloquium can be related
but not limited to,- Phenomenology, existential philosophy, post-structuralism- Metaphilosophy, pragmatism, and communicative action- Language, thinking, and technology- Critical theory, literature, and art- Ethics, religion, and spirituality- Power, politics, and economics- Race, gender, sexuality, identity- Refugees, strangers, and outcasts- Community building, inclusion, and integration- Human person, health, and self-creation- Globalization, multi-culturalism, and the meaning of nation

Opening remarks

Global Conversation on the Spot: What Lao-tse, Heidegger, and Rorty Have inCommon
Rossen Roussev ("St. Cyril and St. Methodius" University of Veliko
Tarnovo)

Place and Responsibility – Weil, Levinas, Heidegger
Tomokazu BABA (University of Nagano)

Discussion

Abstract Submissions
We invite abstract-proposals within 250-300 words at
global.conversations.ph@gmail.com by February 1, 2018