Cfp: "Philosophy and/as Literature," King’s College London, May 5-6, 2009.

From Plato onwards philosophers and poets have looked suspiciously, sometimes enviously, at each other. But Plato himself was a poet, perhaps malgré lui, and the poets have often taken up and explored philosophical questions. And amongst some recent philosophers – Stanley Cavell, Martha Nussbaum and others – there have been attempts to recognise that literature is more for philosophy than a mere source of good examples for moral or aesthetic reflection. The aim of this conference is to explore some of the fraught relations between philosophy and literature, and to ask whether philosophy might itself be a form of literature. Papers are welcomed from both sides of the divide – from philosophers, and from literary theorists and writers of fiction – and may deal with meta-philosophical/literary reflections about the nature of the two disciplines or with explorations of specific philosophers and/or novelists, poets or playwrights. Topics might include, but are not restricted to: the importance of both literature and philosophy in moral reflection and experience; the nature and meaning of different styles of writing and thought; the pleasures of philosophy and literature; the nature of argument and reasoning in different kinds of texts; the differing demands made by literature and philosophy of the reader. If you wish to submit a paper, please supply a 500 word abstract by Monday 2nd February 2009 to Christopher Hamilton (christopher.hamilton@kcl.ac.uk). Please include a title for your paper, your institutional affiliation and your full name. Decisions on papers will be made within a month of receipt of the abstract.