Cfp: "Phenomenology and French Epistemology," British Society for Phenomenology, St. Hilda’s College, University of Oxford, April 9-11, 2010.

The conference will examine the relation between phenomenology and the work of thinkers such as Gaston Bachelard, Jean Cavaillès, Jean-Toussaint Desanti, George Canguilhem and Michel Foucault. Their work was in important respects developed in dialogue with the phenomenological tradition of Husserl, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, and others. Bachelard was a pivotal figure in this dialogue, always close to phenomenology without following the Husserlian path, and at the same time inspired by the mathematical sciences and passing on their significance to others. Although the two series of thinkers shared an interest in formalisation and in mathematics, in the main their paths diverged over the role of the subject in thought, and more broadly the direction taken in their response to Kant. An appreciation of these issues throws light on the route taken by the mainstream phenomenological tradition itself, and is also important for understanding aspects of the work of figures such as Foucault, whose thought was shaped by both currents. Speakers: Jean-Michel Salanskis (University of Paris, Nanterre) Ed Casey (SUNY, Stony Brook) Donny Frangeskou (Staffordshire University) Knox Peden (University of California, Berkeley) Kevin Thompson (DePaul University) Johanna Oksala (University of Dundee) will respond to a panel discussion of her book Foucault on Freedom (CUP, 2005). 　 Information on the conference will be posted here: http://britishphenomenology.com/Conference.aspx. Please send an abstract of approx. 300 words to David Webb (d.a.webb@staffs.ac.uk) by 12th October 2009.