2001, October 10 – October 13
Leuven – Antwerpen (Belgium)
Catholic
University of Leuven (K.U.Leuven), Institute of Philosophy, Centre for Culture
and Philosophy
University of Antwerp (UFSIA), Centre for Ethics
(On Friday October the 12th the
conference will take place in Antwerp)
Organizing Committee: Paul Cruysberghs, William Desmond,
Karl Verstrynge (Leuven); Johan Taels (Antwerpen)
Scientific Committee: Niels-Jørgen Cappelørn (DK), André
Clair (F), Paul Cruysberghs (B), William Desmond (B), Robert Perkins (USA),
Johan Taels (B), Merold Westphal (USA)
In his review of Fru Gyllembourg’s novel Two Ages Kierkegaard described his time
as an age of reflection contrasting it with the age of passion. Reflection thus
seems to be the sickness of the modern age – and almost all of the
Kierkegaardian pseudonym authors appear to engage in a polemic against the
different symptoms of this sickness. Infinite reflection on the other hand,
appears to be one of the main conditions of an authentic life. Immediacy, in so
far as it is one of the typical characteristics of an aesthetic life style, as
well as finite reflection seem to be rejected by Kierkegaard. However, there
are some suggestions that immediacy is to be preserved (e.g. the immediacy of
first love in marriage) or regained (e.g. the new immediacy characteristic of
religion).
The ambition of the conference is to
investigate the different positions of both key concepts in Kierkegaard’s
authorship.
Possible headings: the age of reflection and the age
of passion; immediacy and reflection as existential categories; finite and
infinite reflection; the perspective of a new immediacy; immediacy and
reflection in German Idealism as compared to Kierkegaard; immediacy and
reflection as post-modern keywords as compared to Kierkegaard, etc…
Abstracts of the papers are
to be sent to: johan.taels@ufsia.ac.be
and/or
karl.verstrynge@kulak.ac.be