CfP: How to Do History and Philosophy of Science with Hans Blumenberg?

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Call for Papers for a conference on Hans Blumenberg, including his ideas on Phenomenological Anthropology, 23-25 October, 2020, Lübeck, Germany.

How to Do History and Philosophy of Science with Hans Blumenberg?
Zentrum für Kulturwissenschaftliche Forschung Lübeck, Germany
23-25 October, 2020

CfP deadline: 29 February 2020

This Conference on Blumenberg’s History and Philosophy of Science will also deal with the problems of phenomenology. Blumenberg criticized Heideggerian and Husserlian phenomenology and developed what he called Phenomenological Anthropology. The conference will be also accepting proposals on these topics.

Throughout his life, Hans Blumenberg (1920-1996) maintained a philosophical interest in the sciences and their history. From his archeology of modern scientific curiosity in The Legitimacy of the Modern Age to his Work on Myth and his Lesbarkeit der Welt, Blumenberg reflected on the changing relations between religion, science and philosophy. Personally, he advanced from amateur astronomer to astronoetiker and theoretician of world-time, and recent scholarship has evidenced Blumenberg’s interest in disciplines as diverse as paleoanthropology, technology and phenomenology.

This International Conference aims to focus on Blumenberg’s historical contributions to the history and philosophy of science, and on how his insights may serve to further develop new approaches to the historiography of science, science studies and continental history and philosophy of science. What does Blumenberg’s way of doing history and philosophy of science entail for current historians of science? What methodological approaches did he develop and use? How can we make sense of them today?

The conference looks forward to proposals addressing any of following areas of interest:
> Hans Blumenberg’s contributions to the history and philosophy of the sciences.
> Historical epistemology of metaphor and biographies of scientific metaphors.
> The concept of ‘Umbesetzung’ as Blumenberg’s core idea for transformative processes.
> The role of metaphors and metaphorology in history and philosophy of science and science studies.
> Global and post-colonial perspectives on Blumenberg’s works and European historiography of science.

The conference will take place at the Zentrum für Kulturwissenschaftliche Forschung Lübeck, Königstrasse 42, in the city center. Conference languages are English and German.

Please, send proposals of no more than 500 words to [email protected] no later than February 29, 2020. Those selected will be noticed within one month from their acceptance. The Hans-Blumenberg-Gesellschaft kindly agreed to offer travel stipends for young scholars submitting and presenting their work at the conference.

Organizing team: Prof. Dr. Cornelius Borck (ZKFL/IMGWF, Universität zu Lübeck), Dr. Alberto Fragio (Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico City), Dr. Martina Philippi (Universität Leipzig), Dr. Josefa Ros Velasco (Universidad Complutense de Madrid / Harvard University).