CfP: 6th European Summer School in Process Thought, August 2-6, 2021

“Natural and Artistic Beauty in Process Metaphysics”

Abstract Submission Deadline: June 02, 2021

The European Society for Process Thought together with the Polish Whitehead Metaphysical Society announces the 6th European Summer School in Process Thought, which will take place from Monday, the 2nd of August 2 – till Friday, the 6th August 6, 2021. The Conference will be in hybrid form. Participants from Poland will meet at the Franciscan Monastery in Katowice, 76 Panewnicka Street Poland (not more than 8 persons), all other persons will connect via Zoom

Organisers: Polish Whitehead Metaphysical Society (Bogdan Ogrodnik, Piotr Leśniak);
European Society for Process Thought (Helmut Maaßen)
Contact: piotrles1@wp.pl
 
When: 2-5 August 2021
Where: Franciscan Monastery
76 Panewnicka Street
Katowice, Poland
Conference Fee: No conference fee for online participation
Abstract Submission Deadline: June 02, 2021

The 2021 European Summer School in Process Thought is planned as a workshop-conference. There will be discussions in small groups on the topics of the presentations.  There will be sections (teams) of up to 10 people. Each section will have its tutor or coordinator with the responsibility for the section and for the relevance and clarity of the theses discussed. The Tutors  will also chair the sessions of the sections.

Preliminary timetable:

Day 1  August 2, Monday

10.00 Opening of the conference.
Ecology section (Chair: Maria-Teresa Teixeira)
10.30-12.00 . Presentations and discussions
12.00-12.30 coffe break
12.30-14.00 Presentations and discussions
14.00-15.00 lunch break
15.00-16.30 Presentations and discussions

Day 2  August 3,  Tuesday

Aesthetics section (Helmut Maassen)
9.00-9.30 ESPT Meeting
9.30-12.00 . Presentations and discussions
12.00-12.30 coffe break
12.30-14.00 Presentations and discussions
14.00-15.00 lunch break
15.00-16.30 Presentations and discussions

Day 3 August 4, Wednesday

Theology section (Roland Casalis)
9.30-12.00 . Presentations and discussions
12.00-12.30 coffe break
12.30-14.00 Presentations and discussions
14.00-15.00 lunch break
15.00-16.30 Presentations and discussions

Day 4  August 5, Thursday

Practical philosophy (including psychology and coaching) Piotr Leśniak, Bogdan Ogrodnik , Michel Weber

10.30-12.00 . Presentations and discussions
12.00-12.30 coffe break
12.30-14.00 Presentations and discussions
14.00-15.00 lunch break
15.00-16.00 Presentations and discussions
16.00-17.00 Summary

Day 5  August 6, Friday

Education (including science and mathematics) (Vesselin Petrov, Franz Riffert))
10.30-12.00 . Presentations and discussions
12.00-12.30 coffe break
12.30-14.00 Presentations and discussions
14.00-15.00 lunch break
15.00-16.00 Presentations and discussions
16.00-17.00 Summary

The European Society for Process Thought together with the Polish Whitehead Metaphysical Society announces the 6th European Summer School in Process Thought, which will be concerned with the differences of nature and beauty as well as of nature and culture and the resulting implications for the time of “Great Change”.
“Beauty is the mutual adaptation of the several factors in an occasion of experience.” (Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas, 252)

When, two years ago, we wrote about “Great Change” in our conference announcement, nobody expected that our life on earth would change so quickly and radically. We add pandemy of the coronavirus to the list of challenges our contemporary civilization faces. We stand by the request that many current practices may lead to the end of human culture or even to the extinction of life on Earth. We have no time to detach speculation from reality. We are in the time of “Great Change”, a time for mature philosophy—one that is aware of its role in society.

The concepts of nature and beauty are used here in the inclusive sense and by way of creative contrast. A multitude of approaches, disciplines, and integrative ways of thinking are required. This is not a summer school for one narrow academic discipline, but aims at addressing all issues important today for our natural and cultural environment. We invite topics that contrast the concepts of nature and beauty as well as the natural and the cultural. We look for unifying, creative visions as well as for detailed analysis with concrete practical applications.

We all participate in processes like climate change, environmental pollution, and the extinction of species. And we all confront the risks associated with the spread of monoculture and its ensuing reduction of diversity. This takes place in many areas, notably agriculture, politics, codes of conduct, and aesthetic values, and now also in the form of pandemic restrictions. Therefore, we invite all types of reflection that inspire actions to hold back the process of destruction. Bold visions expressed in a rational form allow us to experience the attractive power of beauty and truth and in the long run to change the world. The universe is in the making and it may degenerate into trivial forms of order or it may be saved, as Whitehead put it, “by God’s vision of truth, beauty and goodness” (Whitehead, Process and Reality, 346). We need to examine possible visions critically, in order to save our world from plunging into triviality or even chaos. We need philosophy with speculative power and an analytic capacity of critical thinking. One of the most important areas of responsibility for a philosopher is the question of ‘being’ and the process of philosophical thinking. We invite topics connected with methods of teaching and with the popularizing of process philosophy.

Ten years ago, the first summer school was organized in Katowice-Panewniki at the Franciscan Monastery by the Polish, German, Bulgarian and Hungarian Societies for Process Thought. The upcoming conference will again be held there. Saint Francis who combined love for nature with devotion for Divine Beauty, is also a symbol of dialogue between different cultures, religions and ways of life. The Franciscan Monastery is a perfect place to ask serious questions about the responsibility of process philosophy in the time of “Great Change”.