Call For Papers

for the new journal

[mensch]

International Journal for Philosophical Anthropology

[mensch] poses the question of "the human". The question of "the human" has to
take into view the widest possible range of theoretical approaches ˆ
philosophical, historical, political, sociological, cultural, medical,
biological, cybernetic, and anthropological. In this journal, there are to be no
theoretical taboos in thinking of/about "human". There is not even an agreement,
in and across various disciplines, whether "human" can be spoken of adequately
at all, or if it rather should be conceived of in terms of multiplicities of
human forms or of discourses on "the human". That is why our title, [mensch], is
in parentheses.

Current theoretical approaches of the social sciences and cultural studies
invariably build upon some image of "human". Far from clarifying and making
explicit this image, theories today treat it as both an implicit basis and
unbeloved skeleton in the closet. Retreating to arguments of the "historical a
priori" and the "disappearance of the human" creates a controversial vacuum in
the thinking of/about the term "human". Alongside the theoretical qualms of the
social sciences and cultural studies, stands the rigid idea of the human with
which the life sciences operate. They draft a new, triumphal form of "human",
departing from a previous positing of the human as a being halfway between angel
and animal in their grand project of self-transposition unto a program of
technical reproduction. These life sciences are new anthropologies, so to speak,
and a renewed effort of thinking is needed that can reflexively incorporate
these Œstrange‚ anthropologies into theories of/about "human" ˜ and by this
incorporation, relate them to current possibilities of thinking, sociopolitical
trends, debates, strategies and events.

Historically, philosophical anthropologies have been booming since the 18th
century, with a remarkable peak in the first third of the 20th century; they
have also recently enjoyed a resurgence. As a possibility of thought they belong
manifestly to modernity with its increased consciousness of contingency. In
order to start as reflexively as possible, the complex theories of the 20th
century might have critically to be rethought. The significance of every
implicit or explicit anthropology has to be discussed. For man, this
"wide-ranging, colorful, diverse thing, all definitions fall somewhat short"
(Max Scheler 1915).

[mensch] will be an "International journal for philosophical anthropology". It
does not limit itself to a single discipline or sub-discipline. The term
"philosophical" designates the attempt to extend possibilities of reflection on
a theory of/about "the human", possibilities that traverse disciplines.

[mensch] will be published as a peer-reviewed, twice yearly journal in a print
version, with three categories: essays, inquiries (conference proceedings,
research reports, reviews), and reprints of previously published material (to be
selected by the editors). Aiming at multidisciplinarity and interculturality,
texts will appear in English or German.

Call for papers!

What we are looking for: [mensch] will systematically pool together
philosophical, socio- and cultural scientific, as well as natural scientific
perspectives on human. While it is a theoretical journal, it will not exclude
empirical studies. All texts should ideally be astute and evoke "Aha!" moments.
They should provide information about the elaborate, scientific thinking on
"human" in various cultures, and discourses, bringing them together in a
productive debate. The texts should be tantalizing, startling, accurate; thereby
they might also ˆ following the example of the first important German journal on
philosophy, Kritisches Journal ˆ sharply attack, they might polemicize if they
bring forth good reasons. In other words, we want anything on the human ˆ
insofar it is philosophical, extensively, significant. Papers from all
disciplines are welcome, as are those that do not fit neatly into disciplinary
categories. Submissions should be first publications.

We search ˆ permanent ˆ sketches and ideas, as well as complete articles.

[mensch] is in contact with German, Italian, French, American, as well as
Chinese senior and junior researchers. Our aim is on the one hand to facilitate
a broad collaboration among fascinating senior as well as junior researchers
from various disciplines, and on the other hand to publish an international
journal that convenes ideas and approaches from thinkers working in different
languages, starting with those working in Chinese, English, French, German and
Italian.

We are supported by an international and interdisciplinary academic board with a
research focus in philosophical anthropology in the broadest sense:

Bruno Accarino, Olaf Breidbach, Wolfgang Eßbach, Joachim Fischer, Volker
Gerhardt, Mathias Gutmann, Christian F. R. Illies, Hans Werner Ingensiep, Jinji
Hamauzu, Donna Haraway, Lenny Moss, Paul Rabinow, Gerard Raulet, Karl-Siegbert
Rehberg, Thomas Rentsch, Javier San Martín, Walter Seitter, Hans Rainer Sepp,
Peter Sloterdijk, Jan Sokol, Christian Thies, Michael Tomasello, Bernhard
Waldenfels, Cao Weidong, Franz Wuketits.

Contact:

Heike.Delitz@tu-dresden.de

Robert.Seyfert@uni-konstanz.de

http://www.philosophische-anthropologie.net

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