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We are looking for speakers for the 2025 Philosophical Society International Weekend, to be held on the 10-11 May 2025 in Rome. We should also be able to provide remote participation. Please see a separate page with all details about organization and location.

The event topic is “What, if anything, is Truth?”. The problem of truth has been discussed by philosophers since Classical Antiquity, but it still remains at the centre of extensive debates in the 21^st century. Even though apparently simple, the questions around truth continue to generate a wide range of controversies and paradoxes extending beyond the realm of metaphysics into logic, linguistics and science.

Any presentation considering these problems under a philosophical perspective is welcome. Papers might for instance:

• defend or argue against existing theories and their claims on the nature of truth;

• propose your own interpretation of the problem of truth;

• apply a philosophical theory to another discipline such as the study of history;

• address specific questions, such as the possibility of creating an algorithm to detect truth, as hypothesized by Leibniz.

We aim to include 7 presentations and a panel discussion with questions addressed to all speakers. Each presentation should last 25-30 minutes, followed by about 15 minutes of questions; this corresponds to a paper of around 3.000 -3.500 words. It is not compulsory to prepare a Power Point presentation too, but it might be helpful for the attendees, as some people are more receptive to a combination of auditory and visual stimuli.

If you are interested in giving a talk, please indicate your interest by the 15^th of December by emailing Marta, Marta.Vecchio@oxfordphilsoc.org , and Bob, Bob.Stone@oxfordphilsoc.org, including a working title , an abstract of 200-300 words and a concise biography of 100-150 words. We will aim at confirming the selected talks by the 15^th of January. We will not need a preview of your work in advance, only to receive the power point presentation, if used, a week before the event for an effective organization on the day, avoiding as much as possible any technical complications.

Suggested Readings

Aquinas, T. (1920) Summa Theologica, Prima Pars, Question 16. Available at:  https://www.newadvent.org/summa/1016.htm (Accessed 25 October 2024).

Blackburn, S. (2005). Truth: a guide for the perplexed. London: Penguin.

Boghossian, P. (2011) ‘Objectivity & Relativity’ in Bernecker, S. and Pritchard, D.H. (ed.) The Routledge Companion to Epistemology. New York, USA: Routledge.

Davidson, D. (1984) Inquiries into Truth and Interpretation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Davidson, D. (1990) “The Structure and Content of Truth”, The Journal of Philosophy, 87 (1990), pp. 279-328.

Glanzberg, M. (2018) “Truth”, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy [online]. Available at: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/truth/ (Accessed: 1 October 2024).

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (n.d.) “Truth”, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy [online]. Available at: https://iep.utm.edu/truth/ (Accessed: 1 October 2024).

Horwich, P. (1990) Truth. Oxford: Basil Blackwell Ltd.

Kirkham, R. (1992) Theories of Truth: A Critical Introduction. Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA: MIT Press.

Lynch, M. (2005) True to Life: Why Truth Matters. Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA: MIT Press.

O’Grady, P. (2015). Relativism. London: Routledge.

Plato, Republic Book 3, in Plato in Twelve Volumes. Vols. 5 & 6 translated by Paul Shorey. Cambridge, USA, Harvard Press University. Available at: https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0168%3Abook%3D3 (Accessed 25 October 2024).

Wiles, A.M. (2009) "Plato on Truth and Falsehood", The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter 11-27. Available at: https://orb.binghamton.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1370&context=sagp (Accessed 25 October 2024).