CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Philosophers depend upon an array of imaginary creatures and things to exemplify and serve as counter-examples to arguments. In turn, philosophical problems are discussed using shorthand references to what are collected here under the name of “philosophical monsters”–evil demons, grue emeralds, invisible hands, bats, cats and brains-in-a-vat, caves, islands, imaginary worlds and hypothetical persons. The Dictionary of Philosophical Monsters is designed to function as an accessible reference source for professional scholars, students and interested readers, and a resource for expanding and deepening our philosophical vocabulary. It is also meant to operate as a cabinet of curiosities, a bestiary and a zoo, a point of assembly for a motley crew of figures of thought from disparate domains of philosophy, performing various theoretical functions, and claiming varying degrees of empirical reality and logical possibility. As a reflection on the role of theoretical entities in the history of philosophy and science, the Dictionary admits even entities of uncertain provenance.
Please submit an abstract of approximately 200 words, including a description of the philosophical entity, its original and primary uses, and a sketch of its role in a philosophical theory or argument. Full entries should be between 8000-1200 words.
Philosophers depend upon an array of imaginary creatures and things to exemplify and serve as counter-examples to arguments. In turn, philosophical problems are discussed using shorthand references to what are collected here under the name of “philosophical monsters”–evil demons, grue emeralds, invisible hands, bats, cats and brains-in-a-vat, caves, islands, imaginary worlds and hypothetical persons. The Dictionary of Philosophical Monsters is designed to function as an accessible reference source for professional scholars, students and interested readers, and a resource for expanding and deepening our philosophical vocabulary. It is also meant to operate as a cabinet of curiosities, a bestiary and a zoo, a point of assembly for a motley crew of figures of thought from disparate domains of philosophy, performing various theoretical functions, and claiming varying degrees of empirical reality and logical possibility. As a reflection on the role of theoretical entities in the history of philosophy and science, the Dictionary admits even entities of uncertain provenance.
Please submit an abstract of approximately 200 words, including a description of the philosophical entity, its original and primary uses, and a sketch of its role in a philosophical theory or argument. Full entries should be between 8000-1200 words.