Conference report:
The conference included nine invited speakers, of which two overseas speakers delivered their paper presentation via Skype, and 4 speakers selected from a competitive open call for papers. It was a genuinely international event, with a number of speakers coming from the U.S., Canada, and from Australia. Delegates came from all over the UK. In total 36 people attended the conference (including the non-Skyping speakers, organisers and Glasgow-based philosophers who dropped in and out of sessions).
The organisers advertised open calls for papers widely and received over 50 submissions. From these, 16 were shortlisted by blind review. Then a final 4 were selected from the top 16, ensuring a spread of topics across the conference subthemes within aesthetic, ethics and philosophy of perception. Our initial keynote speakers were Professor Robert Audi, Professor Robert Hopkins, Dr Jack Lyons, Professor Susanna Siegel, Dr Kathleen Stock, Dr Dustin Stokes , Dr Sarah McGrath, and Professor Pekka Väyrynen. Unfortunately Professor Robert Hopkins had to turn down the invitation in the process due to other work commitment as visiting Research Professor at NYU, so Professor Paul Noordhof of the University of York stepped in as replacement.
The conference was designed to investigate the nature, existence and philosophical implications of what might be called, ‘Evaluative Perception’. The topic encompasses debates in epistemology, philosophy of mind, metaethics and aesthetics. The conference succeeded in bringing together philosophers from these areas, and promoting the fruitful exchange of ideas. In a discussions at the end of the conference, speakers and delegates were invited to reflect on the prospects and potential of this proposed new area of philosophy in the light of the material discussed over the three days of the conference. The results of the discussion were overwhelmingly positive, with many delegates expressing optimism about the prospects of this new area. There was also a great deal of enthusiasm for future events and publications, which would explore the interface of value philosophy and philosophy of perception in further depth.
On this note, is our anticipation that out planned Evaluative Perception volume will be published with the Oxford University Press Occasional Series, in which case it would serve as the key point of reference for future research as the first edited collection on the subject of its kind.
