Peter Chaadaev: between the love of fatherland and the love of truth

This is the next Krakow conference on Russian philosophy. In 2015 we dealt with the links between Post-Secularism and Russian religious philosophy, previous editions have focused on the relation of Christianity and culture, the reception of Russian thought in Europe, Russian symbolism and other topics. Each year our conference brings together many scholars from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Spain, and other countries. Selected papers presented at the conference will be published in a book in English.

Peter Chaadaev, one of the first Russian religious thinkers, wrote in his Apologia of a Madman: “I have not learned to love my fatherland with my eyes closed, forehead bowed, mouth closed. I find that one can be useful to one’s country only on the condition that one sees things clearly; I believe that the times of blind loves are over, that fanaticisms of any kind are no longer in season, that now we first of all owe the fatherland the truth”. These words seem to be of particular importance nowadays and not only in Russia, but in countries around the world. We are going to study Chaadaev’s personality and works and investigate the relation between the love of fatherland and the love of truth, analyzing the links between philosophy, theology and nationality, and tracing the tensions between the universal and the particular in Russian thought. After all, as Chaadaev subsequently wrote, “we are called upon to resolve most of the problems in the social order, to accomplish most of the ideas which arose in the old societies, to make a pronouncement about those very grave questions which preoccupy humanity.”

Talks and discussion will be held in either English or Russian.


PUBLICATION
Unlike previous years we are not going to publish all of the presented papers. After the conference, selected participants will be asked to prepare chapters for one edited volume in English. The requested papers will be reviewed and may not be accepted for publication. Please send the paper only after the explicit request of the organizers.

Please complete the Application Form available here before January 15, 2016. You will be asked for personal data and information about your proposed talk, including an extended English summary with bibliography. No submission will be accepted after that date. By February 15, 2016 they will announce the final list of accepted applications.
It is also possible to take part in the Conference without giving a talk. In such cases the Application Form will be accepted until May 15, 2016.

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Academic Board: Prof. Sr Teresa Obolevitch (Krakow), Prof. Artur Mrówczyński-Van Allen (Granada), Dr Paweł Rojek (Krakow), Conference Secretary: Mrs Olga Tabatadze (Granada).
 
Venue: Benedictine Abbey in Tyniec, ul. Benedyktynska 37, 30-398 Krakow, Poland

Mrs Olga Tabatadze
Secretary of the Conference, International Center for the Study of the Christian Orient (ICSCO), Granada, Spain

e-mail: krakovskievstrechi@gmail.com