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Call for Papers (Synthese Special Issue): "Humeanisms"

Guest Editors:
Tamás Demeter (Hungarian Academy of Sciences),
László Kocsis (University of Pécs),
Iulian D. Toader (University of Salzburg)

It would be difficult to overestimate the influence of Hume’s thought on contemporary philosophy. Just consider the doctrine of Humean Supervenience, which is widely discussed, defended and criticized in connection with many metaphysical topics such as the nature of laws, causation, reduction of the mental, counterfactual conditionals, existence of chance in the physical world, among others. Humeanism is popular in practical philosophy as well, since many contemporary moral philosophers share the plausible but not uncontroversial Humean view that we cannot give a satisfactory account of our actions just in terms of beliefs: reason alone is impotent to produce actions; our desires also have substantial motivational force.  

This special issue seeks answers to questions about various forms of Humeanisms. Although Humeanism is a well-known philosophical view, the conditions for labeling a position Humean are not always clear. One might say that Humeans are those who take themselves as modern adherents to Hume’s philosophy – but under what interpretation? Vice versa, in the light of contemporary Humeanisms, how can we answer the question whether Hume, himself, was a Humean? Can anyone elaborate contemporary Humeanism as a unified, all-purpose strategy for approaching philosophical problems?

The special issue calls for contributions discussing (a) Humean strategies in metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of science, philosophy of action or phenomenology, and (b) theories in these areas that engage critically and constructively with Hume’s own philosophy. Contributions must be original and must not beunder review elsewhere. Each submission should include a separate title page containing the contact details for the author(s), a brief abstract (150-200 words) and list of 4-6 keywords. All papers will be subject to double-blind peer-review.

Manuscripts should be submitted online through the Synthese Editorial Manager: https://www.editorialmanager.com/synt Please choose the appropriate article type for your submission by selecting “S.I.: Humeanisms” from the relevant drop-down menu.

For further details on how to prepare the manuscripts, please follow the author guidelines “Instructions for Authors” available on the journal’s website:

https://www.springer.com/philosophy/epistemology+and+philosophy+of+science/journal/11229?detailsPage=editorialBoard

The deadline for submissions is September 30th, 2019.

For further information, please contact the guest editors:

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