Cave Hill Philosophy Symposium (CHiPS) 2021 Conversations XV: Language – Uses and Misuses

Overview

June 16-18, 2021
(Postponed from April 22 - 24, 2020)


As has been evident worldwide in recent years, language, in its multifarious uses, both aids and inhibits our interactions with each other in a variety of spheres. Embedded and embodied in the language we use are particular world-views and normative stances. But to what extent are these positions shaped by the language, or shape language itself? What role does the language we use play in developing our cognitive and other psychological capacities, modulating action and contributing to our views of the world we live in? What are the implications for recognising non-dominant languages and regional variations of languages? In this era of the proliferation of voices via social media and other multimedia tools, does language have an even more significant role in shaping political and ethical stances and decisions? If yes, does this imply the need for extending censorship?

The 15th Cave Hill Philosophy Symposium aims to explore such questions, by generally considering language in all its guises. We are interested in papers that consider the ethical, political, and social dimensions of language use, but we are also interested in considering what, if anything, we can still learn philosophically from attending to language. In keeping with the spirit of our conversations, we hope to bring together thinkers operating in and across different philosophical, political, and cultural traditions as well as other disciplines that share a boundary with philosophy.

CHiPS XV was originally planned for April 22 - 24, 2020 but was shifted due the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

Keynote Speaker

Keynote speaker:  Professor Jennifer Saul (University of Waterloo).

Jenny Saul is Professor of Social and Political Philosophy of Language at the University of Waterloo, Canada. Before that, she was Professor of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield, where she worked for 24 years. Originally American, she has found her research recently dominated by trying to understand some of the linguistic mechanisms at work in the rise of the far right, especially in the US and the UK. She has published a number of papers on this topic. Jenny has also published several books: Feminism: Issues and Arguments (Oxford University Press 2003); Substitution, Simple Sentences, and Intuitions (Oxford University Press 2007); Lying, Misleading, and What is Said: An Exploration in Philosophy of Language and in Ethics (Oxford University Press 2012); and two volumes co-edited with Michael Brownstein: Implicit Bias and Philosophy Volumes I and II (Oxford University Press 2016).  Jenny has also done a lot of work on improving conditions for women in philosophy, founding the blogs Feminist Philosophers and What is it Like to be a Woman in Philosophy, and directing the Society for Women in Philosophy UK 2009-2019.  She co-authored the BPA/SWIP Good Practice Scheme for Women in Philosophy, with Helen Beebee. Jenny's proudest accomplishment is having served as philosophical consultant on a zombie movie script.

Abstracts

Past Issues

• 2021 Conference
• 2019 Conference
• 2018 Conference
• 2017 Conference
• 2015 Conference
• 2014 Conference
• 2013 Conference
• 2012 Conference
• 2011 Conference