Turns and Revolutions

Turns and Revolutions
12-14/02/2025, Venice

Congress Programme Panels Team Contacts

Congress
7th International PhD Congress
Ca' Foscari University of Venice - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne

Turns and revolutions are as much historical phenomena as they are categories that humans have reflected on throughout their history.

As historical phenomena, turns and revolutions have either ushered new directions in the emergence and development of disciplines and approaches, or have been rhetorically designated as such.
As constructs to reflect upon or manifestos to vindicate, turns and revolutions have marked philosophical thought as well as that of the newborn educational sciences in the last few centuries.

In this vein, the 7th International Doctoral Conference in Philosophy and Education Sciences aims to explore, from a wide array of perspectives, the various epistemic, ontological, social, technological, and cultural turns and revolutions that have either occurred or been proclaimed in history.

The main objective of this conference is to open up a debate, encouraging different disciplinary approaches and historiographical discussions on the subject. For this very reason, the structure of the conference has been articulated into four different panels, each aimed at fostering debates and so representing a common ground for interdisciplinary exchange.
To this regard, we propose to explore the notions of turn and revolution in the fields of Education Sciences, History of Science, History of Philosophy, Philosophy of History, Political Philosophy, as well as in contemporary philosophical debates.

Programme

file pdf Congress programme 12-14/02/2025 846 KB
When

12-14 February 2025

Venue

Ca’ Foscari (Aula Mario Baratto), Dorsoduro 3246, Venice, Italy

Keynote speakers

Hans Johann Glock

Hans Johann Glock

Christoph Lüthy

Christoph Lüthy

Donatella Giovanna Persico

Donatella Giovanna Persico

Judith Revel

Judith Revel

Previous editions

file pdf 21-23/02/2024 - "Venice Issues - On Matter" 736 KB
file pdf 1-3/03/2023 - "Environmental Issues" [ITA] 568 KB

Panels

file pdf Call for applications
Abstracts are due by 31/10/2024. For any inquiry, please do not hesitate to contact the Organising Committee at: ve.issues@gmail.com. 		150 KB

This panel will host discussions on turns and revolutions in the history of science.

We welcome contributions reflecting on continuities, discontinuities, and changes in scientific thought. A paradigmatic example is what is commonly known in historiography as the Scientific Revolution. In recent decades, this category has been heavily scrutinized concerning its chronology, the disciplines involved, the actors and institutions engaged, and the effectiveness of the metaphor of ‘revolution’. Additionally, this period is canonically associated with a process, also debated by scholars, of emancipation of Natural Philosophy from Metaphysics. We are interested in contributions addressing this controversial label from these multiple viewpoints.

Moreover, we are interested in analogous cases concerning every scientific discipline and in various historical and social contexts. Specifically, we welcome contributions discussing the emergence of scientific disciplines as autonomous fields of research in relation to philosophy (e.g., chemistry, biology, psychology). We encourage contributions examining the relationship between scientific innovation and pre-existing traditions in all their complexity. Contributions considering the role of the reception and translation of ancient and medieval works in scientific change and/or discussing the specificities of pre-modern sciences concerning the issue of turns are also welcome.

Furthermore, we encourage discussions on turning points and revolutions in science from different perspectives and methodologies. These can encompass analyses beyond prevailing or competing theories and major figures, to include the wider intellectual, social, political, and religious contexts and impacts of these changes.

Topics of interest

  • Change in Scientific Thought: contributions reflecting from a methodological perspective on how to conceptualize scientific change throughout history.
  • Was there a Scientific Revolution?: contributions critically examining, rehabilitating, or rethinking this historiographical category and other related labels (e.g., mechanical philosophy, mathematization of nature, experimentalism).
  • Emancipation of Natural Philosophy from Metaphysics: contributions that either support or critically examine this process, including both global perspectives and specific case studies.
  • Old and New Science: contributions dedicated to the relationship between so-called ‘modern science’ and earlier scientific knowledge, focusing on their continuities and discontinuities.
  • Scientific Change and Society: contributions that investigate the role of social, political, and religious factors in driving and shaping changes.

This panel will host contributions on turns and revolutions in contemporary philosophy from a theoretical point of view.

Following the most widespread use in literature of the term ‘turn’, we invite contributions focused on the philosophical revolutions that led to a paradigm-shift in contemporary philosophy (e. g., whether it is legitimate to speak of a philosophical break causing the separation between analytic and continental philosophy, the linguistic and the metaphysical turn in analytical philosophy, the birth and development of the phenomenological method, the overcoming of metaphysics, the neo-Parmenidean turn etc.) as well as on the change of thought that has taken place within an individual author's development (e. g., the first-second Wittgenstein’s problem, the shift from psychologism to the discovery of phenomenology in Husserl, “die Kehre” in Heidegger etc.).

Beyond this meaningful use of ‘turn’, this notion is problematic. The deployment of this concept in a general and sometimes ideological manner carries the risk of generating narratives that fail to respect the continuity and complexity of thought. Therefore, we invite you to propose contributions that thematise and problematise the notion of turn as such, considering possibly concrete problematic examples in contemporary philosophy.

Moreover, the ‘turns’ bring to light significant theoretical issues of hermeneutic, epistemological, and metaphilosophical order. Following this theoretical approach, we would like to invite you to discuss issues like the commensurability or incommensurability between an old and a new paradigm of thought and the problems of translation, the role to assign to rationality and that to assign to persuasion when a new way of thinking encounters an old one, the search for a different perspective as an essential part of philosophical activity etc.

Topics of interest

  • The Concept of “Turn”: considering the notion of “turn” itself related to a direction that precedes and follows turning points; applying the category of “turn” both to the speculative path of a single author (e. g. Heidegger’s famous ontological turn) and to a specific historical period (e. g. epistemological turn, or neoparmenidean turn in the Italian philosophy)
  • Metaphilosophy and Epistemological Enquiry: interpreting the practice of thinking as turn; considering the epistemological status of philosophy necessarily linked to the concept of turn; philosophical theory and practice between continuity and revolution.
  • Linguistic and Metaphysical Turns in Analytic philosophy: Historical or theoretical aspects of the methodological change developed in philosophy from the thought of Gottlob Frege to the present day; the revival of metaphysics in analytic philosophy since Quine; current developments and problems in philosophy of language, logic and metaphysics.

In this panel we host contributions addressing the topic of revolutions and turns operating in the political and historical dimensions of philosophy, deepening on the disruptive effects of such phenomena on and from political perspectives and methodologies.

For this reason, this panel welcomes contributions which deal with approaches such as: Philosophy of History, History of Philosophy and Political Philosophy.

This panel aims at clarifying the significance of turns and revolutions within the philosophy of History, through a historical-philosophical approach that focuses on the modern origins of these categories up to contemporary times.

In fact, starting from the XVIIIth century, and closely intertwined with the emergence of reflections on History, categories as “revolution” or “turns” have been re-sematised acquiring a political meaning centered on human action, also as a result of the emergence of Anthropology.

We welcome contributions which reflect on the meaning, sense and structure of human (and non-human) historical unfolding, and its relation to breaks and discontinuities (or their absence) that produce political effects during modern and contemporary ages as a result of the impact of human action on the philosophical thought.

From the Political Philosophy point of view, we welcome reflections which interrogate how several politically challenging approaches (e.g. feminism, postcolonial studies, etc.) contributed to the evolution of the general philosophical discourse; what have been their disruptive effects to the philosophical Western tradition; and in what sense these have contributed to turning points within the canonical debates. 

Topics of interest

  • Feminist “Waves” and Turns: changes and ruptures within the history of feminist thought and waves; impact and political concerns of critical feminist methodologies in (and beyond) the philosophical Western tradition.
  • Postcolonial Studies and Decolonial Approach: impact of postcolonial studies and decolonial approaches on philosophical methodology; processes of rethinking/questioning the Western philosophical canon.
  • Spatial Turn and Mobility Turn: conceptual breakthrough derived from considering the concepts of “space” and “mobility” as politically relevant elements (e.g. space as social product; dromology; mobility justice, ecc.).
  • Emergence of Anthropology during the Eighteenth Century: reflections on the specificity of human beings and their role (or not) as actors in History; shift from theory to practice (French and American revolutions) based on peculiarities of human beings (e.g. perfectibility, reason, human history and its progress, equality, freedom).
  • Reflections on History and its (Dis)Continuities: contributions that investigate the philosophical role and significance of political revolutions and turns in thinking historical time from modern to contemporary age, as well as meta-reflection on meaning of history and its temporalities.

As education transforms in response to rapid technological advancement and evolving societal needs, it faces critical ethical, social, and professional challenges.

This panel will explore how education systems can adapt to these shifts, prioritizing personal growth, learner agency, and teacher/trainer preparedness. We will discuss how technology can be harnessed to support sustainable, inclusive educational models while addressing the ethical implications of its use.

This panel brings together PhD candidates with different backgrounds to engage in a forward-looking discussion on the future of education.

By examining ethical considerations, technological innovations, and the evolving role of teachers, we aim to identify strategies that will shape a more inclusive, sustainable, and empowering educational landscape for both students and educators.

Topics of interest

  • Innovation and Disruption in Educational Practices: shifts from traditional education to tech-enhanced models; comparison between new practices vs fixed ones.
  • Teacher Training and Professional Development in a Digital World: acquisition of new skills to manage the digital world (LifeComp and DigiComp Frameworks); relationship between professional identity and digital revolution; innovative  approaches for continuous development. 
  • Ethical and Social Challenges in the Evolving Educational Paradigm: criticism of tech-enhanced models; methodologies for using technologies (i.e. AI) to improve critical thinking, communication and collaboration; AI and ethical issues, including privacy, equity and data security; technologies as a support for students with special educational needs; digital divide and practices for inclusion. 
  • New Educational Paradigms: Fostering Personal Growth and Agency: personalized and learner-centered approaches; focus on fostering student agency with technologies and/ or for facing the digital world; development of self-directed skills and self-regulated skills through technologies.

Team
Organising Committee

  • Brigitta Pia Alioto, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice
  • Simone Bresci, Ca' Foscari University of Venice
  • Marco Calzavara, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice
  • Davide Capobianco, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice
  • Sabrina Consolati, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice - Université Paris 1
  • Giovanni Fava, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice
  • Omar Hraoui, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice - Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen
  • Giorgi Kobakhidze, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice - Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès
  • Gabriele Laffranchi, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice
  • Elisa Mozzelin, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice
  • Isacco Zampini, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice