PROGRAMME
ABOUT
Ontology and History:
A Challenging and Auspicious Dialogue for Philosophy and Theology
International Conference at the European Cultural Centre of Delphi
29-31 May 2015
A Conference Dedicated to the Memory of Fr. Matthew Baker
As many of us eagerly anticipated the plenary sessions at the “Ontology and History” conference, there was also excitement about meeting a most promising scholar and brilliant theologian, whose reputation preceded him even among our (European) circles: Fr. Matthew Baker.
Already before completing his PhD, Fr. Baker had established a reputation for having a profound breadth and depth of knowledge in theology, philosophy, and literature. He has published a number of articles on T.F. Torrance and Georges Florovksy, and his work on hermeneutics has even excited Metropolitan John Zizioulas. In a recent announcement Zizioulas said, “Matthew Baker sometimes somehow enters into the deepest of my intentions … Most of the other people just don’t.”
Tragically, at the age of 37, Fr. Baker was killed in a car accident on March 1st as he travelled home from celebrating evening prayer at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Norwich, Connecticut. His most untimely death has come as a source of great sorrow to us. In honour of Fr. Matthew Baker, we would like to dedicate this conference to the celebration of his memory and call for further engagement with his scholarly and theological contributions.
This conference will attempt to explore the relationship between ontology and history in the context of both philosophical enquiry and Christian theology. Ontology is the study of being qua being, a field that is typically viewed as distinguishable from––if not also antithetical to––history. However, while the study of being (insofar as it exists) and history may seem unrelated, there is either an explicit or implicit interaction between the two in a number of philosophical traditions; when not explicitly articulated, this implicit interaction emerges as a philosophical problem. And while this is particularly true for various forms of philosophical idealism (e.g. German idealism) and the historicisation of idealism, it emerges as a core problem in the context of Christian theology and its eschatological promise. If the true state of being and beings resides in an eschatological future, not in the present or a distant past (as masterfully expounded by Maximus the Confessor), and if this true state of being and beings is yet to be witnessed, then temporality in general and history in particular become a vital part of ontology proper. This bears immense implications for the philosophical enquiry into ecclesial witness.
Apart from this, a reoccurring challenge within Christianity concerns how we are to make past events present. Rudolf Bultmann tried to make sense of this by elevating word over event. In so doing he formulated an ‘existentialised’ eschatology in which the focus is on the immediate.
In current biblical studies there is strong emphasis on making sense of the Resurrection through history, and history is given priority over confession. As a result the ecumenical creeds are denigrated and metaphysical clarification risks being perceived as anti-biblical. In both Catholicism and Orthodoxy there are various construals of anamnesis in which the historical event is made present as a kingdom event through the liturgical experience of the Eucharist. In line with the desire to understand the relationship of the ‘once’ and the ‘always’, there is the challenge of making sense of the particular and the universal. Karl Rahner conflates them: the particular is the universal. Or stepping back in time with Origen, there is the temptation to universalise the particular with salvation. How best can one reconcile the continuity of salvation history and the radical (interruptive) newness of Christ? Political theology, which grew out of a particular account of eschatology, raises the joint concern of how our social histories are legitimated by moral and theological insights about the nature and destiny of the human person. Clearly, the relationship between ontology and history has immense wide-ranging philosophical and theological implications.
Organised by:
Dr Sotiris Mitralexis (Freie Universität Berlin)
Dr Andrew TJ Kaethler (University of St Andrews)
Andrew TJ Kaethler (University of St Andrews)
CALL FOR PAPERS
We welcome short paper proposals (presentation duration: 20 minutes) on all areas addressed in the conference's general description and/or in the thematic workshops' abstracts. Prospective participants can EITHER submit an abstract for a short paper addressing a subject pertaining to the general theme of the conference for a non-thematic session OR submit an abstract for a short paper to be included in one of the following thematic workshops/panels. If your paper is aimed at a specific workshop, please do indicate the workshop's title after your abstract. Each participant can present only one short paper, be it in a workshop panel or in a non-thematic panel.
All papers must be presented in English. Please send us the title and a short abstract of your paper (200-250 words) in English, along with a short CV, via e-mail to ontologyandhistory [.at.] gmail.com. The deadline for abstract submissions is Sunday, 15 February 2015. You will be informed concerning the acceptance of your paper on Wednesday, February 18 2015, and you will be asked to submit the registration fee via bank transfer or PayPal.
The full registration fee is 200€ and the student registration fee is 120€. (Concerning accommodation, the full registration fee covers single hotel accommodation, whereas the student fee covers shared accommodation with another student in a twin room. Should a student prefer single accommodation, he or she would have to submit the full fee). Upon registering, please send us your (1) full name with title, (2) institutional affiliation, (3) e-mail, (4) cellphone number and (5) postal address to ontologyandhistory [.at.] gmail.com with the subject “Registration” by no later than Sunday, 22 February 2015. Subsequently, you will be provided with information concerning the bank transfer of the registration fee. In case of cancellation of participation, the participant's registration fee will not be refunded.
The registration fee covers registration, hotel accommodation in Delphi for two nights (29-31 May 2015), one dinner (29 May) and one lunch (30 May), bus transport to and from Athens, the coffee breaks throughout the conference, as well as conference material.