This is fantastic! I’m a huge fan of Terry Pratchett and the Discworld series, not least because of the — usually tongue-in-cheek — philosophical aspects. I’ve read all except the latest title in the series, which I’m looking forward to devouring some time soon. This collection should be a fun read, and it’s certainly much more warranted than many of the other popular philosophy volumes that have been coming out in numbers in recent years. I’ll almost certainly submit something. Strangely, the CFP fails to mention the publisher, but I expect that it’s Wiley-Blackwell, since they’ve got something of a monopoly on these pop philosophy titles.

Call for Abstracts

Terry Pratchett and Philosophy

Edited by Jacob Held and James South

Please circulate and post widely.
Apologies for Cross-posting.

Abstracts and subsequent essays should be philosophically substantial but accessible, written to engage the intelligent lay reader, and the length of final papers should be between 5000-7000 words.

Possible themes and topics might include, but are not limited to, the following:
Death- the Kantian Existentialist, creating meaning in the world; Monstrous Regiment, equity versus equality feminism and gender equality; Vetinari – The rule of law and the nature of power, popular sovereignty; Small Gods- warranted belief, faith and reason, philosophy of religion; XXXX- evolution, functional explanations in biology, teleology and the philosophy of science; Headology- psychology, manipulation, coercion and free choice; Headology- science or magic, the question about the status of psychoanalysis; Truth- as socially constructed, the power of beliefs and practices (Vampires in Carpe Jugulum, Witches and magic); Jingo and Just War Theory; Diversity, Pluralism, Trolls, Golems, and Werewolves; Golems and self-determination; golems and the construction of gender- the case of Moist von Lipwig’s secretary; Ethical relativism versus objectivism- Carrot’s respect for folkways and Vime’s absolutism; The Philosophy of Technology: the case of Ponder Stibbons; The Metaphysics of the Discworld: It’s Turtles all the Way Down; Granny Weatherwax’s “Borrowing” and Mind/Body Dualism; Being in the Right Trouser Leg of Time: The Ethics of the Metaphysics of Time in the Discworld; Rincewind and Moral Luck

Submission Guidelines:
1. Submission deadline for abstracts (100-500 words) and CV’s: August 25, 2012
2. Submission deadline for first drafts of accepted papers February 15, 2013
3. Submission deadline for final drafts accepted papers: April 15, 2013

Kindly submit abstract (with or without Word attachment) and CV by email to: Jacob Held jmheld@uca.edu.