about the seminar

synopsis: The conference aims in comparative reflection—both intercultural and interdisciplinary—over the phenomenon of human body as it has been conceptualized and represented in Western and Eastern cultural traditions. Thus, to debate on why human body matters in terms of philosophy, literature and art we want to juxtapose European and Asian perspectives. Among the crucial issues that are worth considering we will discuss the following aspects of human corporeality:

• bodily and mental integrity of human being
• sensual vs. intellectual perception
• bodily awareness, bodily agency, body & self-control
• embodiment as autonomy vs. determination (embodied mind, embodied spirituality, embodied passion, etc.)
• feeling and felt body, body as a source of pain or pleasure
• other person’s body and bodily intimacy
• disable or dislocated body, bodily sickness & healing
• bodily limits, body schema, transgressing body borders (social, moral and epistemic uncertainties & dilemmas)
• body as a challenge for bioethics, body modifications, the sense of ownership of one’s own body
• normative vs. non-conventional perspectives on body
• body image, imagined beauty or ugliness of body, male & female bodies, bodily attractiveness (depicted in literature & art, or practised in sport, fashion, etc.)

deadlines:

• 30.04.2014 - submission of a draft paper (or the paper summary, c. 1000 words)
• 30.09.2014 - submission of the paper (edited version)