Call For CommentatorS
The Society for Philosophy of Emotion (SPE) will be hosting a book symposium for Dr. Michelle Maiese and Dr. Robert Hanna's new book, The Mind-Body Politic, during the 2022 Central American Philosophical Association (APA) conference, and we are looking for commentators who are interested in engaging in a critical discussion of The Mind-Body Politic, with the aim of moving the discourse on relevant topics that are highlighted by their book forward. Please continue reading below for further details on The Mind-Body Politic, Dr. Maiese and Dr. Hanna, and the requirements and responsibilities for participating as a commentator. If you are be interested in being a commentator, please email me (Cecilea Mun, submissions.jpe@gmail.com), informing me of your interest, along with a copy of your CV, by March 20, 2021. I will contact those who expressed their interest by March 27, 2021, with the decision regarding their expressed interest and any further details. We encourage a diversity of scholars of all ranks who are interested in participating as a commentator to respond to this CFP, provided that they are willing and able to commit to fulfilling the expectations of our double-anonymous peer review process. Commentators will also be selected not only based in their qualifications, but also based on considerations for the value of diversity and inclusiveness.
ABSTRACT
Political philosophy of mind integrates work in philosophy of mind and emancipatory political theory. On the philosophy of mind side, The Mind-Body Politic draws from existing research on the essential embodiment theory and enactivism, together with work from Jan Slaby, John Dewey, Pierre Bourdieu, and J.J. Gibson. On the emancipatory political theory side, it draws from the work of Kant, Schiller, Frankfurt, and Foucault. The authors begin with the claims that human minds are necessarily and completely embodied, enactive, social, and environmentally embedded. Their central thesis is that social institutions partially determine and shape our essentially embodied minds, and thereby fundamentally affect our lives. To illustrate and support this thesis, they examine social institutions in contemporary neoliberal societies, specifically higher education and mental health practice. Although these social institutions shape our essentially embodied minds in a destructive way, it is possible to create social institutions that are more constructive and liberating. According to the authors’ proposed enactive-transformative principle, enacting salient changes in the structure and complex dynamics of a social institution produces corresponding salient changes in the structure and complex dynamics of the essentially embodied minds of the participants.
Political philosophy of mind integrates work in philosophy of mind and emancipatory political theory. On the philosophy of mind side, The Mind-Body Politic draws from existing research on the essential embodiment theory and enactivism, together with work from Jan Slaby, John Dewey, Pierre Bourdieu, and J.J. Gibson. On the emancipatory political theory side, it draws from the work of Kant, Schiller, Frankfurt, and Foucault. The authors begin with the claims that human minds are necessarily and completely embodied, enactive, social, and environmentally embedded. Their central thesis is that social institutions partially determine and shape our essentially embodied minds, and thereby fundamentally affect our lives. To illustrate and support this thesis, they examine social institutions in contemporary neoliberal societies, specifically higher education and mental health practice. Although these social institutions shape our essentially embodied minds in a destructive way, it is possible to create social institutions that are more constructive and liberating. According to the authors’ proposed enactive-transformative principle, enacting salient changes in the structure and complex dynamics of a social institution produces corresponding salient changes in the structure and complex dynamics of the essentially embodied minds of the participants.
Michelle Maiese is professor of philosophy at Emmanuel College in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. She is the author of Embodiment, Emotion, and Cognition (2011), Embodied Selves and Embodied Minds (2015), and many articles on topics in philosophy of mind and psychiatry.
Robert Hanna is an independent philosopher who has held research or teaching positions at universities in Brazil, Canada, Luxembourg, the UK, and the USA. He is a philosophical generalist and the author or co-author of eleven books, including Rationality and Logic (2006), Embodied Minds in Action (co-authored with Michelle Maiese, 2009) and the five-volume book series, The Rational Human Condition (2015-2018).
Robert Hanna is an independent philosopher who has held research or teaching positions at universities in Brazil, Canada, Luxembourg, the UK, and the USA. He is a philosophical generalist and the author or co-author of eleven books, including Rationality and Logic (2006), Embodied Minds in Action (co-authored with Michelle Maiese, 2009) and the five-volume book series, The Rational Human Condition (2015-2018).
PARTICIPATION DETAILS
Each commentator will receive a free copy of The Mind-Body Politic, and your participation as a commentator would include a 20 minute critical commentary on The Mind-Body Politic, and a response to your commentary by Dr. Maiese and Dr. Hanna. After the book symposium is presented at the 2022 Central APA, I will contact all of the participants to finalize details about submitting revised comments for double-anonymous peer review by at least two referees and subsequent publication, contingent on the peer review process, in the Journal of Philosophy of Emotion (JPE). The revisions requested will primarily entail making sure that what is submitted is made to be suitable for publication in the JPE, including adhering to the JPE style guidelines. Please refer to the book symposiums published in the JPE for examples.
If you agree to be a commentator, we ask that you provide a critical commentary from the perspective of your area of expertise, and that your commentary helps contribute to furthering a relevant topic of concern that is brought out in The Mind-Body Politic. Your commentary should be approximately 3,000 words in length, and we will leave the length of the author’s response up to Dr. Maiese and Dr. Hanna to decide. We ask that you have your comments to Dr. Maiese and Dr. Hanna, and me, who will be organizing the book symposium, at least two months before the date of the book symposium. Please also note that the word limit is a guideline, and one of the most important factors to ensure that the book symposium passes the peer-review process is the clarity and accuracy of its contents. Please read about our double-anonymous peer review process for more details.
Furthermore, please note that in order to participate as a commentator, you would also have to become a member of the SPE by the time of the book symposium at the APA conference, and to make sure to register for the 2022 Central APA conference; yet your SPE membership will also include a manuscript submission fee waiver from the JPE, which you would be able to use when submitting your commentary for peer review and possible publication. Please note that the JPE is an independently published, open access journal and SPE membership fees and JPE manuscript submission fees all go toward paying for operating costs and providing need based subventions to facilitate diverse and inclusive participation. Our completely transparent Financial Report is also made available for your review.
Finally, the SPE will reserve seats at a local restaurant for a group dinner for some time during the 2022 Central APA conference. I will let everyone know when I start planning for this social event, and I would ask that you please RSVP with me in order to ensure the proper coordination of our plans. Please also contact me regarding any dietary restriction, and please note that all participants will be responsible for their own bill.
Each commentator will receive a free copy of The Mind-Body Politic, and your participation as a commentator would include a 20 minute critical commentary on The Mind-Body Politic, and a response to your commentary by Dr. Maiese and Dr. Hanna. After the book symposium is presented at the 2022 Central APA, I will contact all of the participants to finalize details about submitting revised comments for double-anonymous peer review by at least two referees and subsequent publication, contingent on the peer review process, in the Journal of Philosophy of Emotion (JPE). The revisions requested will primarily entail making sure that what is submitted is made to be suitable for publication in the JPE, including adhering to the JPE style guidelines. Please refer to the book symposiums published in the JPE for examples.
If you agree to be a commentator, we ask that you provide a critical commentary from the perspective of your area of expertise, and that your commentary helps contribute to furthering a relevant topic of concern that is brought out in The Mind-Body Politic. Your commentary should be approximately 3,000 words in length, and we will leave the length of the author’s response up to Dr. Maiese and Dr. Hanna to decide. We ask that you have your comments to Dr. Maiese and Dr. Hanna, and me, who will be organizing the book symposium, at least two months before the date of the book symposium. Please also note that the word limit is a guideline, and one of the most important factors to ensure that the book symposium passes the peer-review process is the clarity and accuracy of its contents. Please read about our double-anonymous peer review process for more details.
Furthermore, please note that in order to participate as a commentator, you would also have to become a member of the SPE by the time of the book symposium at the APA conference, and to make sure to register for the 2022 Central APA conference; yet your SPE membership will also include a manuscript submission fee waiver from the JPE, which you would be able to use when submitting your commentary for peer review and possible publication. Please note that the JPE is an independently published, open access journal and SPE membership fees and JPE manuscript submission fees all go toward paying for operating costs and providing need based subventions to facilitate diverse and inclusive participation. Our completely transparent Financial Report is also made available for your review.
Finally, the SPE will reserve seats at a local restaurant for a group dinner for some time during the 2022 Central APA conference. I will let everyone know when I start planning for this social event, and I would ask that you please RSVP with me in order to ensure the proper coordination of our plans. Please also contact me regarding any dietary restriction, and please note that all participants will be responsible for their own bill.