CFA: Democracy and Truth Conference, 5-6 October 2013, in Belgrade, Serbia

CFA: Democracy and Truth Conference, 5-6 October 2013, Belgrade.

The Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, Serbia is organizing an international conference “Democracy and Truth”. The aim of the conference will be to create an interdisciplinary forum for exploring the themes of truth and democracy. Special emphasis will be placed on the interplay of epistemic democracy and deliberative democracy. The conference will take place at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade on 5-6 October 2013.

Keynote speaker: Stephan Hartmann (Ludwig Maximilians-Universität München)

Conference Purpose and Overview:

 Since ancient times truth and democracy have never been getting along very well in politics. For example, Plato adored truth but has never been a democracy fan. Because of their insisting on truth, many modern politicians and political philosophers have often been accused of despotic or totalitarian inclinations. Notwithstanding current popular tendency of avoiding oneself to commit to truth, very recent research in epistemic democracy and deliberative democracy focuses exceedingly on this question. Reassertion of topics such as collective wisdom, standards for correctness in democratic procedures, epistemic proceduralism, recent restoration of Condorcet’s Jury Theorem, etc., indicates a significant increase in theoretical endeavor in this respect. This conference will focus on the relevance of these themes in clarifying and justifying the idea of democracy.

The conference also represents an attempt in gathering prominent international scholars as well as domestic and regional experts who would have something important and interesting to say about the significance of truth in political domain in new democracies in Eastern Europe and Western Balkans. Special attention will be given to the significance of this topic for restabilizing transitional societies in the region.

We welcome submission of abstracts of approximately 200 words. The deadline for receiving submissions is July 20, 2013. Please send abstracts, along with your name and institutional affiliation to: mstupar@f.bg.ac.rs and ivan.mladenovic@f.bg.ac.rs.