Beyond Function

The French existentialist Gabriel Marcel once diagnosed the defining problem of modernity as the “misplacement of the idea of function.” In his famous essay “On the Ontological Mystery,” he describes modern society as essentially empty because it increasingly understands both the world and the person in terms of utility, efficiency, productivity, quantifiable performance, and similar measures. In such a climate, the human person is easily reduced to a collection of functions rather than recognized as a unique and irreducible self. Marcel’s critical analysis of the modern condition—as well as those of early existentialists such as Martin Buber, Karl Jaspers, Martin Heidegger, and Søren Kierkegaard—raised serious concerns and broader philosophical questions that continue to confront us today, nearly a century later. How do contemporary social, technological, political, and economic structures shape our self-understanding? Do they promote authentic selfhood, or do they encourage forms of alienation that obscure what it means to be human? Do they encourage objectified relationships that reduce others to I–It relations? Do they promote forms of self-objectification that contribute to mental health issues?

This conference invites students and scholars to explore questions bearing on the relationship between the self and the modern world. We seek philosophical reflection on the nature of selfhood and the ways in which contemporary realities influence our understanding of personal identity, agency, freedom, community, and what it means to live “the good life.” We are particularly interested in papers that examine how modern technological, scientific, philosophical, social, political, or religious developments contribute to—or challenge—our understanding of the self and the conditions of a good, meaningful, and fulfilling human life. Deeper philosophical reflection on the self enables us to reconsider or re-envision not only who we are, but also the kinds of conditions necessary for genuine human flourishing. We welcome papers that creatively engage these questions from historical or contemporary perspectives, or that draw upon interdisciplinary approaches to illuminate the nature of the self in the modern world.