Call for papers
OPEN CALL FOR PAPERS for the “TEMA” section: CFP Vol. XV, No. 1, 2027
«Jean Wahl Vivant»
edited by Roberto Formisano, Grégori Jean e Mattia Zancanaro
Jean Wahl was a distinctive and influential figure in twentieth-century philosophy. His work played a significant role in the development of modern French thought, both through his extensive engagement with authors such as Hegel, Kierkegaard, William James, and Whitehead, and through his contributions to the introduction of Anglo-American philosophy in France.
More than a mediator between traditions, Wahl developed an independent philosophical approach centred on existence, relation, feeling, experience, and our encounter with reality. His work articulates an open form of empiricism, shaped by phenomenological, theological, literary, and pragmatic concerns.
This approach, which crosses traditional conceptual boundaries (idealism/realism, empiricism/rationalism, immanence/transcendence), remains of interest today. It offers useful resources for discussions in contemporary philosophy, including debates on realism, developments in phenomenology, renewed attention to experience, and the relation between literature and thought.
Despite the increasing scholarly interest of recent years, Wahl’s legacy remains largely underexplored, both in its theoretical dimension and in its historiographical and institutional significance. There is a need for work examining his direct and indirect influence on post-war French philosophy, as well as comparative studies involving thinkers with whom he shares conceptual affinities, even when he did not address them systematically.
The 2027 thematic issue (no. 1) of the Journal i Castelli di Yale online aims to encourage new research on Wahl’s work and legacy. We invite contributions from specialists in Wahl’s philosophy and from scholars of contemporary French thought more broadly. Submissions may examine specific aspects of Wahl’s work, reassess his legacy, or consider his presence—explicit or implicit—in later philosophical developments.
Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
- Wahl’s original philosophy: metaphysics, philosophy of existence, phenomenology, empiricism, theory of feeling, experience, and relation.
- Wahl as historian of philosophy and theorist of the history of thought: methods, criteria, hermeneutic approaches to philosophical traditions.
- Wahl as reader and interpreter: Descartes, Hegel, Kierkegaard, James, Whitehead, Heidegger, and others.
- Wahl and twentieth-century French philosophy: Marcel, Jankelevich, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Deleuze, Levinas, and further interlocutors.
- Wahl and major philosophical movements of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: German idealism, existentialism, phenomenology, pragmatism, spiritualism, Bergsonism.
- Wahl and literature: the role of poetry, imagery, and artistic expression in experience.
- Wahl as reader of poets and writers: Blake, Rilke, Lawrence, Valéry, Claudel, among others.
- Comparative or transversal approaches: possible dialogues between Wahl and authors not systematically treated by him (e.g. Leibniz, Schelling, Nietzsche, Wittgenstein).
- The reception of Wahl and his contribution to the formation of contemporary French philosophy.
- The contemporary relevance of Wahl’s work in relation to current debates on realism, empiricism, phenomenology, and the philosophy of experience.
Contributions (maximum 45,000 characters including spaces) must be submitted anonymously via the OJS platform by 31 May 2026 to the "Sezione Tema". Proposals must include an abstract (maximum 1000 characters, including spaces), 5 keywords in English. In addition to English, the following languages will be accepted for submissions Italian, French. All papers will be peer-reviewed in a double-blind process.
For further references you can find the extended version of the CFP at the link below:
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OPEN CALL FOR PAPERS for the “TEMA” section: CFP Vol. XV, No. 2, 2027
British Idealism: History, Theory, and Practice
edited by Giulio M. Cavalli
For much of the twentieth century, British idealism was largely confined to the “foundational myth” of analytic philosophy, treated as little more than the obsolete backdrop against which Russell and Moore staged their philosophical revolt. Beginning in the 1980s, however, a broader historiographical reassessment of the origins of analytic philosophy prompted scholars to approach the British idealists with renewed historical and philosophical seriousness. This shift widened the scope of inquiry beyond those figures most directly implicated in the emergence of analytic philosophy (most notably Bradley, but also Green, McTaggart, and Collingwood), enabling a more differentiated understanding of the movement’s internal plurality.
After three decades of substantial scholarly recovery – culminating in W. J. Mander’s British Idealism: A History (2011) – research on British idealism has reached a new phase. While important work continues to appear, there remains a need for studies that move beyond established narratives and reopen fundamental philosophical and historiographical questions. In particular, British idealism still risks being interpreted through a limited set of canonical reference points and well-worn contrasts.
Much therefore remains to be done to free the study of British idealism from lingering historiographical simplifications. The traditional focus on Kant, Hegel, and the British empiricist tradition, for example, has often overshadowed the significant roles played by figures such as Plato, Aristotle, Spinoza, Leibniz, Herbart, and Lotze, among others. At the same time, it is essential to move beyond a purely antiquarian or commemorative approach by demonstrating the continuing philosophical relevance of British idealist theories, concepts, and argumentative strategies.
This Special Issue aims to provide a forum for innovative research that reinterprets British idealism by combining careful historical contextualization with sustained philosophical analysis. We particularly welcome contributions that challenge standard narratives, reassess neglected sources and themes, and highlight the movement’s originality in both theoretical and practical philosophy.
We invite submissions addressing (but not limited to) the following areas:
1) History of Philosophy
a) Influences: Studies of underexplored sources (e.g. ancient philosophy, Spinoza, Leibniz, Fichte, Schelling, Herbart, Lotze) or innovative reappraisals of more familiar interlocutors (e.g. Kant, Hegel, British empiricism).
b) Historiography: Analyses of British idealists as historians of philosophy, with particular attention to their methodological assumptions, narrative strategies, and interpretations of the philosophical tradition.
c) Reception and Transnational Contexts: Investigations of the reception and transformation of British idealism in less-studied philosophical contexts and traditions, including (but not limited to) Italian and French philosophy.
2) Theoretical Philosophy: Critical or comparative reassessments of British idealist contributions to epistemology, logic, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, and metaphilosophy, including studies that bring these positions into dialogue with contemporary debates.
3) Practical Philosophy: Critical or comparative studies of British idealist approaches to aesthetics, ethics, social and political philosophy, philosophy of history, and related areas, with particular attention to their conceptual innovations and potential present-day relevance.
Contributions (maximum 45,000 characters including spaces) must be submitted anonymously via the OJS platform by 31 March 2027 to the "Sezione Tema". Proposals must include an abstract (maximum 1000 characters, including spaces), 5 keywords in English. All submissions must be written in English.
For further references you can find the extended version of the CFP at the link below:
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PERMANENT CALL FOR PAPERS for the “ESSAYS AND STUDIES” section
The section 'SAGGI E STUDI' of i Castelli di Yale • online welcomes contributions, articles and unpublished works dealing with philosophy, independently of the thematic section that characterises each issue of the journal. Proposals may be submitted to the editorial board at any time, regardless of the deadlines related to the thematic Call for Papers.
Contributions (maximum 60,000 characters including spaces) must be submitted anonymously via the OJS platform to the "Saggi e studi". Proposals must include an abstract (maximum 1000 characters, including spaces), 5 keywords in English. In addition to English, the following languages will be accepted for submissions Italian, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese . All papers will be peer-reviewed in a double-blind process.
