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:
*
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.
