The humanities are often accused of not providing exact knowledge that has practical applications. Therefore, they are often criticized for being about thinking for the sake of thinking'. We agree that the existence of thinking for its own sake would indeed be a largely meaningless affair, having nothing to do with life. However, we are of the opinion that the dynamic nature of human culture and the vicissitudes of history testify to the exact opposite. Is freedom a concept far removed from practice, which is self-enclosed in an abstract sphere, or does it have a concrete meaning, affecting our everyday existence? In what and how does it manifest itself? We regularly deal with things such as positive law and the state, but are these fixed static ideas or do they rather require constant critical revaluation and re-conception? In what ways might we reflect on them? Is the structure and character of the party system a random constellation independent of the type of culture of a particular nation? What are the reasons for agreeing or disagreeing positions? Does art reflect the mood of a society at a particular historical moment, or does it merely serve to entertain an audience? Are environmental crises in any relationship with the paradigm of rationality? How do we find out?

Thinking undoubtedly connects theory and practice—it corrects theory and legitimizes practice. The examples given above represent only a tiny part of the multitude of issues and problems that are inevitably linked to our immediate experience and require a reflective approach to their content. Some notions and attitudes need revision or recontextualization. The usefulness of particular concepts needs to be assessed in terms of the possibilities and risks of their implementation. Evaluating the phenomena of modern society through the application of a particular method or theory may point to consequences in a particular area of human life.

For these reasons, we decided to conceive the 19th edition of the Young Philosophy Conference in the sense of the aphorism “To live is to think.” We want to encourage young scholars to contribute through their work to the development of living thinking, i.e. thinking that is not just thinking for its own sake, but thinking that is constantly evolving and is therefore dynamic. Whether you work in analytic, continental, socio-political philosophy or the history of philosophy, we turn to you. Together, we hope you will contribute to an understanding of the complexity of our individual and social practice.

The application form for the conference along with an abstract of a paper suitable for a 15-minute presentation (100-200 words) should be sent to mlada.filozofia@savba.sk no later than May 1, 2024. Abstracts may be written in Slovak, Czech or English. Abstracts will be reviewed and we will inform you about the results in the beginning of May.