Call for papers
Questions of life and death have become central to contemporary philosophical inquiry, as inherited distinctions between the living and the nonliving, the human and the nonhuman, and the natural and the artificial continue to be steadily and increasingly contested. At the same time, rapid advances in artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and digital infrastructures, are swiftly challenging our established understandings of embodiment, agency, mortality, and care. Together, these transformations invite sustained philosophical reflection on how life and death are experienced, governed, represented, and contested in contemporary contexts.
Engaging the Contemporary is a yearly conference organised and hosted by the University of Malta’s Philosophy Department. The aim of the conference is to foster international and multidisciplinary dialogue among researchers working in philosophy and related fields. For the 2026 edition, we invite contributions that critically engage contemporary experiences of life and death, with special focus on its phenomenological, ethical, political, existential, technological, and ecological dimensions. The themes for this year’s edition include, but are not limited to, the following:
Ecology, Extinction, and Planetary Vulnerability
The Phenomenology of Life and Death
The Politics of Life and Death
Technology and the Future of the Human
Cultural Representations of Life and Death
Interested participants are invited to submit a 300 word abstract and a 100 word bionote through the online form below by 1 May 2026.
Decisions will be communicated by 31 May 2026.
Presentations are to be in English and should not exceed 20 minutes. Online participation is not available.
