Call for papers CRITICAL HERMENEUTICS, vol. 7, n. 2, December 2023

2023-03-27

The thought of P.A. Florensky is a peculiar expression of Russian philosophy and, more generally, of Russian cultural identity; at the same time, it can nevertheless be regarded as a legitimate heir to the cultural tradition that from its powerful Ionian roots unfolds through the peaks and abysses of Western philosophy stricto sensu, up to the ultimate crises of contemporary thought.

Physicist, mathematician, electrical engineer, theologian, epistemologist, semiologist, historian of ideas, art theorist, fine artist, himself, of words and conceptual architectures, Florensky, who was killed in 1937, after long imprisonment in a Gulag on the Solovetsky Islands, embodies not only an incisive synthesis of different scientific disciplines, but also a singular and effective overlapping of cultural terrains – a fertile, luminous borderline between Russia and the West.

In the first two decades of the 20th century, the flowering of Russia’s intense cultural life reverberates in the formation and evolution of Florensky’s thought. The ideas of noble and passionate masters – from the mathematical studies of N.V. Bugaev to the symbolist visions of V.I. Ivanov, from the historical-philosophical analyses of S.N. Trubetskoy to the acute artistic intuitions of V.A. Favorsky – nourished the widespread feeling if not of an imminent epochal change, certainly of an approaching new beginning in philosophical and scientific knowledge. Florensky, in particular, on the one hand highlights the manifest dissolution of modern Western thought, perceived as a vain extension of its ‘worn-out’ Renaissance premises; on the other hand, he discerns the first appearance of a «new aeon» in the history of thought, the fervent dawn of a philosophy of the future – the latter conceived not as an abstract innovation or vacuous liberation from the past, but as the renewed sprouting of an ancient root: a root kept deep down, right at the heart, if we look closely, of that very tradition that, between Russia and the West, seemed then destined, in its ‘modern’ outcomes, and certainly only in those, to die out.

Florensky pursues and at the same time prepares the re-emergence of a specific current of thought, of which his work, precisely in its most audacious and innovative traits, offers a coherent continuation; indeed, he speaks of a common «philosophical blood», a genetic affinity of thoughts, converging, through the variation of epochs and cultural terrains, on a peculiar conception, we may say an ‘ancient’ one, of philosophical Idealism: that current of thought, according to Florensky, was evoked and nourished in Russia mainly by the philosophy of F.W.J. Schelling (cf. P.A. Florensky, Puti i sredotočija, in Id., Sočinenija v četyrëch tomach, T. 3.1, Mysl’, Moskva 2000, pp. 39-40).

 

This issue is dedicated to the exploration and analysis of that cultural root, to the complex terrain in which it extends, to the propulsive forces of its development, and to the foreshadowing of its future flowering. In other words, we invite contributions focusing on the foundations – in the theoretical, moral, religious, aesthetic, historical and epistemological spheres – of the pars construens of Florensky’s thought, so that the idea of the future that permeates and informs it may show its essential features through different perspectives, in its many aspects, in the manifold divergences and convergences of Russian and Western culture.

 

Language: Italian, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, or English (British or American standard; not the mixture of both).

 

Author Guidelines

Authors are invited to follow the Author Guidelines in preparing the manuscript for submission. If necessary, the editors will exercise the right to alter/modify manuscripts  in accordance with the stylistic and formal lines of the journal. 

Submission of papers to Critical Hermeneutics is taken to imply that the manuscript is not under consideration by other journals, and that it is not a published work.  

This Journal follows a double-blind refereeing process for each submission. The reviewers' evaluations determine whether a paper will be accepted or rejected in accordance with four criteria: 1) Excellent: the paper does not need any change; 2) Good: the paper needs minor changes; 3) Interesting: the resubmission is recommended after consistent changes and/or revisions; 4) Insufficient: the paper is rejected. 

In case of resubmission (points 2 and 3), the same reviewers will be charged to re-evaluate the paper.

The peer-review process, as the complete editorial workflow, is managed within the Open Journal System (OJS) platform.

 

  1. Language

The manuscript can be submitted in one of the following languages: Italian, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, or English (British or American standard; not the mixture of both). All manuscripts will be submitted (and possibly published) with two abstracts (maximum length of 150 words for each one), one in English (British or American standard) and one in the language of the manuscript. Keywords (from 3 to a maximum of 5) will be indicated accordingly.

Manuscripts with significant grammatical or syntactical mistakes/problems will be immediately discarded without starting the refereeing process.   

 

  1. Length of paper

The length of the paper should not exceed 50000 characters (spaces included). Articles should be typed in 1,5 space, including footnotes and references (placed at the end of the paper).  

 

  1. First Page / Title Page

First Page / Title Page is a separated page before the text, which starts with the abstracts. It must include the following information:

-  Title

-  Author(s)'s name(s) and affiliation(s)

-  Telephone number and e-mail address

During the process of refereeing  this first page will be separated from the rest. During the double-blind refereeing process the author must not be recognised by the referees. The manuscript and the reference must thus be suitable for blind review.

 

  1. Subdivision of the article

It is highly recommended to clearly articulate the paper in numbered and titled paragraphs/sections. Sections should be numbered 1, 2, 3, etc. Internal subsections should be numbered 1.1., 1.2., 1.3., ... 2.1., 2.2., etc. 

 

  1. Style

Authors should follow the latest APA style edition (see, www.apastyle.org), which is the editing style followed by CH.  

 

  1. References

Authors should arrange the references accordingly with the latest APA style.