Department of Philosophy, Faculty for Humanities and Social Sciences; Center for Advanced Studies – Southeast Europe, University of Rijeka; Croatian Society for Analytic Philosophy; PhD programme “Contemporaneity and philosophy”, LabOnt, University of Torino; Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade



We cordially invite you to the:

19th conference Contemporary Philosophical Issues: John Searle Symposium on Social Ontology.



The annual conference is this year dedicated to philosopher John Searle, whose influence on and relevance for the contemporary analytic philosophy, cognitive sciences and neurobiology can hardly be overestimated. Professor Searle’s work in philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, metaphysics and epistemology set foundations for many of the most discussed issues in these fields, and his renditions of problems as diverse as consciousness, intentionality, meaning, free will, artificial intelligence, reality, social reality, human rights, institutions and power, provided new directions for philosophers and scientists alike. In his books, Seeing Things as They Are: A Theory of Perception and Making the Social World: The Structure of Human Civilization, as well as in his work at the recently founded The John Searle Center for Social Ontology, Professor Searle focuses on themes in social sciences, which is why our focus at the conference will be on social ontology. However, we appreciate papers on all and every aspect of John Searle’s rich philosophical oeuvre.


Confirmed participants:

In addition to John Searle, our guests will be Jennifer Hudin, Director of the John Searle Center for Social Ontology, Maurizio Ferraris, LabOnt University of Torino, Tiziana Andina, Director of LabOnt University of Torino, Paolo de Lucia, University of Milano, Giuseppe Lorini, University of Cagliari, Nenad Miščević, University of Maribor, Boran Berčić, University of Rijeka, Snježana Prijić-Samaržija,
University of Rijeka, Petar Bojanić, Universities of Belgrade and Rijeka


Abstract submission and deadline:

If you are interested in participating, please send a title of your paper and a short abstract of maximum 400 words by April 30th 2017 to Iris Vidmar (ividmar@ffri.hr) and Andrea Mešanović (andrea.mesanovic@gmail.com). Notifications regarding the acceptance will be issued by May 1st 2017.

Please note that our conference allows for the possibility of presentation of papers concerned with contemporary themes in analytic philosophy that do not address Professor Searle’s opus directly. These presentations will be organized as a parallel session of the conference, which, in case of a large number of applicants, can extend to May 24th. Ideally, we designate 30 minutes for presentations of papers, followed by 15 minutes for discussions.

There will be no registration fee. Conference organizers will provide lunch and light refreshments during the conference program. Participants are kindly requested to make their own accommodation and travel arrangements.

Organizational Committee:

Andrea Mešanović
Iris Vidmar
Luca Malatesti
Gazela Pudar Drasko
Nenad Smokrović
Snježana Prijić-Samaržija
Sanja Bojanić
Vera Tripodi