[PHILOS-L] CFP Wittgenstein before Anscombe Conference
Jonathan Gombin
CALL FOR PAPERS
Wittgenstein before Anscombe: Heterodox Receptions of the Tractatus
International Conference
Université Clermont Auvergne, France
September 17-19, 2026
Organizers: Sébastien Gandon (U. Clermont Auvergne) & Jonathan Gombin (U. Bordeaux Montaigne)
Website: https://sites.google.com/view/wba-workshop/home
Originally published in 1921, Wittgenstein’s Tractatus has given rise to a vast and important body of commentary, in which exegetical considerations and philosophical positions are intertwined. G. E. M. Anscombe’s 1959 book, An Introduction to Wittgenstein’s Tractatus, is a milestone in the history of Wittgensteinian scholarship: by highlighting the Fregean legacy and distinguishing Wittgenstein’s early work from the empiricist and the positivist traditions, it initiated what could be called the modern age of Wittgensteinian scholarship. The Wittgenstein before Anscombe Conference (WbA) is devoted to the study of early, pre-modern receptions of Early Wittgenstein that have been overshadowed by the success of Anscombe’s Introduction.
There are at least three reasons to visit or revisit these early receptions.
1. The reference to Anscombe in Wittgensteinian studies, namely to the questions she raised and the answers she gave, tends to restrict the range of possible readings of the Tractatus. Returning to the period before Anscombe gives us the means to rid ourselves of unquestioned alternatives and to explore different ways of understanding the Tractatus.
2. The history of analytic philosophy is a rather young discipline in which the methods routinely used in the history of philosophy have not yet found their place. Because it is still marked by a strong presentism (according to which the role of history is to explain the present rather than to deconstruct the categories through which we understand it), the history of analytic philosophy tends to focus on sources and to neglect receptions. The WbA Conference offers to reverse this pattern.
3. Analytic philosophy is commonly perceived as an Anglo-American movement that benefited from some German and Austrian contributors before WWII. By contrast, WbA aims to highlight new territories in which Wittgenstein’s thought was discussed, hybridized, and criticized early on (such as France, India, and China). WbA hence contributes to a global history of emerging analytic philosophy.
We welcome paper proposals for the conference. Abstracts up to 500 words should be submitted by email to sgan...@gmail.com and jonatha...@gmail.com.
The deadline for proposals is 31 March 2026.
Accommodation and dinners will be paid for. Selected speakers will only have to pay for their travel. There is no registration fee for the conference.
Confirmed speakers:
Guillaume Fréchette (Université de Genève)
Sébastien Gandon (U. Clermont Auvergne)
Vincent Gérard (U. Clermont Auvergne)
Pravesh Jung Golay (Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay)
Jonathan Gombin (U. Bordeaux Montaigne)
Élise Marrou (Sorbonne Université)
Jean-Philippe Narboux (Université de Strasbourg)
Georg Schiemer (University of Vienna)
Sander Verhaegh (Tilburg University)
Henri Wagner (U. Paul Valéry, Montpellier)
Rachael Wiseman (University of Liverpool)
Qiaoyan Zhang (U. Clermont Auvergne)
Philos-L "The Liverpool List" is run by the Department of Philosophy, University of Liverpool https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/philosophy/philos-l/ Messages to the list are archived at http://listserv.liv.ac.uk/archives/philos-l.html. Recent posts can also be read in a Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/PhilosL/ Follow the list on Twitter @PhilosL. Follow the Department of Philosophy @LiverpoolPhilos To sign off the list send a blank message to philos-l-unsub...@liverpool.ac.uk.