The conference "Concepts of Life" will seek to clarify and evaluate the wide variety of concepts of life circulating today. It will create a forum for leading scholars from the humanities and the social and natural sciences to engage with each other, to trace the complex genealogies of concepts of life, and to explore how the emergent figure of life shapes their ideas, materials, and methodologies.
The specific topics that will be discussed include: the cultural and historical variations in biological and physiological notions of life; the history of claims to objectivity and neutrality in the life sciences and in medicine; configurations of kinship through new biomedical and medico-legal technologies; legal and religious dimensions of living and non-living; renderings of life, science, and experience through modes of writing and public discourse; historical and contemporary manifestations of vitalism in the age of genetics; and philosophical perspectives on the new biology.
The conference will be held over two days (November 3rd and 4th, 2006). Presentations will be organized into moderated sessions. Each paper presentation will be limited to 45 minutes. The objective is to facilitate a high level of discussion between participants throughout the conference. The second day will conclude with a summary session addressing issues that have emerged in the conference.
The conference will be open to the public, and the schedule is designed both to facilitate discussion between participants and to allow time for audience participation, especially students.
Concepts of Life