Subject/Reflection Call for Papers
Issue 01: Interrogating Negativity
The history of philosophy is plagued with the struggle to articulate negativity — to say what is not there without saying “nothing.” This issue is exacerbated in the 20th century with psychoanalysis, critical theory, and the straining of thought which follows. The issue is prescient at both the social level and the subjective level and among all the intersections. An entire vocabulary has developed around this issue with concepts such as “lack”, “subaltern”, and “contradiction”, has dominated much of Western thought.
And what progress has been made? Robert Pippin remains exceptionally skeptical, stating that the repetition of this question is the failure to fully grasp the “post-Kantian situation with respect to, let’s say, ‘the necessary conditions for the possibility of what isn’t.’”
Subject/Reflection is looking for writers who have a stake in this question, who have an interest in exploring the tradition of saying what isn’t. Papers addressing this issue from various perspectives (literary, critical, psychoanalytic, feminist, non-Western, etc.) will be accepted and will be minimally edited according to grammar standards of S/R. Essays should be 1,300–3,000 words and are due to the editors by December 15th, 2023.
We look forward to engaging with the question of negativity from various perspectives and writers.
