According to the Global Footprint Network, by August 1, 2024, humanity will have consumed all the ecological resources the Earth can regenerate in a year. In 2000, Earth Overshoot Day fell on September 17. In 1971, when the historical series began, it was December 25. A United Nations report from October 2024 states that “the world could face an inevitable and catastrophic 3.1°C temperature rise.” In 2024, São Paulo was the most polluted city in the world for several days. In the same year, 60% of Brazil’s territory was covered in smoke, mostly due to criminal fires. The drought in the Amazon region shows that climate collapse is not just an alarmist rhetoric of scientists: we are witnessing the collapse of the ecosystem.
The XIII International Conference of the Brazilian Hegel Society aims to discuss possible social diagnoses and responses that Hegelian philosophy might offer to this era of climate crisis. There is no better place to address this crisis than the Federal University of Amazonas, in Manaus. The largest tropical rain forest on the planet, with extraordinary biodiversity, home of peoples who know how to live on Earth without destroying it, the Amazon has become the center of the world.
In his first published philosophy text, Hegel announced the projet of redeeming nature “from the evil-doings it had suffered”. Hegelian philosophy can serve as a source of inspiration for thinking about the climate crisis, but it certainly does not provide a single or clear answer to the question. In a fragment from 1803, “The Essence of Spirit,” Hegel states that “the essence of spirit is that it finds itself in opposition to nature, combats this opposition, and comes to itself as the winner over nature.” In the 1817 version of the Encyclopaedia, Hegel asserts that “spirit has for us nature as its presupposition” and that in the concept of spirit “nature has disappeared”. Spirit presents itself then as idea, as the identity of subject and object, but this identity is “absolute negativity” since the concept of spirit has its “perfect external objectivity” in nature. By suspending this “externalisation” (or “emptying”) [Entäusserung], spirit becomes “identical with itself.” The suspension of externalisation, however, means that nature is preserved as a presupposition of spirit: “It is thereby this identity only as returning from nature.”
In the Encyclopaedia of 1830, nature does not appear only as external to the logical idea: “Exteriority” constitutes the very determination of nature as the existence [Dasein] of the idea. In his 1822/23 Lectures on the Philosophy of History, Hegel stated that “the place of peoples is a spiritual [place], but the determinateness of their principle corresponds to the natural side of the land,” suggesting that the objective spirit is necessarily bound to a natural foundation: “The particular must also exist and has this existence in the natural side.” On the one hand, spirit appears in a position of “winner over nature,” but on the other hand, spirit is interwoven in a relational structure in which the “natural side of the land” provides a necessary basis so that its historical principles of freedom may achieve concrete determination. If Hegelian philosophy has an answer to the climate crisis, it is certainly neither simple nor indisputable.
The Brazilian Hegel Society invites the academic community to submit abstracts by May 31st, 2025 for the XIII International Conference of the Brazilian Hegel Society. The Conference aims to address possible social diagnoses and responses that Hegelian philosophy might offer to the climate crisis, as well as to explore the place of nature and second nature within Hegelian and classical German philosophy.
General Instructions
- Round Tables: 1.5 hours, with two 30-minute presentations (by PhD holders or graduate students) and 30 minutes for discussion at the end;
- Communications (Masters and Master’s students only) of 30 minutes total, with 20 minutes for presentation and 10 minutes for discussion.
Abstracts that do not comply with the guidelines will not be considered by the Scientific Committee. No abstract will be evaluated more than once. No author may submit more than one abstract. The submission and presentation of papers by co-authors is not permitted. The decisions of the Scientific Committee are final and will not be reconsidered.
Guidelines for Abstract Submission
- The abstract must follow the linguistic norms of the language in which the text is written;
- It must observe the following formal requirements:
a. Title: centered, in Arial 12, sentence case, positioned at the top of the page;
b. Body text: justified, in Arial 12, sentence case, with 1.5 spacing;
c. Do not include the author’s name or affiliation (as it will be subject to blind review);
d. Only individual submissions will be accepted;
e. No citations or references;
f. Abstract text: continuous passage of 300 to 400 words;
g. The abstract may be submitted in Portuguese, Spanish, German, French, or English;
h. Clearly state the problem to be addressed, the main steps of the argument to be developed, and the expected conclusion;
i. Indicate the appropriate section for which the paper is intended;
j. In a separate document, provide the author’s name, academic title, institutional affiliation, e-mail address, title of the presentation, and the relevant section;
k. Submission email: submissao@congressos.hegelbrasil.org
l. Format: Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx).
Deadlines
Submission Deadline: May 31, 2025
Notification of Acceptance: June 30, 2025
Conference Dates: December 1–5, 2025
Location: Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM), Manaus, Brazil
Sections
- Hegel and the Climate Crisis;
- Young Hegel’s reflections on nature;
- Logic and Nature;
- Hegel’s Anthropology;
- Ethical Life and Second Nature;
- Philosophy of History and the Nature of Spirit;
- Aesthetics and Nature;
- Religion and Nature;
- Hegel, Critical Theory, Ecosocialism;
- Hegel and the Colonial Question;
- Nature within Classical German Philosophy;
- Market, Capitalism, Nature.
For any questions do not hesitate to contact us at submissao@congressos.hegelbrasil.org.