We are delighted to announce that the call for papers for the EPSSE Pre-Conference on Emotions and Attachment is now open! This one-day pre-conference aims to explore the concept of attachment in relation to the philosophy of emotion.

Theme: Emotions and Attachment
Date: Tuesday 10th June
Location: Campus Condorcet, Panthéon-Sorbonne University
Organizers: Rachel Frenette, Edgard Darrobers, Laurent Jaffro, and Nathan Biglietti

 

Some things or persons are important to us in the way that we take them to matter. Such things or persons can even affect how we feel and act. Perhaps they are, therefore, reasons-giving: for example, if my health matters to me, then I have reasons to be healthy and to act in way that promotes it. Or perhaps those things that matter to us possess a specific evaluative tone: we care about them or we value them. In this way, if my friend matters to me, this implies that I care about them or that I value them. Another way to understand the things that matter to us is to consider the mode of the relationship we hold with them: perhaps we are attached to them. But what, precisely, distinguishes being attached from liking, caring or from other kinds of concerns? How does being attached relate to the concept of value (Raz, 2001)?

Reasons to act and caring have been the subject of many discussions in the literature. But besides the original contributions of Monique Wonderly, this is less the case for attachment (Wonderly, 2015). In this workshop, we want to focus on this concept of attachment and particularly explore what it implies for the philosophy of emotion. Thinking about attachment in this context means, for example, asking ourselves if attachment is an emotion, or if it holds a specific link to a cluster of emotions (Moll et al. 2008; Roberts 2003). Moreover, we are interested in what could be considered as emotions of attachment, such as trust, empathy, compassion or love. Finally, we may ask ourselves about the correction conditions of attachment: when is it appropriate to be attached and when is it not? To what extent does the emotion bring about a tension between certain relationships and the moral demand for impartiality (Herman 1991; Feltham 2010)?

Confirmed invited speakers: Monika Betzler, Julien Deonna, Laurent Jaffro, Stéphane Lemaire, Fabrice Teroni

We invite contributions that address, but are not limited to, the following questions:

• Is attachment an emotion?

• Is attachment a component of other emotions, like trust, empathy, compassion or love?

• What does it mean to be attached?

• Does attachment hold a specific relation to a cluster of emotions?

• Does attachment have correction conditions

• Are there kinds of things we can or cannot be attached to?

• Are there kinds of things we should or should not be attached to?

• What relation does attachment have with morality?

• Is being attached a virtue?

• Is being attached a character trait?

 

Submission Guidelines
Abstracts should be no more than 1000 words.

Submission deadline: April 1st 2025

Submissions must be sent to emotionsattachment@gmail.com with the email title: EPSSE 2025 Preconference

We encourage submissions from members of groups that are underrepresented in philosophy and from those at an early career stage.

Following the pre-conference, selected participants will be invited to contribute their papers to a special issue of EPSSE’s journal PASSION on Attachment and Emotions.

Warmest wishes,

The EPSSE Team and the Local Organizers