CALL FOR PAPERS XII, 30, 2026: WHAT IS A GENOCIDE? PHILOSOPHICAL (RE)DEFINITIONS

 

Dead line: June 30,  2026

 

The question underlying this monographic issue of ‘Logoi’, although arising from the provocations of current events—or perhaps precisely for that reason—aims to be distinctly philosophical. It seemed to us too easy (and at the same time too difficult) to focus on the Palestinian and/or Israeli question. Instead, precisely in order to understand the reasons for what is happening, we considered it appropriate to take some distance from the present, sine ira et studio, and to return to exercising one of philosophy’s fundamental competences: defining and redefining words and concepts.
Politicians and jurists are certainly called upon to ask whether, in the face of this or that military event, we are dealing with a genocide that can be ascertained and declared as such. But as philosophers, we are called to ask whether the legal definition of genocide is the only possible one; whether it is still philosophically tenable today—and, if so, why; and if not, why not. And whether other definitions are possible. Whether “genocide” is a word that can still be used today. How are we to inhabit the historical–conceptual distance that separates us from Raphael Lemkin, the Polish jurist of Jewish origin who coined the word genocide? What is a genos? How many de facto unrecognized genocides are there in history, and why? What triggers this type of crime? Can one speak of genocide only starting from the coinage of the word, and if not, to what extent—and if so, why? Where should we draw the line between what happened in the twentieth century and what happened before it? And the line between what happened in the twentieth century and what continues to happen today?

Authors interested in responding to this Call for Papers are invited to:

1. consult the ‘Submit’ section where they will find instructions for submitting materials;
2. read the editorial guidelines [pdf], Proposals not conforming to these guidelines will not be accepted;
3. Submit proposals to info@logoi.ph.

Please note that only unpublished contributions relevant to the monographic themes selected by the Editorial Board will be considered.

 

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