CFP: YOUNG SCHOLARS Session

Online Conference: Crossing the Border of Humanity: Cyborgs in Ethics, Law, and Art

December 14–15, 2021

Medical University of Łódź, Poland & University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

The idea of being a cyborg is as alluring as it is be repulsive (at least to some). Literary and pop-cultural visions of becoming a cyborg and becoming a nation of cyborgs have seductively taken hold of our imagination, resulting in a prevalent, yet simplistic, image of a one-laser-eyed being with a robotic limb. This unanimous picture ostensibly evident what a cyborg is and what (s)he/it is not. We are, after all, by no means something like a Borg!

While the commonly adopted definition of a cyborg as a hybrid of the mechanical and the biological seems to leave no doubt about what a cyborg really is, it appears to be sparking controversies, rather than solving them today. In our world, where cyborgs walk among us, the maze of cyborg-issues is becoming ever more tangled and expands beyond the definitional dilemmas to reveal a burgeoning panoply of problems: the restorative/elective facet of cyborganization, an enhancing/curing aspect of becoming a cyborg, the legal status of cyborgs, and hesitations over whether one’s ‘cyborg’ status needs to be visible or can be invisible.

Our conference will challenge some of the notions we have developed about cyborgs, which are often underpinned by simplistic and simplifying dichotomies of various nature: philosophical, legal, and artistic. It will be an opportunity to articulate problems we have to face as humans, recurrent yet still though-provoking questions, and insights that help us build a platform for the cross-pollination of ideas.

The conference language is English.

There is no registration fee.

The conference will be organized entirely on-line.

We invite students and PhD students to send their proposals for the panel.

Proposals will be selected from the abstracts (200-300 words) by the Conference Program Committee.

The deadline for sending abstracts is 31st October 2021.

Please send your abstract to Monika Michałowska (monika.michalowska@umed.lodz.pl)

For more information see here:

https://www.academia.edu/49931602/CROSSING_THE_BORDER_OF_HUMANITY_CYBORGS_IN_ETHICS_LAW_AND_ART_Online_Conference_14_15_December_2021_%C5%81%C3%B3d%C5%BA

Young scientists (whose abstracts would be selected by the scientific committee) are requested to send their recorded talks (10 minutes long) and materials by 1st December. During the conference days, live Q&A discussion sessions will take place via Zoom and based on the submitted talks. However, we will not play the recorded talks at that time.