CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS

1. Conceptual Framing

We live in a historical moment marked by deep and overlapping uncertainties. Epistemic authority is increasingly contested, ethical frameworks appear +fragmented, and technological developments—from artificial intelligence to digital mediation—reshape the conditions of human understanding and interaction. At the same time, global crises such as ecological disruption, political instability, and cultural dislocation challenge inherited systems of meaning and value.

In such a context, the question of spiritual values is no longer confined to doctrinal or institutional frameworks. Rather, it emerges as a critical inquiry into how meaning, orientation, and human flourishing can be articulated under conditions of instability and transformation.

This conference seeks to examine how spiritual traditions, philosophical reflections, and lived practices respond to these conditions. It invites participants to explore spirituality not only as a domain of belief but as a mode of understanding, interpretation, and engagement with uncertainty.

This approach aligns with recent interdisciplinary reflections that emphasize the erosion and reconfiguration of established foundations in contemporary life, as well as the renewed search for meaning in contexts shaped by ecological crisis, secularization, and existential questioning.

2. Aim of the Conference

The conference aims to:

• Investigate the role of spiritual values in navigating contemporary uncertainty
• Reconsider the relationship between spirituality, knowledge, and human experience
• Explore how spiritual traditions and practices are reinterpreted under present conditions
• Provide a platform for interdisciplinary dialogue across philosophy, theology, social sciences, and humanities

3. Thematic Areas

We welcome contributions addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

1. Spirituality and Epistemic Uncertainty

• Spiritual responses to post-truth conditions and epistemic instability
• Truth, meaning, and interpretation in contemporary spiritual discourse
• The role of spirituality in reconfiguring knowledge and understanding

2. Ethics, Values, and Human Flourishing

• Spiritual values as sources of ethical orientation
• Reconstructing moral frameworks in fragmented societies
• Virtue, character, and lived spirituality

3. Spirituality in a Technological Age

• Artificial intelligence and the transformation of human self-understanding
• Digital mediation, virtual experience, and spiritual life
• Human identity in post-human and transhuman contexts

4. Nature, Ecology, and Spiritual Meaning

• Spiritual interpretations of ecological crisis
• Nature as a site of meaning, transformation, and responsibility
• Intersections of spirituality, environment, and sustainability

5. Tradition, Interpretation, and Renewal

• Reinterpretation of spiritual and religious traditions in contemporary contexts
• Continuity and transformation of intellectual and spiritual heritage
• Comparative and interreligious perspectives on spiritual values

6. Lived Experience and Practices of Spirituality

• Everyday spirituality and practices of meaning-making
• Embodiment, ritual, and transformation
• Psychological, sociological, and phenomenological approaches

4. Types of Contributions

We invite proposals in the following formats:

• Individual Paper Presentations
• Alternative Formats (workshops, artistic or practice-based contributions)

Contributions may be theoretical, empirical, comparative, or reflective.

5. Submission Guidelines

• Abstract: maximum 300 words
• Include: title, research question, methodology, and main argument
• Language: English

6. Important Dates

• Abstract submission deadline: April 18, 2026
• Notification of acceptance: April 21, 2026
• Conference date: April 28, 2026

This conference approaches spirituality not as a fixed domain but as a dynamic field of inquiry and practice, shaped by and responding to contemporary conditions of uncertainty. It seeks to bring together diverse perspectives in order to rethink how spiritual values can contribute to meaningful, responsible, and reflective ways of inhabiting the present.

7. Papers publication

Well-developed and qualitative conference papers will be published in the MEΘEXIS Journal for Research in Values and Spirituality (following Journal’s publication guidelines: AUTHOR GUIDELINES | MEΘEXIS Journal of Research in Values and Spirituality).

Alternatively, it may be considered for the Conference Proceedings.