Call for Abstracts
Dating & Philosophy
Kristie Miller
Department of Philosophy
University of Sydney
Marlene Clark
Department of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences
The City College of New York
We seek titles and abstracts for a new volume in the
Wiley-Blackwell series Philosophy for Everyone, under the general
editorship of Fritz Allhoff. As with previous titles now subsumed
under the series—Wine & Philosophy, Beer & Philosophy, Food &
Philosophy, and Running & Philosophy—Dating & Philosophy will
integrate the insights of philosophers and interdisciplinary
academics such as sociologists, psychologists, computer scientists
and biologists in order to explore the philosophical, societal,
psychological, digital, and biological implications of dating. The
abstracts and resulting selected papers should be written for an
educated, but non-specialized, audience.
Dating is a fraught endeavor that we all have engaged in at some
point, and something that some of us are rather better at than
others. Countless philosophical questions are raised by the perfectly
general question, “How should we date?” Suggestions include, but are
not limited to, papers that consider the ethical aspects of dating,
and papers that consider the prudential aspects of dating. Papers
that consider both are especially welcome.
The Ethical Aspects of Dating
Truth telling in dating: To what extent and under what circumstances
should we tell a date the truth about ourselves? Is it permissible to
date multiple people simultaneously, and if so, under what
circumstances and for how long?
Sex and dating: Does the third date rule really apply?
Age and dating: At what age is it permissible to start dating? How
great an age difference can there be between people who are dating?
Do substantial age differences in dating couples point to ethical
considerations? If so, what are they? If not, why not?
Dating and not dating: When is it “a date” and when is it not? Does
it matter? How long should a couple date before either moving forward
or splitting up? At what point, and under what circumstances is
someone being strung along?
Dating and friends: Is it possible to transform a friendship into
dating, or does each require totally different skill sets? Is it
permissible to date your best friend’s ex?
Dating, family and society: When dating, does family approval matter?
Essays considering the complexities of interracial dating, cross-
cultural dating and socially disavowed dating are welcome.
Internet dating: Does a “virtual” first meeting change the ethics of
subsequent dates? Are the “truth” issues related to Internet dating
the same as those stemming from face-to-face encounters? Also of
interest are essays describing a purely virtual dating relationship,
one in which the daters never actually meet.
No longer dating: How is it best to end a dating relationship? Does
an email or text message suffice? What are the ethical or
psychological ramifications of dumping or being dumped?
The Prudential Aspects of Dating
Dating and evolution: Do the hormonal changes that occur early in
dating lead to rational or irrational choices in partner selection?
What role do pheromones play in partner selection, if any? What are
the biological implications of daters “selecting”—or ruling out--
potential partners due to height, weight, hair color, eye color,
etc.? Is someone who can pay for dinner going to be a better provider
than someone who cannot? What sorts of unconscious processes lead us
to choose this person rather than that?
Effective dating: Is it possible to maximize one’s chances of good
mate selection? Is it possible to learn how to maximize one’s chances
of good mate selection thanks to the lessons of poor mate selection?
In other words, so we learn form our “mistakes”? Does repetition
compulsion influence dating life? Can decision theory and game theory
teach us whom to date? Are the chances for dating success enhanced by
choosing dates “in our league”—in terms of looks, money, status,
profession, age, and so on? What’s “marketable” in dating and what
is it worth? How many people should we date before choosing a
permanent partner?
Ethical and Prudential Aspects of Dating
Flirtation: Is flirting necessarily an intentional act or just fun in
itself?
Parents’ dates: Are your parents dating too? Do we relate to our
parents’ dates differently than our own? Do we judge them by a
different set of standards? At what point is it appropriate for a
parent to introduce a “date” into the family dynamic?
The emphasis is on making contributions entertaining as well as
scholarly, and given the topic at hand we welcome proposals that are
provocative, humorous, or even a bit cheeky. We are looking for
original and quirky proposals, so be imaginative. Please attend to
the following guidelines:
· Abstract of paper (approximately 250 words) due by December 15,
2008
· Accepted authors will receive notification by January 15, 2008
· The submission deadline for accepted papers will be Summer 2009
· Final papers must be between 4000-5000 words and be aimed at a
general, educated audience.
· Abstracts should be submitted electronically to
[EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED]
· Proposals for other volumes in the series should be submitted
to Fritz Allhoff at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Dr. Kristie Miller
ARC Post-doctoral Fellow
School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry and
The Centre for Time
The University of Sydney
Sydney Australia
Room 411, A 18
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Ph: 02 93569663
http://homepage.mac.com/centre.for.time/KristieMiller/Kristie/Home%
20Page.html
_______________________________________________
SydPhil mailing list
[email protected]
List Info: http://lists.arts.usyd.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/sydphil
NEW LIST ARCHIVE: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
