I received word yesterday that my paper was accepted for presentation at the MidSouth Philosophy Conference. As long as I can find an affordable flight, I’ll be heading to Memphis, TN at the end of February. I’ll be presenting my paper on the New Wittgensteinian interpretation of nonsense. Here’s the title and abstract:
Is the New Wittgensteinian Conception of Nonsense Wittgensteinian?
In this paper, I argue that the New Wittgensteinian interpretation concerned with Wittgenstein’s conception of nonsense cannot be sustained. The main problem is that the New Wittgensteinians have not looked at what we actually say about nonsense and especially at how the word behaves in our language game. The properly Wittgensteinian way to proceed is to examine actual usage, to see what we call ‘nonsense’ and on what occasions. Wittgenstein warns us, “don’t think, but look!” (PI: 66) The New Wittgensteinians have not heeded this warning; instead, they have turned Wittgenstein’s coneption of nonsense into a bit of metaphysics.
Do you know want kind of format they want the presentations in? Just read the paper? Power point? either? Others?
Most presenters tend to read their papers at the MidSouth. Some presenters have used outlines for presenting their paper, deviating from the original text. But I can’t remember anyone using Powerpoint.
Generally: presenters have about 20 minutes for reading their paper, commentators have about 5 to 10 minutes to read their comments, and the audience has about 5 to 10 minutes for questions.
I hope this helps!
-Joe