Seventh International Conference on Philosophy and Meaning in Life

June 25-27, 2025

About the Conference

Understood as a cluster of questions about the ultimate value and intelligibility of human existence, the topic of life’s meaning has always been an important part of philosophical inquiry, from ancient philosophers’ reflections on what characterizes the happiest form of life, to later philosophers’ concerns about the highest good in life, to modern philosophers’ attempts to understand such things as the vocation of humanity and the sense or absurdity of distinctly human endeavours.

In recent decades, there has been a notable resurgence worldwide of professional philosophical interest in life’s meaning, so understood. And the International Conference on Philosophy and Meaning in Life has become the most prominent annual venue for sharing the latest contributions to this resurgence. We are very pleased, accordingly, to announce our intention to host the next (and first North American) installment of the conference at Carleton University.

Please note that this installment of the conference is contingent upon adequate funding. However, we will know whether that funding has been secured well before the finalization of the conference program (see below).

Keynote Speakers

Kiki Berk, Professor of Philosophy, Southern New Hampshire University

Iddo Landau, Professor of Philosophy, University of Haifa

Abstract Submission

Conference organizers welcome the submission of abstracts for presentations at this installment of the conference. Abstracts may be up to 500 words in total. Particular abstract topics may be about any issue of relevance to the ultimate value and intelligibility of human existence, including (but certainly not limited to) the relationship between love and life’s meaning, the role of reconciliation in a meaningful life, aesthetic aspects of meaning, moral requirements on a meaningful life, meaning and well-being in life, the impact of suffering on a meaningful life, potential threats to meaning from artificial intelligence, narrative-based concepts of meaning, tradition as a source of meaning, the phenomenology of meaning, meaning in the history of philosophy, memory and meaning, and making sense of cosmic perspectives on meaning.

To submit your abstract, please fill out the form below, titled Abstract Submission Form. You will have until January 15, 2025 to submit your abstract. Submitted abstracts will then be evaluated by the conference’s steering committee, and submitters will be informed about whether their abstracts have been selected for inclusion on the conference program by early March, 2025. We expect the official program to be finalized shortly thereafter, by the middle of that month.

Registration

A link to register for the conference (and if necessary, to pay any registration fees we may have to require) will appear here once the notification of abstract acceptances has gone out in early March. This link will remain open until the conference begins. Conference participants will be asked to register before the conference.

Subject to space limitations, students, faculty, and staff at Carleton University are welcome to attend any of the conference presentations without registering.

About Ottawa and Carleton University

Ottawa is Canada’s capital city, and features a number of tourist attractions. While here, for example, you can take a guided tour of the federal parliament buildings on Parliament Hill, visit the National Gallery of Canada, or spend some time exploring the vibrant, bustling ByWard Market downtown. You might even consider one of your local organizer’s favourite pastimes, hiking the trails in the National Capital Commission’s nearby Gatineau Park, which is just across the Ottawa River. For more information on Ottawa’s many tourist attractions, please visit https://ottawatourism.ca/en.

Situated on a traditional, unceded territory of the Algonquin people, Carleton University is located between the historic Rideau Canal and Rideau River, about seven kilometers from the city’s downtown area.

There are no hotels within walking distance of the university, so if you are staying in a hotel (in the downtown area, say) you will want consider taxi services or public transportation for getting to and from the conference each day. Three prominent taxi services in Ottawa are Blue Line Taxi, West-Way Taxi, and Capital Taxi. Uber also offers significant service throughout the city.

OC Transpo is Ottawa’s public transit service, which runs buses, paratransit, and some light rail transit. You can plan your trip to and from the university campus, and get information about fares, with OC Transpo’s helpful Travel Planner. The main stop for buses coming into the university (“Carleton U”), as well as the university’s light rail station (“Carleton”), are on Campus Avenue. To plot your route to this stop or station with the Travel Planner, just enter “Carleton University” in the destination box.

If you would prefer to stay on the university campus for the duration of the conference, the university’s Conference Services offers guest accommodations in the campus residences throughout the summer. Please visit https://conferenceservices.carleton.ca/accommodations/ for more information, or to book your room or suite.