Date: October 9–11, 2025.

Venue: Institute of Philosophy at the HUN-REN Research Centre for the Humanities, Budapest, Hungary

Organizer: Research Group on the History of Ancient and Early Modern Philosophy (Attila Hangai; Dániel Attila Kovács; Attila Németh; Dániel Schmal; László Bene)

We invite submissions for papers on the notion of mental representation (phantasia, imaginatio) in ancient, medieval, and early modern philosophy. We are interested in papers covering any aspect of the notion, including its role in cognitive activities (e.g., sense-perception, memory, imagination, dreaming, discursive thinking) as well as in moral psychology, especially as the bearer of motivational content both in humans and in other animals. We believe that by tracing the development of the notion from its ancient origins through its medieval reception until early modernity, we gain a new perspective on the history of ideas of human cognition.

Confirmed Speakers:

Accommodation costs, a conference dinner, and catering in coffee breaks are covered for successful applicants. 

The conference is funded by Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NKFIH).

Guidelines for submissions

Submissions should include a short bio (including name, affiliation, academic status, contact details) and an abstract (c. 500 words) of the proposed paper. The language of the conference and the proposal is English. 

Papers should be conceived for a 30-minute presentation followed by 15 minutes of discussion.

Deadline: June 15, 2025.

Notification of acceptance by June 30, 2025

Submissions should be sent to the email addresses of the organizers: and  

Cover image: József Rippl-Rónai: In the Garden of the Castle of Geszt (A geszti kastély kertjében, 1912)