To all INPR members,
Dear philosophers and theologians, several years ago the International Network in Philosophy of Religion was created (with the first seminar held in Paris in June of 2015). Since then, the network has expanded considerably.
There were about twenty of us in Paris in 2015, about forty in 2017, and more than eighty in 2019 (out of a hundred members listed in the INPR directory).
Two doctoral and post-doctoral seminars were held in Europe (one in Tivoli in 2018 and the other in Val d'Aulnay in Touraine, France in 2019). And other projects are now underway.
Our network is therefore growing, in quantity certainly, but also in the quality of our exchanges and the inventiveness and rigor of our thinking. We tried a new way of philosophizing, and also of thinking together. Neither philosophy nor theology can be limited to borders or stand on their own piece of turf. What is true of disciplines is also true of generations. There are no young people on the one hand and older people on the other, beginners on one side and experienced professors on the other, those who are trying to make their way into universities and those who govern them. We are together in a "common humanity" made up of our diversity and our differences of opinion, certainly, but also of a joint search in view of the Absolute or the Transcendent. Whether one is a believer or not, God remains the object of a concept and a culture. You cannot believe without thinking, and you can also think without believing. In this common research, the future of philosophy of religion for today and tomorrow is at stake.
The creation of Crossing: the INPR journal therefore marks a new step in our common progress. We cannot think, or even dialogue, without also leaving traces. Because philosophy and theology still pass through texts, it is in this way that each person's own work is expressed, as well as the debates to which we bear witness. “The confrontation of ideas remains the condition for the blossoming of thinkers.” This statement, taken from the charter of the International Network in Philosophy of Religion (INPR), encapsulates the spirit of this journal: its primary purpose is to promote the engagement, confrontation, debate, and dialogue of ideas and thinkers in philosophy of religion. Echoing the language of the charter, the goal of the journal is to find a way “to philosophize together, following an ‘art de la dispute’ not often practiced today but which we would be wise to recover” (INPR charter). Such a confrontation of ideas will take place through submissions to thematic calls for papers, book symposia, and a curated dialogue between a principle essay and its respondents.
At least initially, the INPR Journal will first host texts written and presented within the framework of the International Network in Philosophy of Religion. A true "laboratory of thought", the INPR must remain so, and so the published texts will be the witnesses of a living and conversing thought. Everyone will therefore find their place here, knowing that a "network" is not only a way of connecting, but also a way of "living together" in a common quest for truth.
Following a broad discussion among all members of the editorial team, three sections will be proposed in Crossing - the INPR Journal:
This section will be mainly devoted to the publication of texts produced in connection with INPR seminars. It may include lectures given as part of the seminars (major biannual seminars, doctoral and post-doctoral seminars) as well as responses to the various talks.
The purpose of this section is to create, in writing, a lively and well-argued dialogue between the members of the INPR. A number of texts, delivered as part of one of the INPR events, will thus be submitted for debate. Each member of the INPR will be able to write a response, or a number of comments, that will feed into the debate in the journal.
This section will be devoted, at least in the first instance, to works produced exclusively by INPR members. A proposed book would become subject to debate. Short texts will contribute to the substance of the discussion, and the editorial board will identify the proposed works and suggested respondents.
For the quality of the review, all received texts must of course be subject to academic standards. The Editorial Board will ensure the scientific level of the articles received and will take care to remain faithful to the spirit of INPR (Cf. Charter).
Emmanuel Falque
William L. Connelly
Domenico Cambria
Tamsin Jones (Advisor)
Adam Graves (Choice of texts: philosophy)
Martin Koci (Choice of texts: philosophy)
William Woody S.J. (Choice of texts: theology)
Drafted in Paris, January 7th 2020
Prof. Emmanuel Falque
Editor in Chief