CALL FOR PAPERS

Book Symposium

Abstract: Today, anxiety is usually thought of as a pathology, the most diagnosed and medicated of all psychological disorders. But anxiety isn’t always or only a medical condition. Indeed, many philosophers argue that anxiety is a normal, even essential, part of being human, and that coming to terms with this fact is potentially transformative, allowing us to live more meaningful lives by giving us a richer understanding of ourselves. In Anxiety, Samir Chopra explores valuable insights about anxiety offered by ancient and modern philosophies—Buddhism, existentialism, psychoanalysis, and critical theory. Blending memoir and philosophy, he also tells how serious anxiety has affected his own life—and how philosophy has helped him cope with it.

Chopra shows that many philosophers—including the Buddha, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Freud, and Heidegger—have viewed anxiety as an inevitable human response to existence: to be is to be anxious. Drawing on Karl Marx and Herbert Marcuse, Chopra examines how poverty and other material conditions can make anxiety worse, but he emphasizes that not even the rich can escape it. Nor can the medicated. Inseparable from the human condition, anxiety is indispensable for grasping it. Philosophy may not be able to cure anxiety but, by leading us to greater self-knowledge and self-acceptance, it may be able to make us less anxious about being anxious.

Personal, poignant, and hopeful, Anxiety is a book for anyone who is curious about rethinking anxiety and learning why it might be a source not only of suffering but of insight.

Author Bio: Samir Chopra is a philosophical counselor and professor emeritus of philosophy at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He is the author and coauthor of many books, including Shyam Benegal: Philosopher and Filmmaker, A Legal Theory for Autonomous Artificial Agents, and Eye on Cricket: Reflections on the Great Game. His essays have appeared in the Nation, the Los Angeles Review of Books, Aeon, Psyche, and other publications.

Guest Editor: Dr. Justin Caouette is an Assistant Instructional Professor of Philosophy at Providence College. His research focuses on a variety of issues in applied ethics including enhancement and addiction as well as issues at the intersection of free will and human agency with particular emphases on moral responsibility, virtues, emotions, and punishment. He has edited two volumes of new essays, one titled "Free Will and Moral Responsibility" (CSP 2013) and other "The Moral Psychology of Compassion" (Rowman and Littlefield 2018). He has also published articles in the American Journal of Bioethics - Neuroscience, The Palgrave Handbook of Philosophy and Public Philosophy, and other journals.

The Society for Philosophy of Emotion and the Journal of Philosophy of Emotion (JPE) are organizing a book symposium on Professor Chopra's book, Anxiety: A Philosophical Guide. We are looking for commentators for the SPE's 2026 Central APA (in-person only) affiliated group session, which will take place in Chicago, IL, and for a subsequent publication in the Journal of Philosophy of Emotion, including a JPE podcast edition. (No additional work beyond seeing your commentary through to publication with the JPE will be required for the podcast edition.) If you are interested in engaging in a critical discussion of Professor Chopra's book, with the aim of moving the discourse on relevant topics highlighted by his book forward, please complete the APA Affiliated Group Session and JPE Book Symposium Interest Form. Because the JPE requires the use of Google workspace tools, you will be required to log-in with a Google account to access the form. If you do not use your Gmail account on a regular basis, we recommend you set your Gmail to forward your emails to the email that you regularly use so you do not miss any correspondence from us. If you are interested in participating as a commentator, please complete the form, which includes uploading a copy of your CV, by July 31, 2025. We will contact you by August 15, 2025, with a decision regarding your expressed interest and any further details. 

Society for Philosophy of Emotion

Accepted commentators will be invited to present their commentaries during the in-person book symposium, as a part of a Society for Philosophy of Emotion (SPE)-American Philosophical Association (APA) affiliated group session at the 2026 Central APA (virtual attendance will not be allowed). Commentaries for this book symposium are due to the author six (6) weeks before the SPE-APA session date, and author replies are due (3) weeks before the session date, in accordance with the APA meeting participation guidelines and prior to the due date for the JPE book symposium. 

Please note that commentators who agree to participate in this in-person book symposium will not be eligible for any funding assistance from the APA since only those who are presenting in an APA main program event are eligible for such funding. However, participants can also submit a paper for or agree to comment for an APA main program event and apply for APA funding if they are accepted, since APA main program participants are allowed to also participate in affiliated group sessions without any restrictions. Organizers will also be informed to avoid any scheduling conflicts. Participants would also be required to register for the 2026 Central APA conference, and be a member of the SPE at the time of their participation, which includes a one-time JPE submission fee waiver. An annual SPE membership is $35, with a discounted rate of $10 for graduate students and underemployed scholars. 

Journal of Philosophy of Emotion

Commentaries for the JPE will be due one month after the Society for Philosophy of Emotion (SPE)-American Philosophical Association (APA) affiliated group session for this book symposium (read below). We encourage a diversity of scholars of all ranks who are interested in participating as a commentator to respond to this CFP, provided that they are willing and able to commit to fulfilling the expectations set by the JPE's submission guidelines and the JPE’s double-anonymous peer review process. Please refer to past issues of the JPE for examples, and all submissions must adhere to the JPE’s style guideline (which includes a Google Doc manuscript template), and note that authors are responsible for providing all necessary DOIs and appropriately formatting their references. All contributors are also responsible for copyediting their own submissions and providing any requested citation information, although the JPE will also conduct a preliminary review and copyedit check of all submissions prior to sending them to peer review. No submission will be sent to peer review without the appropriate formatting, in accordance with the JPE style guidelines. The JPE also requires a submission fee of $35 or you can use your SPE one-time JPE submission fee waiver. 

Selection Criteria, Guest Editing, and Peer Refereeing

Commentators will be selected not only based on their qualifications, but also based on their cooperative compliance and the consideration for the value of diversity and inclusiveness among equally qualified commentators. Potential contributors are also welcome to let us know in their letter of interest in guest editing or refereeing this book symposium if for some reason they were not invited to contribute a commentary, but would still like to contribute to the book symposium, or if they would rather guest edit or referee the book symposium. Guest editors would be invited to contribute an editorial introduction, including highlighting the significance of the discussions in the book symposium to the relevant scholarly discourses. Information on guest editor responsibilities can be found on the JPE's Join the Team page. All referees may also choose to be publicly acknowledged in a subsequent winter issue of the JPE. Referee's will also receive a free membership to the Society for Philosophy of Emotion, which includes a one time author submission fee waiver for the JPE, for the year of their membership.

SPE Membership Fee/JPE Manuscript Submission Fee

The JPE is an independently published, open-access journal, operating as a Public Charity under the US Treasury, 501(3)(c), 509(a)(2), and the SPE is an affiliate organization operating under the JPE's business license. All manuscript submission fees and membership fees go toward paying for operating costs and providing need based subventions to facilitate diverse and inclusive participation. Our completely transparent Financial Report is also made available for your review.