The theme of this years meeting is "Being qua Being."

Our question is the ancient one: What is it for a thing to be? Do minds exist? If so, what is their relation to bodies? What is it to be a person, or a living being? What connections are there between being and knowing? fact and value? reality and truth? Do ideas exist, and if so how? Does God exist? What about probabilities and possibilities? What is the ontic status of causes? All these questions are opened up by the inquiry into being. The topic is chosen for its openness to a wide variety of perspectives. Papers are invited that seek to grapple philosophically with such questions, drawing on the work of past and present philosophers but not avoiding active engagement with the core questions in their own right.

ARISTOTLE PRIZE: Papers on Being qua Being, submitted by persons who have not yet earned a Ph.D. or whose Ph.D. is less than 5 years old at the time of submission will be considered for the Aristotle Prize if the Program Committee is alerted to eligibility. The prize carries a cash award of $500 and inclusion in the program. Please encourage graduate students and junior colleagues to consider entering the competition.

Papers with a reading time of 30 minutes, or 500 word abstracts, should be submitted by July 15, 2006 to Professor Lenn E. Goodman. Completed papers will receive priority in consideration. Those whose abstracts are selected by the Program Committee must submit their completed papers by January 15, 2007, to allow time for commentators to prepare and to allow for publication of the conference program.

Papers submitted for the Aristotle Prize must be complete and submitted by July 15, 2006, clearly designated as Aristotle Prize submissions and accompanied by a statement of the grounds for eligibility. Like other program papers, these should have a reading time of 30 minutes. Those not selected for the Prize (of which there is just one) may still be selected for the program.