The Philosophical Journal of Conflict and Violence is looking for contributions on the work of Frederick Nietzsche. Abstracts are due January 5, 2026. Final publication is planned for December 2026. This special issue will be guest-edited by M. Blake Wilson, California State University.

Guest Editor

M. Blake Wilson, California State University.

Argument

"The purpose of science is to annihilate the world...

The task of art is to annihilate the state....

Wars must not be, so that the ever-rekindled sense of state may finally fall asleep."

- Nietzsche, unpublished notes, Winter 1869-Spring 1870.

Nietzsche frequently wrote about war, barbarism, destruction, and cruelty in both their literal as well as their metaphorical senses. An individual can, for example, “make war” upon themselves. But in the passage quoted above, he clearly means war: the violent physical conflict between groups of people (usually, but not always, acting together as states). He also uses it normatively: for Nietzsche–– at least in the passage quoted above–– war is bad, and its elimination correspondingly leads to the annihilation of the state because war is the primary justification for the state. Or so Nietzsche claims in this early note. His thoughts, of course, will change over the next two decades.

For this special issue of The Philosophical Journal of Conflict and Violence, we are seeking contributions related to Nietzsche’s understanding of war, violence, conflict, crime, and justice, which broadly includes interpretations of Nietzschean thought on polemics, opposition, hatred, and distaste in their most literal meanings as well as what are almost certainly metaphors: here, we find Nietzsche’s troubling ruminations about cruelty, apocalypse, destruction, and illness, but also more (and perhaps even banal) observations concerning dyspepsia, change, love, and hate as a kind of “war” upon cultural practices ranging from Nietzsche’s embrace of the upending of one’s daily habits in food and drink and to the radical reshaping of one’s aesthetics (see, for example, Nietzsche’s pleasant surprise at his newfound love of Bizet and his corresponding revulsion to Wagner). Nietzschean perspectives on conflict and violence may include strong reactions to art, thought, and even other people. Specifically, Nietzsche often reacted “violently” to Jesus, Kant, and Wagner, and despite his earlier devotion to the composer the later Nietzsche hears a kind of violence in Wagner’s metric rhythms which injures him as much as any actual physical violence (See, e.g., The Gay Science 5, 368), suggesting that his understanding of violence was always metaphorical. Perhaps even “will,” that much discussed and purportedly foundational feature of his thought, is more of a metaphor than a so-called “natural kind.” But metaphor for what, exactly? 

Submission guidelines

We invite expressions of interest and ask all prospective authors to send a short 500-word abstract to mwilson15@csustan.edu and andreas.wilmes@trivent-publishing.eu by no later than January 5, 2026.

Authors will be informed of acceptance no later than February 5, 2026.

Full papers should be submitted by September 1, 2026, and should be written in the PJCV template and should not exceed 10,000 words (bibliography and footnotes aside).

The final publication is planned for December 2026.

For any queries, please contact Blake Wilson mwilson15@csutan.edu. 

Journal Description 

The Philosophical Journal of Conflict and Violence (PJCV) is an open access journal devoted to fostering discussion at the interface of philosophy, psychiatry, psychology, anthropology, and political theory. The journal welcomes original articles providing philosophical insights about topics such as conflict, war, crime, and aggression. The PJCV encompasses contributions from the history of philosophy to more interdisciplinary studies. Specifically, the main ambition of the journal is to form a database on the conceptual, metaphysical, ethical, and epistemological issues related to past and contemporary phenomena of violence.

The PJCV is double-blind peer-reviewed and published bi-annually in May and December. In order to avoid thematic fuzziness, each issue will begin with a focus section featuring contributions addressing a specific topic. The subjects are announced in advance in each issue’s call for papers. Besides, the open section of the journal provides a place for general contributions to conflict and violence. The editors encourage critical discussions involving a wide range of disciplines. The requirements are clarity of expression and rigorous argumentation.

PJCV welcomes submissions throughout the year on subjects related to the scope of the journal (non-binding to special issues): philosophy, psychiatry, psychology, anthropology, political theory, conflict, war, crime, aggression, etc.

Open Access policy 

The Philosophical Journal of Conflict and Violence (PJCV) is a diamond open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author.

Furthermore, the PJCV does not charge any article processing charges, making the publication in the journal free of charge.

Editorial Information

Editor-in-chief

• Andreas Wilmes, Pázmány Péter Catholic University

Associate Editors

• Joan-Antoine Mallet, University Paul-Valéry (Montpellier III)
• Robert Manning, Quincy University
• Claudiu Mesaros, West University of Timisoara

Scientific advisors 

• Jeremiah Alberg, International Christian University (Tokyo)
• Sandrine Baume, University of Lausanne
• Luc-Etienne de Boyer, Lycée Camille Claudel (Digoin)
• Elisabetha Brighi, University of Westminster (London)
• Antonio Cerella, Kingston University (London)
• Virgil Ciomoș, Babeș-Bolyai University (Cluj-Napoca)
• Emanuel Copilaș, West University of Timisoara 
• Grégory Cormann, University of Liège
• David Dawson, University of Aberdeen
• Paul Dumouchel, Ritsumeikan University (Kyoto)
• Denis Forest, University Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris I)
• Mihaela Frunză, Babeș-Bolyai University (Cluj-Napoca)
• David Goa, University of Alberta (Canada)
• Pierre Guenancia, University of Bourgogne (Dijon)
• Vicente de Haro Romo, Universidad Panamericana, Campus México
• Cristian Iftode, University of Bucharest
• Jean-Baptiste Jeangène Vilmer, Institute for Strategic Research (IRSEM)
• Samuel Lepine, University Jean-Moulin (Lyon III)
• Florin Lobont, West University of Timisoara 
• Michela Marzano, University Paris-Descartes (Paris V)
• Julie Mazaleigue-Labaste, University Panthéon Sorbonne (CNRS, Paris I)
• Gregory McCreery, University of South Florida
• Basarab Nicolescu, University Pierre et Marie Curie (CNRS, Paris VI)
• Wolfgang Palaver, University of Innsbruck
• Jean-Luc Périllé, University Paul-Valéry (Montpellier III)
• Patrick Singy, New York Union College
• Mihai Spariosu, University of Georgia  ☨
• Laurenţiu Staicu, University of Bucharest
• Thomas Sturm, Autonomous University of Barcelona
• Michel Terestchenko, University Reims Champagne-Ardenne
• Raphaël Verchère, University Claude-Bernard (Lyon I)