The Philosophical Journal of Conflict and Violence is seeking articles dealing with philosophical issues that arise in connection with the depiction of violence in film and television. Violence, real or threatened, drives the plots of many, if not most, of the narratives we watch on the screen. Detectives solve grisly murders, victims seek revenge, teenagers flee slashers, gangsters spray bullets, Kungfu fighters trade punches, and armies clash on the battlefield (or in outer space). While almost everyone claims to wants to reduce the levels of violence in society, movie audiences regularly get an enormous kick out of watching on the screen what we abhor in real life. But not all cinematic violence is meant to titillate. Often the aim is to bring audiences closer to the sickening reality of the mistreatment and abuse suffered by those whose plights might otherwise remain invisible to us. While many worry that exposure to cinematic violence may desensitize us, perhaps it can also serve to awaken our empathy.

Argument

We invite contributions dealing with all facets of “Violence and Film.” A variety of philosophical perspectives are welcome, including but not restricted to phenomenology, analytical philosophy, non-Western philosophy, psychoanalysis, and mimetic theory. We are interested in viewpoints from all sides of the political spectrum. We are looking for analyses of violence in particular in films and/or television series, in the work of particular directors, and in specific genres (film noir, Westerns, “grindhouse,” art house, horror movies, war films, science fiction, drama, etc.), as well as reflections on cinematic violence in general. The selected articles will be published by Trivent Publishing in May 2020.

Possible general topics include, but are not restricted to, the following:

• The source of our fascination with cinematic violence
• Race, gender, and violence in film
• The Manicheanism of cinematic violence
• Rape and sexual abuse in film
• The poetics of cinematic violence
• Cinematic violence and catharsis
• Violence and the symbolization of evil on the screen
• The myth of redemptive violence in the movies
• Violence and censorship in film
• Cinematic representations of religion and violence
• Political violence on the screen
• Ethical dilemmas related to violence in movies

Submission guidelines

Those interested in contributing to this issue should submit an abstract of 100-250 words to Chris Fleming at C.Fleming@westernsydney.edu.au  and to George A. Dunn at FritFerret@aol.com

 no later than September 1, 2019.

Authors will be informed of acceptance by no later than October 2019. Full papers should be submitted by January 15 2020, be written in the PJCV template available on trivent-publishing.eu/pjcv.html, and have a maximum of 20 pages.

Editor-in-chief

• Andreas Wilmes, Centre de Recherche sur les Liens Sociaux - University Paris-Descartes (France)

Associate editors

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

Advisory Board 

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

Rviewing process

PJCV double blind peer reviews all material it receives. Once a submission is received, it is initially received by the editor-in-chief. In order to make a decision, the editor-in-chief will send the manuscript for parallel approval to two external reviewers specialized in the subject of manuscript. When the submission is accepted and the first version of the manuscript is received, it is checked for review compliance by either the editor-in-chief or the guest editor(s). Reviewers are asked to sign their reports and declare any competing interests on any manuscripts we send to them. Reviewers then advise their editor, who makes the final decision on the form of the publication.