IFSR Newsletter 2005 Vol. 23 No. 1 December
May 2007 marks the 90th birthday of Ernst von Glasersfeld. Ernst is known for his pioneering work in cybernetics, working in the 50s with Ceccato in Italy, and his development of Radical Constructivism, an epistemological position that is closely related to that of Second Order Cybernetics. At the ASC Officers Meeting in Washington DC in October he was awarded the Society’s Wiener Gold Medal.
We (Alex Riegler and Ranulph Glanville) hope to edit a festschrift at the time of Ernst’s birthday and are writing to invite proposals for contributions. We are soliciting 2 types of contribution: academic papers that critically develop and/or evaluate Ernst’s own work, or relate personal work and interests to von Glasersfeld’s work; and more personal items including biography, reminiscence and anecdote. We believe that a festschrift should recognise the person and celebrate his work, so all contributions should be focused on and around Ernst’s work even when presented through your own work. The first sort of paper will typically be 3500 to 5000 words long, the second 1000 to 2500 words.
We invite you to write to us with your proposal. These should take the form of attached documents not longer than one side, containing your name and email address, a working title, and a brief synopsis that presents the argument or anecdote to be developed. You should indicate which type of contribution you wish to make. We will consider all proposals and select those which, together, show the most promise and paint the most complete picture. Please address your proposal and any other correspondence to: festschrift@vonglasersfeld.com
We are also looking for graphic and photographic material. Please advise separately if you have such material. Given that the publication is web based, we can also include sound and video material.
The festschrift will be published as the May 2007 issue of Constructivist Foundations (CF; see http://www.univie.ac.at/ constructivism/journal/), an independent academic peer-reviewed e- journal. Its aim is to promote the interdisciplinary study of scientific foundations and applications of constructivist sciences.
Important dates:
Deadline: Friday 13 January, 2006.
Notification of authors: end of January 2006
Final papers due: beginning September, 2006.
Ranulph Glanville
