Lithuanian Philosophical Association (LPA) is an academic association on membership terms uniting philosophers as well as researchers from related fields of social sciences and humanities who partake in academic philosophical activities and share the vision of the association’s goals and tasks. LPA unites researchers of philosophy, philosophy lecturers and PhD students, members of scientific student associations and academics from related fields of science who also do research in the field of philosophy.
The association was established as a public organisation uniting researchers, lecturers, teachers and amateurs of philosophy on the 20th of December 1988, in Vilnius. From its establishing until 2013, LPA was chaired by prof. Evaldas Nekrašas. In 2014, the association was registered as an academic association chaired by a president, a vice-president, a secretary, and a council. Dr. Audronė Žukauskaitė is currently the president of the association.
The aims of the association
LPA aims to cherish and develop Lithuanian philosophical culture as well as the tradition of its philosophical thought, facilitating and organising creative activities of philosophers, their professional growth and communication, taking care of teaching and promoting philosophy in Lithuania, building and strengthening the relations between Lithuanian philosophers and philosophers from foreign countries, assembling philosophers for solving contemporary issues in Lithuanian culture and society.
Activities
Every year the association organises a scientific conference followed by a yearly general meeting of the members. The conference is held at a different Lithuanian academic institution every time and it assembles national researchers for a discussion on currently pertinent philosophical subjects: Language and Reality (2017, organisers: LPA and Department of Educational Sciences and Philosophy in the Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences), Modernism, Postmodernism, Contemporaneity (2016, organisers: LPA, Centre for Religious Studies and Research in Vilnius University, and Department of Philosophy and History of Philosophy and Logics in Vilnius University), Philosophy, Communication, Critics (2015, organisers: LPA, Department of Philosophy in Vytautas Magnus University, Department of Social and Political Theory in Vytautas Magnus University, and Department of Philosophy and Psychology in Kaunas University of Technology), Philosophical Materialisms: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (2014, organisers: LPA and Lithuanian Culture Research Institute).
LPA also organises The Competition of the Young Scholar’s Publication where the best philosophical article or a part of a monograph published in Lithuanian or foreign academic press is honoured. The candidates are judged by the jury assigned by the association, looking for originality, novelty and structured argumentation among other criteria. The winner is awarded a financial prize and is invited to present the paper during LPA’s annual conference.
The association is open to the initiatives of philosophers and people who are interested in philosophy. If you would like to join LPA, share your thoughts on its current events and activities or suggest any new ideas, you are kindly invited to contact the secretary of the association Daina Habdankaitė (daina.habdankaite@fsf.stud.vu.lt) and follow us on Facebook.