This e-conference consists of papers in the history of early modern philosophy (pre-Kant) that were originally scheduled to be presented at various in-person conferences in the spring of 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic caused these in-person conferences to be cancelled or postponed. The cancellations distressed me, nonetheless because of the lost opportunities for graduate students and other early-stage researchers, for whom presentations and knowledge transfer opportunities are so important professionally. I knew that I was fortunate enough to be in a position where I could organize something to fill the gap—hence this e-conference.

Pre-session, authors and commentators are making their work available for pre-reading as well as brief highlights videos describing its most important aspects. Audience members are encouraged to post questions and critical comments in the “Comments” section of the session’s webpage. During the session, the highlight videos will be screened, followed by a brief response to the comments by the author. The remainder of the session will be devoted to Q&A drawing from the questions submitted beforehand as well as questions, including follow-ups, raised during the session. After the session, authors will have the opportunity to expand, clarify, or develop in writing their original responses to the Q&A as well as respond to questions which were not able to be asked during the synchronous session. Audience members will be able to return to all the conference materials for extended study and review and people unable to attend the original session may still benefit by watching the video or reviewing the transcripts according to their schedule.

Please note that the times listed for all talks are in Pacific Daylight Time.