Call for Papers

Modeling Our Ways of Knowing:

Examining and Evaluating the Structural Differential

Lance Strate and Bini B.S., Editors

The year 2025 represents the 100th anniversary of Alfred Korzybski’s patenting of the structural differential model as a teaching tool for the non-aristotelian discipline of general semantics. Discussed in detail in his magnum opus, Science and Sanity: An Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems and General Semantics, originally published in 1933 and now in its sixth edition, the structural differential (also known as the anthropometer) was produced as both a three-dimensional model with discs and wires and as a two-dimensional diagram. In commemoration of the centenary of the model’s introduction, we are calling for submissions that examine Korzybski’s key innovation from diverse approaches and modes of analysis.

Possible topics include (but are not limited to): the disciplinary and methodological underpinnings of the structural differential, i.e., in linguistics, mathematics, science, philosophy, politics, economics, psychology, etc.; visual and verbal antecedents of the model; the model’s innovative visual design and tactile qualities; Korzybski’s process of invention, introduction, and presentation of the model; different variations of the model produced by Korzybski and others, and alternative models such as S.I. Hayakawa’s abstraction ladder; the range of meanings and interpretations of the structural differential; the structural differential and human engineering, time-binding, consciousness of abstracting, etc.; the model’s interconnections and interdependence with other tools/ methods of Korzybski; the lives and afterlives of the structural differential through multiple interpreters/ practitioners of general semantics; the model in relation to relativity and quantum physics, neurobiology, behavioral psychology, etc.; the model’s relevance for and contributions to areas of study such as communication, literary studies, systems theory, media ecology, etc.; the model and the arts, cinema, literature, media, etc.; the structural differential and democratic consciousness; the structural differential and sanity; critical assessments of the model’s usefulness as a pedagogical tool; the timeliness and the enduring relevance of the structural differential.

Research papers should follow the APA 7th edition. We are open to length and format, from full-length essays and articles to short probes and think pieces (and possibly poetic work and images). What matters most is the quality of the submission and the intellectual and/or creative contribution that it makes. Send submissions by March 1st for full consideration (inquiries and proposals are welcome at any time) to president at generalsemantics.org.