Kant and his German Contemporaries

On account of the breadth and sophistication of his thought, Immanuel Kant is rightly counted alongside Plato, Aristotle, and Descartes as one of the greatest philosophers of the Western tradition, and his arguments viewed as compelling responses to, for instance, Hume’s skepticism, Hobbes’ egoism, Leibniz’s intellectualism, Locke’s empiricism, and Berkeley’s idealism. Yet, in thus understanding Kant’s philosophy solely in relation to the leading lights of the philosophical tradition, scholars have often overlooked the sophisticated and influential thinkers of the 18th-century German tradition that constitute its most proximate context. Kant and his German Contemporaries, an international conference to be hosted by the Philosophy Department of Western University from October 17th-19th, 2014, will bring together a group of established and emerging scholars from North America, Europe and the UK, with the primary aim of presenting Kant’s thought as it relates to the key figures and movements of this historical context. Reflecting the significance and complexity of Kant’s thought, the invitees will consider a diverse array of topics, including metaphysics, ethics, epistemology, aesthetics, philosophical theology, logic and philosophy of mathematics, anthropology, and philosophy of science.