CFP: The Concept of Will in Classical German Philosophy

Keynote Speakers:

Prof. Dr. Sorin Baiasu (Keele University)
Prof. Dr. Günter Zöller (LMU Munich)

During the period of Classical German Philosophy, the concept of the will undergoes important transformations. While Kant identifies the will with pure practical reason, Fichte introduces, in the wake of Reinhold, an originally biological concept of drive into his ethical theory, thereby expanding on the Kantian notion of the will. Schelling and Schopenhauer take a step further and comprehend the will either as a primal being (Schelling) or as a blindly striving, non-rational force (Schopenhauer). Thus, the history of the willis marked by a complex set of tensions between rational and non-rational aspects of practical volition.  

The aim of this conference is to look into this development and to inquire into the relation between the will and the related concepts such as “practical reason”, “drive”, “incentive”, “choice”, “lower and higher appetitive faculty”, “decision”, “intelligible deed”, and “action”. Contributions on philosophers such as Kant, Reinhold, Fichte, Schelling, Hegel, Schopenhauer, as well as lesser known figures of the Aetas Kantiana are welcome.
Papers should address one or more of the following questions:

- How is the concept of the will related to the concept of (practical) reason and understanding?

- How is the concept of the will related to the concept of drive and striving?

- How does the concept of will contribute to a theory of (practical) subjectivity?

- How is the will determined in order to be free?

- How is the will motivated to lead to a morally good action?

The conference language will be English. Presentation time will be 25 minutes + 15 minutes for discussion.

Abstracts (of no more than 500 words) should be sent as PDF files as attachment to [email protected] and [email protected]

Abstracts should be prepared for double-blind review by removing any identification details. The author’s name, paper title and affiliation should be included in the body of the e-mail.

Notification of acceptance by August 15, 2017

The presented papers will be considered for publication in a collected volume.