CFP: Kant's Moral Philosophy - beyond the strawman.

All great philosophies get misinterpreted. But in the case of Kant’s moral philosophy, the problem seems particularly bad. Textbook introductions of Kant’s moral philosophy sometimes seem to have little to do with what Kant actually said. For example, some of them refer only to Kant’s Groundwork (1785) in order to prove something about his applied moral philosophy. Yet in the Groundwork Kant repeatedly states that we need to cross a few bridges before we may draw any conclusion for normative ethics – let alone applied normative ethics – from what is said in the book. The title alone suggests something along those lines: Groundwork to the Metaphysics of Morals. How much further can you move away from applied ethics in a title? Moreover, it is still quite common to characterize Kant’s ethics as the paradigm of “deontology”, despite the fact that the term is used in so many different (and often broad) ways that it tells us hardly anything true and significant about Kant’s ethics. Also, while its virtue ethical aspect has gained more attention during the last three decades, Kant’s moral philosophy is still often introduced – especially in contexts of applied ethics – as fundamentally opposed to virtue ethics. Finally, Kant is often portraited as “rationalist” pur sang in normative matters, while he is only a rationalist in fundamental matters where he has reasons to conceptualize human beings in so far as they are rational. When it comes to normative ethics and questions of judgment in individual cases, Kant emphasizes that we need to rely on other faculties, for reason as the faculty of principles is insufficient when it comes to concrete judgment.

The Journal of Ethics would like to devote a Special Issue to Kant’s moral philosophy – beyond the strawman. It aims to explore what contribution Kant can make to contemporary normative and applied ethics. Submissions may focus on specific issues of (applied) normative ethics or explain aspects of Kant’s moral philosophy that seem still in need of clarification. The only requirement is that they must engage with Kant’s original work in order to go beyond (still common) strawman versions and stereotypes.

Possible topics include but are not limited to:

• Kant on moral judgment in individual cases

• Kant as a virtue ethicist

• The relevance of Kant’s distinction between the doctrine of right and the doctrine of virtue for Kantian style applied ethics

• Kant on the relevance of emotions (for moral judgment)

• Kant on exceptions to principles

• Kant on international justice

• A Kantian view on artificial intelligence

• Kant on misconduct in organizations

• Kant on human flourishing

• Teleological elements in Kant’s moral philosophy

• Elements of precautionary reasoning in Kant

• Kant on the normative status of (parts of) the human body

• Kant and the modern concept of human rights

• Kant on common moral thinking and the role of moral philosophy

The Special Issue is accompanied by a conference in which (draft) papers will be discussed. The conference is hosted by the University of Greifswald and will be held on 27 and 28 May 2025. The conference will also host a key note lecture for a broader audience. It is highly recommended to attend the conference but no requirement for submitting a paper.

Submission instructions

The submission process has three steps. First, a max 500-word abstract has to be sent to [email protected] before 30 October 2024. Authors of accepted abstracts will be invited to the workshop on Tuesday 27 and Wednesday 28 May 2025 at the Alfried Krupp Kolleg Greifswald to present and discuss the drafts of their full papers with other manuscript authors and experts in the field. Meals are by courtesy of the Krupp Kolleg. The Journal of Ethics can cover (part of) the hotel costs of those who most need it.

The completed manuscripts must be submitted to The Journal of Ethics before 1 September 2025. We envision the review process to be finalized by February 2026. Authors must make use of the standard online EM system. All manuscripts will go through the standard double-blind peer-review process according to The Journal of Ethics’ guidelines. As a matter of general policy on special issues, all submission will also be checked by the editor-in-chief. Interested authors can also submit their manuscripts without having attended the Greifswald conference. All manuscripts should be prepared according to the journal’s guidelines provided on The Journal of Ethics website.

Important Information

Submission Guidelines to Authors

Peer Review Policy, Process and Guidance

Peer-Reviewer Selection

Editorial Manager®

This journal offers the option to publish Open Access. You are able to publish open access through Open Choice. Please explore the OA options available through your institution by referring to our list of OA Transformative Agreements .

Any questions with regard to this Special Issue, please address to the co-editor of the issue, Wim Dubbink Wim Dubbink