Three Centuries of Kant: Knowledge, Science, and Values

THREE CENTURIES OF KANT: KNOWLEDGE, SCIENCE, AND VALUES

10–11 December 2025

The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, and

Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade

are pleased to announce the international conference to be held in the Grand Hall of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. The official languages of the conference are Serbian and English

Keynote speakers:

Prof.Carla Bagnoli (University of Modena & Reggio Emilia; National Academy Lincei; Zentrum für Ethik und Philosophie in der Praxis LMU; Institut International de Philosophie)

Prof.Konstantin Pollok(University of South Carolina, Department of Philosophy; Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz)

Submission guidelines:Abstracts in Serbian and/or English (–350 words), accompanied by 4–6 keywords and clear academic affiliation, should be sent to [email protected] by November 10, 2025. Notifications of accepted and rejected proposals will be sent by November 15.

Conference Description:Immanuel Kant is undoubtedly one of the most eminent figures in the history of modern philosophy. Yet, to confine Kant’s significance to a purely historical framework would amount to a serious philosophical mistake. By uniting knowledge, morality, taste, and purposiveness within the framework of his critical philosophy, Kant provided an understanding of rationality that continues to shape the course of our philosophical debates. His philosophical legacy can be articulated through his three famous questions, which remain unanswered in epistemological, ethical, and broader socio-political discourse: What can we know?, What ought we to do?, and What may we hope? These three questions provide both the theoretical foundation and the problematic point of departure for our conference.

Kant’s Critiques are not merely theoretical clarifications of the limits of human reason, but first and foremost a call to self-limitation and responsibility in the service of freedom and the dignity of the human person. In this sense, Kant’s well-known dicta – such as “It is a scandal to philosophy that it cannot prove the existence of things outside us” and “I had to deny knowledge in order to make room for faith” – should not be read as mere anecdotes, but as philosophically significant epistemological and ethical insights, by which Kant left a lasting imprint on Western thought.

At a time when the palpable achievements of science and technology are accompanied by global ethical challenges, traditional notions such as rationality, truth, and virtue are being called into question. It is precisely within this contested terrain of identity and values that Kant’s Critiques acquire renewed significance. Thus, our conference is not merely a jubilee dedicated to a great thinker, but an opportunity to reanimate Kant’s philosophy as a foundation for critically engaging with pressing questions and problems of our age.

Thematic Sections: The structure of the conference follows Kant’s division of philosophical questions. Each theme is developed in relation to one of the Critiques – of Pure Reason, of Practical Reason, and of the Power of Judgment – and encompasses theoretical, historical, and contemporary problems both within Kant’s own philosophy and in dialogue with other traditions and disciplines.

1. What can we know?

(inspired by the Critique of Pure Reason – limits and structure of knowledge)

This section will focus on Kant’s transcendental epistemology, his account of experience, the relation between the conceptual and the sensible, and the place of the subject in the cognitive process. It will address the boundary between the phenomenal and the noumenal, the status of space and time as a priori forms of intuition, as well as the role of synthetic a priori judgments in grounding science. The continuing relevance of Kant’s philosophy in the light of contemporary metaphysics and philosophy of science will be discussed, including its place within both analytic and phenomenological traditions.

2. What ought we to do?

(inspired by the Critique of Practical Reason – morality, freedom, and autonomy)

This section will examine questions of Kant’s moral philosophy: the idea of autonomy, the concept of duty, and the presupposition of freedom as a condition of the possibility of practical reasoning. The position of Kant’s ethics in relation to more recent moral theories – utilitarianism, virtue ethics, metaethics – will be explored, alongside the application of Kantian concepts in political and legal theory. Special emphasis will be placed on the transcendental status of the moral law and its role in the constitution of the practical subject.

3. What may we hope?

(inspired by the Critique of the Power of Judgment – aesthetics, teleology, and the meaning of history)

The third thematic section is devoted to Kant’s philosophy of nature, aesthetics, and history. It will examine judgments of taste and teleological judgments as distinct forms of subjective and normative reasoning. Emphasis will be placed on the status of aesthetic judgment in contemporary culture and the prospects for teleological thinking in biology and the sciences of the origins of life. Kant’s philosophy of history will also be addressed – in particular, his idea of progress as the realization of freedom – together with the problem of rational eschatology in a secular age.

Although these thematic sections provide the main framework of the conference, we also welcome contributions that do not fit neatly into this tripartite structure but address the legacy of Kant’s thought in innovative, interdisciplinary, and critical ways. The aim of the conference is to foster open exchange and to demonstrate, through a variety of approaches, the living actuality of Kant’s philosophy in today’s theoretical and cultural contexts.

Conference Scientific Committee
Three Centuries of Kant: Knowledge, Science, and Values