CFP: Humans in Nature. Perspectives from Classical German Philosophy, «Thaumàzein», Vol. 16, Issue 2, 2027

Thaumàzein, Vol. 16, Issue 2, 2027
Humans in Nature. Perspectives from Classical German Philosophy
Edited by Giulia Battistoni & Michael Quante
deadline: March 31, 2027 (title & abstract: November 1, 2026) 

Call for Abstracts

Contemporary discussions of nature mainly take place within a field marked by the dominance of models grounded in technology and the natural sciences. However, we also observe growing philosophical efforts to develop non-reductionist alternatives. Classical German Philosophy can be understood as contributing important conceptual resources to this second trajectory. Rather than conceiving human beings as external observers or masters of nature, this tradition develops models of the human-nature relation that emphasize organic continuity, mediation, and purposiveness, while also accounting for specifically human forms of reflexivity, freedom, and social practice. In this sense, Kant, Goethe, Schiller, Fichte, Schelling, Hegel, Feuerbach, and Marx articulate a family of approaches that remain systematically relevant today, insofar as they challenge reductionist paradigms and offer alternative ways of conceptualizing the human-nature relation and technological mediation.

From Kant and Fichte onward, nature is no longer understood merely as a mechanical domain, but also, as e.g. Schelling has emphasized, as the site of purposiveness and living organization. Goethe’s morphological thinking, being in the background, exemplifies this shift by conceiving natural and human forms as dynamic processes of transformation and self-formation. In Hegel, the relation between nature (Natur) and spirit (Geist) is further articulated within an organic and developmental framework. At the same time, it remains controversial whether and how biological human embodiment is thematized at the transition from Hegel’s Philosophy of Nature to his Anthropology. These debates point to broader ontological questions concerning the structural relation between human beings and nature, which become a main topic in Ludwig Feuerbach’s philosophical anthropology.

A complementary perspective emerges in Marx, whose metaphor of social metabolism (Stoffwechsel) conceptualizes human labor as a mediating process that both embeds social practice within natural cycles and transforms them. This framework is particularly relevant for understanding technologically mediated forms of production, addressing both the instrumentalization of nature and the ecological consequences of capitalist social relations.

This special issue of Thaumàzein invites contributions that systematically investigate the human-nature relation in light of the resources offered by Classical German Philosophy. We welcome papers that address this relation from aesthetic, ethical, epistemological, anthropological, and ontological viewpoints, as well as contributions that explore its contemporary relevance integrating an interdisciplinary perspective.

Invited contributors
Carl Friedrich Gethmann (Universität Münster)
Cristian Loos (Universität Göttingen)

Francesca Iannelli (Università Roma Tre)

Paola Giacomoni (Università di Trento)

Submission of the title and short abstract (4.000 characters max., in English, Italian or German): November 1, 2026 to the editors:
Giulia Battistoni ([email protected])
Michael Quante ([email protected])

Submission of full text (35.000 characters max. spaces included, in English, Italian or German): March 31, 2027 through OJS platform: https://rivista.thaumazein.it/index.php/thaum/about/submissions.

Please follow the formatting guidelines for authors: https://www.thaumazein.it/la-rivista/about-the-journal/formatting-guidelines/

Scheduled publication of the volume: December 2027.