Workshop on “The Radical Demand in Løgstrup’s Ethics” by Robert Stern

How much does ethics demand of us? On what authority does it demand it? How does what ethics demand relate to other requirements, such as those of prudence, law, and social convention? Does ethics really demand anything at all? Questions of this sort lie at the heart of the work of the Danish philosopher and theologian K. E. Løgstrup (1905-1981), and in particular his key text The Ethical Demand (1956). In The Radical Demand in Løgstrup’s Ethics, Robert Stern offers a full account of that text, and situates Løgstrup’s distinctive position in relation to Kant, Kierkegaard, Levinas, Darwall and Luther.

Professor Stern is a professor of philosophy at the University of Sheffield. His main interests in the history of philosophy are 19th-century post-Kantian German philosophy, especially Hegel. In contemporary philosophy, he focuses on epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and political philosophy. His current work centres around the Danish philosopher and theologian K. E. Løgstrup, as well as around Martin Luther viewed from a philosophical perspective. His most recent publications include The Radical Demand in Løgstrup’s Ethics (OUP, 2019), Kantian Ethics: Value, Agency, and Obligation(OUP, 2015), and Understanding Moral Obligation: Kant, Hegel, Kierkegaard (CUP, 2012).