CFP: Freedom, Action and Control: Conceptions of Rational Agency in Kant and the German Enlightenment

We are pleased to announce the Call for Abstracts for the online graduate conference Freedom, Action, and Control: Conceptions of Rational Agency in Kant and the German Enlightenment. The conference will be held on June 9-10, 2022. 

Keynote Speakers:

Andree Hahmann (Tsinghua University)

Markus Kohl (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

Colin McLear (University of Nebraska-Lincoln)

Submission Deadline: April 28, 2022

Recently, there has been a surge of interest in Kant’s conception of rational agency. In the last decade, interpreters of Kant have shed important light on some of his central concepts of rationality in thinking and action, ranging from self-consciousness and deliberation to transcendental freedom and autonomy. Additionally, a wide array of influential positions in contemporary philosophy—e.g., agentialist approaches to self-knowledge, or constitutivist strategies in metaethics—have claimed a (more or less pure) Kantian descent. Yet not many philosophers have also embarked on a mission to situate Kant’s views in the larger intellectual context of the German Enlightenment, an era imbued with reflections on human freedom and rationality. This conference aims to address this issue and invites contributions from graduate students on (i) Kant’s conception of rational agency, (ii) Kant’s relation to his contemporaries and predecessors, and (iii) the theories of the latter in their own right. 

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

Kant’s views on transcendental freedom and absolute spontaneity; the metaphysics of activity and action; theoretical and practical self-consciousness; reasoning and inference; theoretical and practical maxims; moral principles and deliberation; voluntary control; rational self-determination. Debates concerning rational agency in the 18th century (e.g., Wolff, Crusius, Meier, Tetens). 

We welcome abstract submissions (maximum 500 words, in English) from current graduate students, suitable for a 25-minute presentation (followed by 15 minutes of Q&A). To propose a paper, please submit your abstract prepared for blind review to [email protected] no later than April 28, 2022. Please include a second document with your name, institutional affiliation, and the title of the paper. We aim to inform successful applicants by May 2, 2022.

For any queries, please email [email protected]

Organizers: Tinca Prunea-Bretonnet and Cristian Vulpe.

The conference is organized within the research project Between Truth and Freedom: Enlightenment Answers to 'Thinking for Oneself’ (funded by UEFISCDI).