Call for Abstracts for the Kant and Hegel Reading Party
\nPostgraduate students and early-career scholars are invited to submit anonymised abstracts of no longer than \;500 wordsby email to Peter Moser (pkm3@st-andrews.ac.uk) by the \;18th \;of May. Abstracts should be submitted in PDF format and prepared for blind review by removing all identifying details. Please include in your email your institutional affiliation and contact details. Authors will be notified by the \;8th \;of June \;about the acceptance of their paper. Please indicate in your email if you would like to participate in the Reading Party regardless of whether your paper is accepted. Papers should be suitable for a presentation of \;40 minutes. We welcome submissions that fall within this year&rsquo\;s selected theme (i.e. Kant and Hegel&rsquo\;s Philosophy of Law)\, and preference will be given to papers that bear on the questions listed below.
\nThe Theme
\nIn the Doctrine of Right and in other writings\, Kant tries to give an account of a legal system that is valid according to the principles of pure practical reason. For Kant\, the philosophy of right\, as opposed to ethics\, concerns the actualisation of the free will in the world. His Universal Principle of Right states that &ldquo\;Any action is right if it can coexist with everyone&rsquo\;s freedom in accordance with a universal law.&rdquo\; (6:230) From this principle\, Kant derives a rich system of rights\, not guaranteed in a state of nature\, that must be secured by entering into the civil condition. Hegel raises a number of objections to the way Kant goes about arguing for his system of rights and to Kant&rsquo\;s practical philosophy more generally. Most famously\, Hegel&rsquo\;s empty formalism objection states that a formal principle cannot furnish determinate duties or obligations. As regards the sphere of right\, Hegel argues that the rationality of a legal system cannot be established by applying a formal principle from the outside but must be understood as already existing within the \;Sittlichkeit\, or ethical life\, of an actual community. At the reading party this year we will consider how these different methodological approaches bear on the four following questions:
\n1. What makes a state morally valid and necessary?
\n2. On what grounds can property rights be claimed?
\n3. What is the philosophical basis for criminal punishment?
\n4. What are the foundations of international law\, and what principles should govern the relation between states?
\nThe Kant in Progress Workshop
\nOn the day following the Reading Party (28 July)\, back in St Andrews we will host the "Kant in Progress" Colloquium. \;The &ldquo\;Kant in Progress&rdquo\; Workshop is open to all participants of the Reading Party and aims to provide an additional opportunity for paper presentations that do not necessarily fall within the theme of the Reading Party. \;Postgraduate students and early-career scholars are invited to submit anonymised abstracts of no longer than \;500 words \;by email to Peter Moser (pkm3@st-andrews.ac.uk) by the \;18th \;of May.
ORGANIZER;CN=Peter Moser;CN=Jens Timmermann: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260508T152151Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260724T090000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260727T170000 SUMMARY:The St Andrews Kant Reading Party 2026: Topics in Kant and Hegel's Philosophy of Law UID:20260513T032915Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@philevents-web-6b96c54f56-bljdq TZID:Europe/London LOCATION:The Burn House\, Brechin\, United Kingdom DESCRIPTION:It is our pleasure to invite you to the 16th St Andrews Kant Reading Party. The event will take place from 24 to 27 July 2026 at \;The Burn \;in Angus\, to be followed by a one-day &lsquo\;Kant in Progress&rsquo\; workshop at the University of St Andrews on 28 July 2026.
\nThe Kant Reading Party is an annual academic retreat in the Scottish Highlands bringing together graduate students and scholars from around the world to discuss the works of Immanuel Kant and another prominent philosopher. In 2026\, we will discuss Kant and Hegel's Philosophy of Law.
\nThe Reading Party involves a combination of discussion sessions\, which are based on pre-circulated readings\, and papers given by graduate students and early-career scholars. Participants will also have the opportunity to attend to their own work and engage in leisure activities in The Burn&rsquo\;s many indoor and outdoor facilities. In addition\, there will be one or more hiking parties in the surrounding area.
\nThe Theme:
\nIn the Doctrine of Right and in other writings\, Kant tries to give an account of a legal system that is valid according to the principles of pure practical reason. For Kant\, the philosophy of right\, as opposed to ethics\, concerns the actualisation of the free will in the world. His Universal Principle of Right states that &ldquo\;Any action is right if it can coexist with everyone&rsquo\;s freedom in accordance with a universal law.&rdquo\; (6:230) From this principle\, Kant derives a rich system of rights\, not guaranteed in a state of nature\, that must be secured by entering into the civil condition. Hegel raises a number of objections to the way Kant goes about arguing for his system of rights and to Kant&rsquo\;s practical philosophy more generally. Most famously\, Hegel&rsquo\;s empty formalism objection states that a formal principle cannot furnish determinate duties or obligations. As regards the sphere of right\, Hegel argues that the rationality of a legal system cannot be established by applying a formal principle from the outside but must be understood as already existing within the \;Sittlichkeit\, or ethical life\, of an actual community. At the reading party this year we will consider how these different methodological approaches bear on the four following questions:
\n1. What makes a state morally valid and necessary?
\n2. On what grounds can property rights be claimed?
\n3. What is the philosophical basis for criminal punishment?
\n4. What are the foundations of international law\, and what principles should govern the relation between states?
\nRegistration Process
\nWe invite registration for participation from all interested parties. Participation does not require the presentation of a paper. Since the number of places is limited\, the registration process will be divided into two steps:
\n(1) \; \; \;Informal registration: please register with us your intent to participate as early as possible by sending an email including your name and institutional affiliation\, and a brief expression of interest (2-3 lines) to Peter Moser (pkm3@st-andrews.ac.uk) by the \;1st \;of June. \;
\n(2) \; \; \;Payment: selected participants will be given instructions on how to make the online fee payment. This will count as formal registration.
\nAcknowledgements
\nThe St Andrews Kant Reading Party 2026 is brought to you with generous support from the Department of Philosophy at the University of St Andrews\, the St Andrews Centre for Philosophy and Public Affairs\, the MIND Association\, the UK Kant Society\, and the Scots Philosophical Association.
ORGANIZER;CN=Peter Moser;CN=Jens Timmermann: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260508T152151Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260804T090000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260806T170000 SUMMARY:Energy Ethics 2026: Infrastructures of Energy UID:20260513T032916Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@philevents-web-6b96c54f56-bljdq TZID:Europe/London LOCATION:Younger Hall\, Saint Andrews\, United Kingdom DESCRIPTION:Confronted with the climate crisis coupled with ambitions for first-mover positions in new Net Zero markets\, many countries have embarked on energy transitions that move away from a reliance on fossil fuels towards more decarbonised energy systems. At the same time\, we are seeing policy u-turns on climate policies and targets\, societal challenges to energy transitions\, and investors&rsquo\; return to fossil fuel prospects.
\nEnergy transitions have now become intense and urgent topics for debate.
\nWhile fossil fuels and nuclear have long been associated with the deepening of structural inequalities and injustices\, there is also a growing critical engagement with renewables\, due to their continued reliance on resources\, capitalist circuits of investment\, and links to mining via the critical minerals they require. Some scholars emphasise how the language of &lsquo\;transition&rsquo\; unhelpfully communicate a fallacious idea of a break\, moving from one kind of energy source to another. Other scholars highlight how our infrastructures of energy embed choices and decisions\, value and values.
\nAt the same time\, the political positionings of anthropologists have become stronger\, perhaps related to heightening political polarisation\, the vulnerabilities laid bare by Covid-19\, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza\, the enrolment of social scientists into large energy infrastructure projects\, popularist politics\, and much more. Recognising infrastructures of energy&rsquo\;s extensive and multi-dimensional entanglements in contemporary life\, it is ever-more urgent that we reflect on our interlocutors&rsquo\; and our own ethical imaginations and politics of energy.
\nEE2026 asks: What is at stake in our infrastructures of energy? How can change come about? What visions of human and other flourishing are favoured in our infrastructures of energy?
ORGANIZER: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR