Event
Kantian and Postkantian Political Philosophy / Lecture Series & Specialist Course
Lecture Series & Doctoral School at Ghent University (website)
The need of critical revisiting the legacy of 18th and 19th German Philosophy, one of the most fruitful periods in German Philosophy, lies not only in the fact that the central problems of contemporary political philosophy are implicitly or explicitly related to the legacy of the philosophices of Kant, Fichte and Hegel, but first and foremost in the reductionist and one-sided dominant interpretations of this philosophies, according to which the political philosophies of Kant, Fichte and Hegel are nothing but representatives of Eurocentrism, racism, totalitarism and anti-democratic visions of social life. An approach to these philosophies, free from contemporary prejudices or preconceptions, will contribute to a deconstruction of the mentioned current interpretations.
The programme presents two kinds of activities: workshops and lectures followed by discussion. The workshops will be conducted by members of the Centre for Critical Philosophy (dir. Prof. Dr. G. Van De Vijver). They lead a workshop on a subject related to the lecture of one of the invited specialists that takes place later that evening. The workshop meetings serve thus as an introduction and preparation of the PhD students for the specialists’ lecture. In doing so, we are convinced of promoting free, productive, critical and high-level discussions with the specialists. The lectures will be given by five internationally acknowledeged and celebrated scholars of the study on Kantian and Postkantian Political Philosophy.
Their respective works show that they share the same interest in developing innovative interpretations as well as in reconstructing, historically and systematically, the constellation of German Political Philosophy between 1770 and 1830. They have very different philosophical backgrounds, some come from the continental tradition, others from analytical philosophy, some have been formed in the 20th Century German tradition in writing History of Philosophy, some follow rather a French perspective. To offer to the PhD Students this diversity of approaches is one of the principal aims of our proposal.
Programme
Thursday, 28 November 2013
16:00-18:00: Doctoral workshop with Prof. G. Van de Vijver (Ugent) and Dr. E. Acosta (Ugent/FWO)
19:30-21:30: Lecture by Prof. J.-Ch. Merle (Universität des Saarlandes): The right of necessity in Kant’s Doctrine of Right: A New Perspective
Thursday, 12 December 2013
- 16:00-18:00: Doctoral workshop with Prof. G. Van de Vijver (UGent) and Dr. E. Acosta (UGent/FWO)
- 19:30-21:30: Lecture by Prof. D. James (University of Warwick): Fichtes absolute state constraint and perfectibility
Thursday, 16 January 2014
- 16:00-18:00: Doctoral workshop with Prof. G. Van de Vijver (UGent) and Dr. E. Acosta (UGent/FWO)
- 19:30-21:30: Lecture by Prof. M. Maesschalck (Université Catholique de Louvain): New reading of Schelling’s late political philosophy. Agamben’s hypothesis on the theologico-political tradition.
Thursday, 23 January 2014
- 16:00-18:00: Doctoral workshop with Prof. G. Van de Vijver (UGent) and Dr. E. Acosta (UGent/FWO)
- 19:30-21:30: Lecture by Prof. P. Kleingeld (Universiteit Groningen): Kant’s second thoughts on colonialism
Thursday, 13 February 2014
- 16:00-18:00: Doctoral workshop with Prof. G. Van de Vijver (UGent) and Dr. E. Acosta (UGent/FWO)
- 19:30-21:30: Lecture by Prof. P. Cobben (Tilburg University): Hegels Phenomenology of Spirit: Explicating the Practical Dimension of the Copernican Turn
Registration
Participation in all evening lectures is free.
To participate in the Doctoral School (workshops and evening lectures), send an e-mail to doctoralschools@UGent.be (mentioning your name, first name, student number, Doctoral School, Department and the course title). Your registration will be confirmed by e-mail.
Participants can download the workshop texts here: