14th International Summer School in German Philosophy: The Good in German Idealism

This year’s Summer School will focus on a central issue in value theory: the good. We will explore some of the major conceptions of the good in German Idealism, starting from Kant’s conception of the highest good and its post-Kantian reception and transformation in Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel. One of the guiding threads of our discussion will be how freedom as self-determination is possible in light of an ontological notion of the good. Can we reconcile the idea of the good as determining
the value of an action, character, or even a whole form of life with the notion of freedom as radical self-determination? Is it possible to spell out a concept of the will as both self-positing (autonomous) and oriented towards a highest good that cannot be thought of as in any way produced by us (as individuals or historical, social collectives of any kind)?

Seminarleiter: Prof. Dr. Markus Gabriel (Bonn), Prof. Dr. Nicholas Stang (Toronto), Prof. Dr. Karl Schafer (UT Austin)

Keynotes: Prof. Dr. Alexander T. Englert (Princeton), Prof. Dr. Karin Nisenbaum (Syracuse), Prof. Dr. Andrea Kern (Leipzig)

To register, please send a CV and brief statement of interest by 25.07 to Dr. Alex Englander (alexeng@uni-bonn.de)