[PHILOS-L] Kant and Herder: Talks by Nigel DeSouza and Rachel Zuckert (November 14, Leuven Seminar in Classical German Philosophy)
11 views
Skip to first unread message
Karin de Boer
Nov 10, 2024, 6:51:44 AM11/10/24
to PHIL...@liverpool.ac.uk
Leuven Seminar in Classical German Philosophy:
TWO TALKS AND DISCUSSION ON KANT AND HERDER:
The philosophy of life: Herder, Kant, and the cognitive scientific theory of enactivism
Nigel DeSouza (University of Ottawa)
The Herder-Kant Debate on Reason and Purposes Revisited
Rachel Zuckert (Northwestern University)
November 14, 5.00-7.00 pm CET (Zoom)
During this session, Nigel DeSouza and Rachel Zuckert will present short papers on Kant and Herder, followed by a dialogue between the speakers and Q&A.
Abstracts
The philosophy of life: Herder, Kant, and the cognitive scientific theory of enactivism
The underlying philosophical issues motivating this paper have to do with the conceptualization of biological life in general, and of human life in particular, and with the question of how we come to know life. In the first and second parts, I consider, respectively, Herder’s and Kant’s differing philosophical frameworks for conceptualizing the relationship between matter and life. Key here are their differing conceptions of the soul-body relationship. I also touch upon Herder’s understanding of how life and embodiment constitutively relate to cognition. In the third part, I turn to the contemporary theory of enactivism as articulated by Evan Thompson and to his analysis of the extent to which Kant anticipated an enactivist model of life. Finally, I argue that Herder anticipated an enactivist model of life precisely in those ways in which Kant failed to do so.
The Herder-Kant Debate on Reason and Purposes Revisited
Johann Gottfried Herder, a deeply appreciative student of Kant’s, became, later in his career, one of Kant’s fiercest debate partners. Partially on the basis of Kant’s cutting reviews of the first two volumes of Herder’s Ideas towards a History of Humankind, Herder has often been considered a Counter-Enlightenment figure vindicating the claims of emotion, poetry, tradition, and religion against cold, abstract, and revolutionary reason. By contrast, Kant is often understood as a central Enlightenment figure who vindicated the value of reason. For some time, however, scholars have argued that Herder’s reputation as a Counter-Enlightenment figure is overdrawn. In this paper I aim to contribute to that reevaluation by treating Herder’s criticism of Kant’s conception of reason – as insufficiently appreciative of the value of reason – in his Metakritik. I will argue that Herder shares many of Kant’s commitments concerning the character of reason, most importantly its end-directedness and the primacy of practical reason. Their disagreement concerns, then, not the value of reason as such, but more complex territory, namely their respective naturalism and anti-naturalism concerning purposes or ends. For Kant, reason autonomously generates ends sui generis, while for Herder, such ends pre-exist reason, as a framework set by nature directing reason’s activity and providing a standard for its success.
Please register through the website in order to receive the Zoom link. Events are recorded and made available on the YouTube platform of the research group.
Website: https://hiw.kuleuven.be/cmprpc/events/leuvenseminarinclassicalgermanphilosophy
Email: classicalger...@kuleuven.be
Organizers: Karin de Boer, Luis Fellipe Garcia, Manuel Tangorra, and Pierpaolo Betti
Philos-L "The Liverpool List" is run by the Department of Philosophy, University of Liverpool https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/philosophy/philos-l/
Messages to the list are archived at http://listserv.liv.ac.uk/archives/philos-l.html. Recent posts can also be read in a Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/PhilosL/
Follow the list on Twitter @PhilosL. Follow the Department of Philosophy @LiverpoolPhilos
To sign off the list send a blank message to philos-l-unsub...@liverpool.ac.uk.
TWO TALKS AND DISCUSSION ON KANT AND HERDER:
The philosophy of life: Herder, Kant, and the cognitive scientific theory of enactivism
Nigel DeSouza (University of Ottawa)
The Herder-Kant Debate on Reason and Purposes Revisited
Rachel Zuckert (Northwestern University)
November 14, 5.00-7.00 pm CET (Zoom)
During this session, Nigel DeSouza and Rachel Zuckert will present short papers on Kant and Herder, followed by a dialogue between the speakers and Q&A.
Abstracts
The philosophy of life: Herder, Kant, and the cognitive scientific theory of enactivism
The underlying philosophical issues motivating this paper have to do with the conceptualization of biological life in general, and of human life in particular, and with the question of how we come to know life. In the first and second parts, I consider, respectively, Herder’s and Kant’s differing philosophical frameworks for conceptualizing the relationship between matter and life. Key here are their differing conceptions of the soul-body relationship. I also touch upon Herder’s understanding of how life and embodiment constitutively relate to cognition. In the third part, I turn to the contemporary theory of enactivism as articulated by Evan Thompson and to his analysis of the extent to which Kant anticipated an enactivist model of life. Finally, I argue that Herder anticipated an enactivist model of life precisely in those ways in which Kant failed to do so.
The Herder-Kant Debate on Reason and Purposes Revisited
Johann Gottfried Herder, a deeply appreciative student of Kant’s, became, later in his career, one of Kant’s fiercest debate partners. Partially on the basis of Kant’s cutting reviews of the first two volumes of Herder’s Ideas towards a History of Humankind, Herder has often been considered a Counter-Enlightenment figure vindicating the claims of emotion, poetry, tradition, and religion against cold, abstract, and revolutionary reason. By contrast, Kant is often understood as a central Enlightenment figure who vindicated the value of reason. For some time, however, scholars have argued that Herder’s reputation as a Counter-Enlightenment figure is overdrawn. In this paper I aim to contribute to that reevaluation by treating Herder’s criticism of Kant’s conception of reason – as insufficiently appreciative of the value of reason – in his Metakritik. I will argue that Herder shares many of Kant’s commitments concerning the character of reason, most importantly its end-directedness and the primacy of practical reason. Their disagreement concerns, then, not the value of reason as such, but more complex territory, namely their respective naturalism and anti-naturalism concerning purposes or ends. For Kant, reason autonomously generates ends sui generis, while for Herder, such ends pre-exist reason, as a framework set by nature directing reason’s activity and providing a standard for its success.
Please register through the website in order to receive the Zoom link. Events are recorded and made available on the YouTube platform of the research group.
Website: https://hiw.kuleuven.be/cmprpc/events/leuvenseminarinclassicalgermanphilosophy
Email: classicalger...@kuleuven.be
Organizers: Karin de Boer, Luis Fellipe Garcia, Manuel Tangorra, and Pierpaolo Betti
Philos-L "The Liverpool List" is run by the Department of Philosophy, University of Liverpool https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/philosophy/philos-l/
Messages to the list are archived at http://listserv.liv.ac.uk/archives/philos-l.html. Recent posts can also be read in a Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/PhilosL/
Follow the list on Twitter @PhilosL. Follow the Department of Philosophy @LiverpoolPhilos
To sign off the list send a blank message to philos-l-unsub...@liverpool.ac.uk.
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages