We are glad to announce the 4th event of the DFG Research Network on Classical German Anthropologies, which will take place at the University of Padova from September 30th to October 2nd, 2025.
The workshop will explore the topic “Anthropology in History: Classical German Perspectives”.
Contacts: classicalgermananthropologies@gmail.com.
Website, info and mailing list: classicalgermananthropologies.com.
Coordinators: Julia Peters (Heidelberg), Luca Corti (Padua), Johannes-Georg Schülein (Bochum).
Please find the program of the workshop below and at this link.
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About the network
The aim of this network is to collaboratively develop a new perspective on classical German philosophy. The basic idea is that the philosophy of Kant and post-Kantian authors is, among other things, profoundly inspired by ‘anthropology’, namely by reflections exploring the distinctly human point of view. Historically, the term “anthropology” (Anthropologie) gained unprecedented traction in Germany within the period between XVIII and XIX century. “Anthropologie” meant different things to different people: it referred to various competing approaches investigating human mindedness and cognition, which involved disciplines as diverse such as physiology, medicine, comparative anatomy and philosophy. However, the views –– and the controversies– developed in that context profoundly shaped the reflection of classical authors on key topics: body, mindedness, human capacities, natural constitutions and the place of the human being within nature.
In bringing together an international group of experts, this network seeks to jointly establish the research area of Classical German Anthropology and point out what we can learn from it for current debates on what it means to be a human being.
Program
Tuesday, September 30th
Kant: Anthropology and History
09:30-11:00
DS Kant’s Pragmatic Anthropology and Progress
(Intro: Luigi Filieri, Pisa)
11:30-13:00
DS Kant and the Idea of Universal History from a Cosmopolitan Point of View
(Intro: Julia Peters, Heidelberg)
14:30-16:00
DS Kant’s Conjectures on the Beginning of Human History
(Intro: Giovanna Luciano, Padua)
Wednesday, October 1st
Post-Kantian Conceptions of Historical Anthropology I
09:30-11:00
DS Fichte and the History of Humanity
(Intro: Hannes Schülein, Bochum)
11:30-13:00
DS Spirit struggling against itself: Hegel on the preconditions of history
(Intro: Jonas Heller, Frankfurt)
14:30–16:00
DS Life, Habit, and Bildung: Anthropological and Natural Foundations of Hegel’s Philosophy of History
(Intro: Luca Corti, Padua)
16:30–18:00
PL Anthropology and History in Herder’s Abhandlung
(Christoph Bouton, Bordeaux)
Thursday, October 2nd
Post-Kantian Conceptions of Historical Anthropology II
09:30–11:00
DS Progress and Humanity: Marx and Hegel
(Intro: Markus Gante, Potsdam)
11:30–12:30
DS Marx: Anthropology and History
(Intro: Christoph Schuringa, London)
12:30–13:15
RS Final Discussion and Network Reflections
