Program
The XI Multilateral Kant Colloquium on the theme of Enlightenment: Science and Ethics offers a diverse and interdisciplinary program, delving into key aspects of Enlightenment thought. The conference will explore critical topics such as the relationship between Enlightenment and religion. Sessions on law, education, art, and politics will explore how Kant’s philosophy has influenced societal structures. Contemporary issues are also covered, including fake news, conspiracy theories, and the implications of global warming from a Kantian perspective. Special attention is given to gender, race, and the relevance of Enlightenment ideals in Latin America, linking historical concepts to current global challenges, such as cosmopolitanism and irrationality in modern discourse. This rich variety of topics promises to foster deep discussions on how Enlightenment principles continue to influence modern scientific, ethical, and social practices.
Main Speakers
Prof. Dr. Alix Cohen
University of Notre Dame
USA
Prof. Dr. Heiner Klemme
Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg Germany
Prof. Dr. Helga Varden
University of Illinois
USA
Prof. Dr. Luigi Caranti
University of Catania
Italy
Prof. Dr. Patrícia Kauark Leite
Federal University of Minas Gerais
Brazil
Conferences
The conference program brings together international scholars to explore the theme Enlightenment: Science and Ethics from a variety of philosophical perspectives. Most presentations focus on Kant’s contributions to the Enlightenment and their contemporary relevance, addressing central topics such as autonomy, public reason, cosmopolitanism, scientific rationality, moral self-knowledge, and the ethical and political dimensions of Enlightenment thought.
In addition to these Kant-centered sessions, the program features a special section dedicated to Christian Wolff’s Universal Practical Philosophy and Its Reception in the German Context. This section highlights Wolff’s influence on the development of Enlightenment ideas in Germany, especially in the areas of ethics, natural law, and the rational foundations of moral and political life. By examining the connections and contrasts between Wolff and Kant—on issues such as self-deception, parrhesia, and the grounding of moral principles—the colloquium expands its reflection on the Enlightenment beyond Kant's critical philosophy, offering a richer understanding of the period's intellectual landscape.
Together, these conferences aim to foster a comprehensive and critical engagement with the Enlightenment as both a historical phenomenon and a continuing philosophical project.
* Below are the confirmed speakers and the provisional titles of their lectures. The full program will be released in due course, closer to the date of the event.
Immanuel Kant Session
Enlightenment: Science and Ethics
The conference program brings together international scholars to explore the theme "Enlightenment: Science and Ethics" from a variety of philosophical perspectives. Most presentations focus on Kant’s contributions to the Enlightenment and their contemporary relevance, addressing central topics such as autonomy, public reason, cosmopolitanism, scientific rationality, moral self-knowledge, and the ethical and political dimensions of Enlightenment thought.
Kant on Enlightenment and Self-Thinking
Achim Vesper
Goethe University Frankfurt
Germany
Kant on the Conditions of Enlightenment in Times of Obscurantism
Alix Cohen
University of Notre Dame
USA
Kant, Enlightenment, and the Ethics of Belief
Andrew Chignell
Princeton University
USA
Cosmopolitanism in the German Enlightenment: A Perspective Before Kant
Bruno Leonardo Cunha
Federal University of São João del-Rei (UFSJ)
Brazil
Por que mentir é contrário ao dever?
Cinara Nahra
Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN)
Brazil
Kant's Slavery and Enlightenment
Corinna Mieth
Ruhr University Bochum (Universität Bochum)
Germany
O lugar da elucidação da sensibilidade na Antropología pragmática para o projeto político do esclarecimento kantiano
Daniel Omar Perez
University of Campinas (UNICAMP)
Brazil
Kant e Meiners: o esclarecimento em disputa
Daniel Tourinho Peres
Federal University of Bahia (UFBA)
Brazil
A Priori Moral Knowledge?
Darlei Dall’Agnol
Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC)
Brazil
Para uma interpretação jurídica do suposto direito de mentir para salvar alguém: três leituras
Delamar José Volpato Dutra
Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC)
Brazil
A Doutrina do Direito de Kant no contexto do Esclarecimento alemão
Diego Kosbiau Trevisan
Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC)
Brazil
Esclarecimento e anonimato: por uma esfera pública não egotista
Emanuele Tredanaro
Federal University of Lavras (UFLA)
Brazil
Enlightenment and Method, the Method of Enlightenment
Gabriele Gava
University of Turin
Italy
O problema da passagem. Kant e o opus postumum
Giorgia Cecchinato
Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG)
Brazil
What Do We Depend On? Kant on the Sources and Limits of Autonomy
Heiner Klemme
Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg
Germany
Enlightenment and Politics
Helga Varden
University of Illinois
USA
A noção de forma na terceira Crítica de Kant
Isabel Coelho Fragelli
University of São Paulo (USP)
Brazil
Kant's "Realm of Ends" (Reich der Zwecke) and the Enlightenment
Jean-Christophe Merle
University of Vechta (Universität Vechta)
Germany
Esclarecimento e projeto de uma educação científica: caso do aquecimento global e das mudanças climáticas
Joel Thiago Klein
Federal University of Paraná (UFPR)
Brazil
Ética e esclarecimento no contexto da concepção kantiana dos deveres para consigo mesmo
Julio Cesar Ramos Esteves
Federal University of Fronteira Sul (UFFR)
Brazil
What Is Enlightenment Today?
Luigi Caranti
University of Catania
Italy
Resposta à pergunta: o que é o Esclarecimento na Filosofia da Lógica de Kant?
Luís Eduardo Ramos de Souza
Federal University of Pará (UFPA)
Brazil
Natural Purposiveness and Its Problems: A Comparative Analysis of Kant's Views on Drives and Races
Manja Kisner
Radboud University
Netherlands
Educação, antropologia e cosmopolitismo em Kant
Marcos Cesar Seneda
Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU)
Brazil
Kant's Enlightenment in Music
Maria de Lourdes Alves Borges
Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC)
Brazil
Kant sobre a felicidade
Marilia Lopes de Figueiredo do Espirito Santo
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)
Brazil
Enlightenment Perspectives: Alterity in the Context of the Cosmopolitan Concepts of Kant and Benhabib
Marita Rainsborough
Leuphana University of Lüneburg
Germany
Kant, Enlightenment and Universal Basic Income
Martin Sticker
University of Bristol
United Kingdom
A ética de Kant e problemas morais coletivos
Milene Consenso Tonetto
Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC)
Brazil
Kant, Reflexivity and Artificial Intelligence
Nythamar de Oliveira
Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS)
Brazil
A caixa preta da faculdade da imaginação em Kant e suas chaves
Olavo Calabria Pimenta
Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU)
Brazil
Kant e o método de construção de conceitos nos Princípios metafísicos da ciência da natureza
Orlando Bruno Linhares
Mackenzie Presbyterian University
Brazil
The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters: Kant on Enlightenment and Self-Deception
Pablo Muchnik
Emerson College
USA
Esclarecimento poiético e ciência
Patrícia Kauark Leite
Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG)
Brazil
Enlightenment and the Foundation of Peace: On the Pacifism of Critical Philosophy
Paulo Jesus
University of Lisbon
Portugal
Kant e a razão imoral
Pedro Costa Rego
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)
Brazil
On the Impossibility of Kantbots
Robert Hanna
Independent philosopher
USA
A influência de Cícero na linguagem da moral kantiana
Robinson dos Santos
Federal University of Pelotas (UFPEL)
Brazil
Razão como orientação do pensamento no que não se pode conhecer
Sílvia Altmann
Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)
Brazil
"Disposição natural", "autogeração", "pré-formação genérica": a peculiaridade da posição kantiana
Ubirajara Marques
São Paulo State University (UNESP)
Brazil
Hölderlin e Kant: filosofia e poesia no idealismo alemão
Ulisses Razzante Vaccari
Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC)
Brazil
Christian Wolff Session
Christian Wolff’s Universal Practical Philosophy and Its Reception in the German Context
For Wolff, universal practical philosophy is the foundational discipline grounding ethics, politics, economics, and natural law. Although Wolffianism was the dominant movement in the second quarter of 18th century German philosophy, the connections between Wolff’s three presentations of his universal practical philosophy remain understudied. The aim of this joint project of the State University of Londrina (UEL) and Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), which is financed by Fundação Araucária and DAAD (also CNPq), is to explore the relationship between these presentations and their influence on the development of practical philosophy up to Kant. It promises to offer a more nuanced perspective on previously neglected figures and a more comprehensive account of the development of 18th century ethics. This section presents the project and its various sub-projects in more detail.