Projects

More about the Kant-Center

The center collaborates on multiple research projects in a cooperative manner, with the overarching question of how Kantian responses to contemporary socio-political issues might be formulated. Researchers specializing in Kant at the participating universities each focus on different societal questions.

For instance, the 14th International Kant Congress was organized by the Institute of Philosophy at the University of Bonn and the Kant Gesellschaft e.V. (Germany). In commemoration of Kant’s 300th birthday and in light of current political developments, the congress theme was “Kant’s Project of Enlightenment”. [https://www.kant2024.uni-bonn.de/de]

Additionally, the “Digital Kant Lectures” take place on the last Wednesday of each month from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (sharp) via Webex. Further information and registration options can be found at [https://kant-zentrum-nrw.de/digital-kant-lectures/]. Recordings of these lectures are available at [https://www.youtube.com/@digitales_kant-zentrum_nrw].

Website link:
[https://kant-zentrum-nrw.de/](https://kant-zentrum-nrw.de/)

Contacts in Bonn:
– Rainer Schäfer: [schaef1@uni-bonn.de]
– Christoph Horn: [horn@uni-bonn.de]

Institutions:
– University of Bonn
– University of Bochum
– University of Cologne
– University of Siegen

Ministry for Culture and Science

More Information
Markus Gabriel
Prof. Dr. Markus Gabriel bei der Vorstellung seines Buches 'Der Sinn des Denkens' in der Stadtbibliothek. Köln, 21.11.2018

Prof. Dr. Markus Gabriel

Lehrstuhl für Erkenntnistheorie, Philosophie der Neuzeit und Gegenwart
Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn

Mail:

  • Der Mensch im Mythos. Untersuchungen über Ontotheologie, Anthropologie und     Selbstbewußtseinsgeschichte in Schellings Philosophie der Mythologie, Berlin/New York: de Gruyter 2006.
  • Das Absolute und die Welt in Schellings Freiheitsschrift, Bonn: University Press 2006 (ital. in: Markus Gabriel/Wolfram Hogrebe: Predicazione e Genesi / L’assoluto e il mondo, übers. von Simone L. Maestrone, Torino: Rosenberg & Sellier 2012, S. 125-174).
  • Antike und moderne Skepsis zur Einführung, Hamburg: Junius 2008.
  • An den Grenzen der Erkenntnistheorie. Die notwendige Endlichkeit des Wissens als Lektion des Skeptizismus, Freiburg/München: Alber 2008.
  • Skeptizismus und Idealismus in der Antike, Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp 2009 (engl. Skepticism and Idealism in Ancient Philosophy, Oxford: University Press 2013).
  • Mythology, Madness, and Laughter: Subjectivity in German Idealism, mit Slavoj Žižek, New York/London: Continuum 2009 (port. Mitologia, loucura e riso. A subjetividade no idealismo alemão, übers. von Silvia Pimenta Velloso Rocha, Rio de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira 2012).
  • Transcendental Ontology: Essays in German Idealism, New York/London: Continuum 2011.
  • Il senso dell’esistenza. Per un nuovo realismo ontologico, Prefazione di Maurizio Ferraris, Roma: Carocci 2012 (port. O sentido da existência, Rio de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira 2013).
  • Die Erkenntnis der Welt. Eine Einführung in die Erkenntnistheorie, Freiburg/München: Alber 2012.
  • Warum es die Welt nicht gibt, Berlin: Ullstein 2013 (Hörbuch, Komplett-Media 2013).

Institute for Philosophy and the New Humanities (IPNH)

The Institute for Philosophy and the New Humanities (IPNH) was established in collaboration with The New School and with the generous support of the Udo Keller Foundation. Its aim is to provide students and scholars from various institutions with an opportunity for intensive exchange on current issues in contemporary philosophy and the humanities. As part of five-day seminars held annually in the fall at The New School for Social Research in New York, the institute creates a space for academic dialogue, cooperation, and interdisciplinary work.

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More about the IPNH

The founding of the IPNH is based on the premise that genuine knowledge, truth, and objectivity are not confined to any single discipline or method. The concepts used to understand and evaluate cultural and scientific achievements must therefore be placed in a broad social, political, and intellectual context and viewed from a truly interdisciplinary perspective.

The IPNH aims to bring together researchers from various disciplines to collectively draw on the resources of philosophy, social sciences, and the humanities. In doing so, it seeks to develop a transdisciplinary understanding of the nature and goals of these disciplines, enabling them to address the challenges posed by increasingly imported models of thought from other fields.

Past Events:
– Autumn School 2020 – “Artificial Intelligence and the Human” (19.10.–23.10.2020)
– Autumn School 2021 – “Objectivity in the Humanities” (25.10.–29.10.2021)
– Autumn School 2022 – “AI: The Act of Interpretation” (26.09.–30.09.2022)
– Autumn School 2023 – “Mind-Dependent Artifacts: Artifact-Dependent Minds” (11.09.–15.09.2023)
– Autumn School 2024 – “Limits of Intelligence: Meaning and Value” (30.09.–04.10.2024)

Video Collection of All Keynotes:
– Autumn School 2020 – “Artificial Intelligence and the Human” [https://ipnh.newschool.org/2020/07/01/artificial-intelligence-and-the-human/]
– Autumn School 2021 – “Objectivity in the Humanities” [https://ipnh.newschool.org/2020/07/07/objectivity-in-the-humanities/]
– Autumn School 2022 – “AI: The Act of Interpretation” [https://ipnh.newschool.org/2022/12/26/ai-the-act-of-interpretation/]
– Autumn School 2023 – “Mind-Dependent Artifacts: Artifact-Dependent Minds” [https://ipnh.newschool.org/2023/05/10/mind-dependent-artifacts-artifact-dependent-minds/]
– Autumn School 2024 – “Limits of Intelligence: Meaning and Value” [https://ipnh.newschool.org/2024/06/27/limits-of-intelligence-meaning-and-value/]

Project Leadership:
– Markus Gabriel (Bonn)
– Paul Kottman (New York)
– Zed Adams (New York)

Project Staff at IZPH:
– Alex Englander [alexeng@uni-bonn.de]
– Jan Voosholz [voosholz@uni-bonn.de]

Website Link:
The homepage of the IPNH can be found here.

Institutions:
– University of Bonn
– The New School for Social Research
– Udo Keller Foundation Forum Humanum

Buchreihe: Reality and Hermeneutics: Studies in the New Humanities

As part of the strategic networking of the humanities in Bonn, the profile of the *Bonn Studies in the New Humanities* has been successfully established over the past few years. Among the achievements of this profile development is the highly successful book series *Reality and Hermeneutics*, published by Mohr Siebeck. This book series seeks to renew the validity of insights in the humanities and cultural sciences through an updated concept of specifically hermeneutic objectivity. Its goal is to provide a cross-disciplinary forum for exchange among the humanities and cultural sciences. The focus lies on phenomena that, due to their inherent entanglement with natural science and technology, cannot be adequately described or analyzed by those disciplines alone.

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More about the Bookseries

For some time, there has been a noticeable decline in the validity of genuinely humanities and cultural sciences-based insights. Addressing this diagnosis, the new book series Reality and Hermeneutics aims to renew the validity of these insights through an updated concept of specifically hermeneutic objectivity. This concept seeks to overcome traditional oppositions between reality and hermeneutics, explanation and understanding, as well as between the natural sciences and the humanities and cultural sciences. With this goal in mind, the series provides a forum for contributions that understand the diversity of disciplines in the humanities and cultural sciences as a space for reflecting on intellectual reality. The series also aims to facilitate productive exchanges both within and between these disciplines. Another objective is to examine phenomena that, due to their inherent entanglement with natural sciences and technology, cannot be adequately described or analyzed by these disciplines alone.

Publications to date:
RH 0 – Gabriel, Markus, Marion Gymnich, and Birgit Ulrike Münch (eds.). Wirklichkeit/Fiktion. Spannungsfelder eines Verhältnisses. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, to be published in January 2025. [https://www.mohrsiebeck.com/buch/wirklichkeitfiktion-9783161620096/]

RH 8 – Moss, Gregory S. (ed.). Mythical Totalities. Studies in the Philosophy of Mythology. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, to be published in November 2024. [https://www.mohrsiebeck.com/buch/mythical-totalities-9783161635304/]

RH 7 – Hegewald, Julia A. B., and Marion Gymnich (eds.). Images and Stories of the Origins of the World and of Humankind. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2024. [https://www.mohrsiebeck.com/buch/images-and-stories-of-the-origins-of-the-world-and-of-humankind-9783161627361/]

RH 6 – Benoist, Jocelyn, Markus Gabriel, and Jens Rometsch (eds.). Realismus und Idealismus in der gegenwärtigen Philosophie. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2024. [https://www.mohrsiebeck.com/buch/realismus-und-idealismus-in-der-gegenwaertigen-philosophie-9783161620225/]

RH 5 – Schreiber, Markus. Die Dialektik des Realismus. Eine systematisch-historische Analyse. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2024. [https://www.mohrsiebeck.com/buch/die-dialektik-des-realismus-9783161626517/]

RH 4 – Genovesi, Sergio. Ereignis und Erfahrung. Entwurf eines empirischen Realismus des Ereignisses in Auseinandersetzung mit Claude Romanos Ereignishermeneutik. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2023. [https://www.mohrsiebeck.com/buch/ereignis-und-erfahrung-9783161619236/]

RH 3 – Castro, Ernesto. Postcontinental Realism. Ontology and Epistemology for the Twenty-First Century. Translated by Natalia Baiźan and Manuel Antonio Castro Córdoba. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2022. [https://www.mohrsiebeck.com/buch/postcontinental-realism-9783161618833/]

RH 2 – Ferraris, Maurizio. Doc-Humanity. Translated by Sarah De Sanctis. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2022. [https://www.mohrsiebeck.com/buch/doc-humanity-9783161616679/]

RH 1 – Benoist, Jocelyn. Von der Phänomenologie zum Realismus. Die Grenzen des Sinns. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2022. [https://www.mohrsiebeck.com/buch/von-der-phaenomenologie-zum-realismus-9783161613890/]

Editors:
Elke Brendel
Philip Freytag
Markus Gabriel
Marion Gymnich
Birgit Ulrike Münch
Rainer Schäfer

Contact at IZPH:
Philip Freytag [pfreytag@uni-bonn.de]

Website link:
[https://www.mohrsiebeck.com/schriftenreihe/reality-and-hermeneutics-rh/]

Institutions:
Philosophical Faculty of the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
The Institute for Philosophy and the New Humanities, New School for Social Research, New York
East Asian Academy for the New Liberal Arts, University of Tokyo

 

Ernst Robert Curtius Lectures

The Ernst Robert Curtius Lectures are a prestigious lecture series held annually since 2009 by the International Center for Philosophy NRW at the University of Bonn. They honor the legacy of the eminent Romance scholar and literary theorist Ernst Robert Curtius, whose work on European intellectual history and literature continues to have a profound impact. Initiated by Prof. em. Dr. Wolfram Hogrebe, the series aims to explore contemporary and historical questions in the humanities and cultural sciences, while celebrating and advancing Curtius’ interdisciplinary perspective on European culture and literature.

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More about the ERC Lectures

The Ernst Robert Curtius Lectures provide a platform for academic and cultural engagement with key topics in European intellectual history. Their aim is to promote an understanding of the connections between antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modernity, and to shed light on the relationships between various cultural traditions.

Renowned international scholars in the humanities are invited to address central, contemporary issues at the intersection of literature, culture, and philosophy. In their respective Lectures of Excellence, the speakers share insights into their research, which are then discussed in subsequent colloquia with students and early-career researchers. This academic exchange offers the University of Bonn and its students the opportunity to interact directly with leading international researchers and gain new perspectives through interdisciplinary dialogue.

Past Lectures:
12. ERC Lecture, 2023 – Nigel Smith (Princeton): “Is Poetry Political Thought?”
11. ERC Lecture, 2021 – Daniel Kehlmann: “Schreiben und Technik”
10. ERC Lecture, 2019 – Giulio Tononi (UW-Madison): “Consciousness and its place in nature”
9. ERC Lecture, 2017 – Graham Priest (CUNY): “Everything and nothing”
8. ERC Lecture, 2016 – Ned Block (NYU): “How the Ideas of Modularity and Cognitive Penetration Have Misled us for a Generation” and Tyler Burge (UCLA): “Ground of Empirical Objectivity”
7. ERC Lecture, 2015 – Rüdiger Safranski (FU Berlin): “Über die Zeit”
6. ERC Lecture, 2014 – Lawrence M. Krauss (ASU): “Cosmology for Philosophers”
5. ERC Lecture, 2013 – Robert Pippin (U Chicago): “Logik und Metaphysik: Hegels ‘Reich der Schatten'”
4. ERC Lecture, 2012 – Horst Bredekamp (HU Berlin): “Der Muschelmensch. Vom endlosen Anfang der Bilder”
3. ERC Lecture, 2011 – Udo di Fabio (U Bonn): “Die Erosion des Staates”
2. ERC Lecture, 2010 – Dagfinn Føllesdal (Stanford): “Husserl und Gödel. Gibt es nicht-materielle Objekte, und wenn ja, wie können sie erkannt werden?”
1. ERC Lecture, 2009 – Julian Nida-Rümelin (HU Berlin): “Philosophie und Lebensform”

Publications and Videos:
12. ERC Lecture, 2023 – Nigel Smith (Princeton): “Is Poetry Political Thought?” [https://www.izph.de/en/publication-of-the-robert-curtius-lecture-with-nigel-smith/]
9. ERC Lecture, 2017 – Graham Priest (CUNY): “Everything and nothing” [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66enDcUQUK0]
4. ERC Lecture, 2012 – Horst Bredekamp (HU Berlin): “Der Muschelmensch. Vom endlosen Anfang der Bilder” [https://www.vandenhoeck-ruprecht-verlage.com/themen-entdecken/literatur-sprach-und-kulturwissenschaften/kulturwissenschaft/15802/transzendenzen-des-realen]
3. ERC Lecture, 2011 – Udo di Fabio (U Bonn): “Die Erosion des Staates” [https://www.vandenhoeck-ruprecht-verlage.com/themen-entdecken/literatur-sprach-und-kulturwissenschaften/kulturwissenschaft/15802/transzendenzen-des-realen and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB9-ifyU4lc]
2. ERC Lecture, 2010 – Dagfinn Føllesdal (Stanford): “Husserl und Gödel. Gibt es nicht-materielle Objekte, und wenn ja, wie können sie erkannt werden?” [https://www.vandenhoeck-ruprecht-verlage.com/themen-entdecken/literatur-sprach-und-kulturwissenschaften/kulturwissenschaft/15802/transzendenzen-des-realen and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2aAaZN648E]
1. ERC Lecture, 2009 – Julian Nida-Rümelin (HU Berlin): “Philosophie und Lebensform” [https://www.vandenhoeck-ruprecht-verlage.com/themen-entdecken/literatur-sprach-und-kulturwissenschaften/kulturwissenschaft/14985/lebensform-und-philosophie]

Project Founding:
Wolfram Hogrebe

Project Leadership at IZPH:
Markus Gabriel
Michael Forster
Jan Voosholz

Institutions:
International Center for Philosophy NRW

Realism as a Philosophical Response to the Challenges of our Time

Since 2022, there has been a close collaboration between the International Center for Philosophy NRW, Université Paris I – Panthéon Sorbonne, and Università degli Studi di Torino as part of the international research project “Realism as a Philosophical Response to the Challenges of our Time.” This follows a predecessor project titled “Realism and Representation” (IRP), which was a collaboration between Bonn and the Sorbonne.

Supported by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, the project focuses on the current rediscovery of metaphysical philosophies, which are gaining increasing significance in modern philosophy. It brings together the efforts of the participating partner institutions to further develop realism as a central issue in modern European philosophy.

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More about the IRP

The scientific partners organize three annual conferences, hosted respectively in Paris, Bonn, and Turin. These events aim to deepen the collaboration among the participating research institutions and provide a platform for discussions on realism as a central philosophical theme of our time.

Past Conferences:
– 10-11 October 2024, Turin – “Augmented Reality? Nature and Technology” [https://labont.it/events/international-chair-of-philosophy-jacques-derrida-6th-edition/?section=program]
– 31 May-1 June 2024, Paris – “‘Back to Reality’?” [https://philosophie.pantheonsorbonne.fr/evenements/workshop-linternational-research-project-realism-philosophical-response-challenges-our]
– 14-15 March 2024, Bonn – “Positivity” [https://www.izph.de/en/irp-realism-as-a-philosophical-response-to-the-challenges-of-our-time/]
– 30-31 October 2023, Turin – “Foundations of a Technosophy” [https://labont.it/events/foundations-of-a-technosophy-3rd-annual-meeting-of-rprct-project/]
– 15-16 June 2023, Paris – “Why Does Truth Matter?” [https://labont.it/events/workshop-international-de-lirp-rprcct-universite-paris-1-universite-de-bonn-universite-de-turin-cnrs-why-does-truth-matter/]
– 20-21 March 2023, Bonn – “Falschheit – fausseté – falsità – falsehood” [https://www.izph.de/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Programm-IRP-Workshop-20-03-23-1.pdf]
– 17-19 October 2022, Bonn – “Why the World (still) does not exist” [https://labont.it/events/why-the-world-still-does-not-exist/]
– 30-31 May 2022, Turin – “How does the World exist?” [https://labont.it/events/workshop-how-the-world-exist/]
– 11-12 April 2022, Paris – “Does the World exist?” [https://philosophie.pantheonsorbonne.fr/evenements/does-world-exist]

Project Leadership:
Markus Gabriel
Jocelyn Benoist
Maurizio Ferraris

Contact at IZPH: 
Jens Rometsch (jens.rometsch@uni-bonn.de)

Institutions:
International Center for Philosophy NRW
Université Paris I – Panthéon Sorbonne
Università degli Studi di Torino

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

International Summer School of German Philosophy

The International Summer School in German Philosophy is an academic program organized annually by the International Center for Philosophy NRW. The summer school is aimed at international students, doctoral candidates, and early-career researchers who wish to engage deeply with central topics in German philosophy. It offers a unique opportunity to collaborate with leading scholars, explore both the history of German philosophy and contemporary debates within it, and broaden one’s own theoretical perspectives.

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More about the Summer Schools

The Summer School focuses on central figures and movements of German philosophy, with the specific thematic focus varying each year. The courses are led by international experts in German philosophy, providing participants with access to cutting-edge knowledge and new research perspectives.

Past Summer Schools:
14. Summer School, 2024 – “The Good in German Idealism” (19.08.-23.08.2024)
Organizers: Markus Gabriel, Nicholas Stang (University of Toronto), and Karl Schafer (UT Austin)
[https://www.izph.de/das-gute-im-deutschen-idealismus/]

13. Summer School, 2023 – “Acosmism from Spinoza to German Idealism” (07.08.-11.08.2023)
Organizers: Markus Gabriel, Nicholas Stang (University of Toronto), and Karl Schafer (UT Austin)
[https://www.dgphil.de/aktuelles/alle-events/details/events/13th-international-summer-school-in-german-philosophy-acosmism-from-spinoza-to-german-idealism]

12. Summer School, 2022 – Canceled due to the pandemic

11. Summer School, 2021 – Canceled due to the pandemic

10. Summer School, 2020 – “A Spirit of Trust. Brandom’s Hegel,” postponed due to the pandemic
Organizers: Michael N. Forster and Markus Gabriel

9. Summer School, 2019 – “Hermeneutics: Understanding Ourselves and Others” (15.07.-26.07.2019)
Organizers: Michael N. Forster and Markus Gabriel
[https://www.izph.de/9-international-summer-school-in-german-philosophy-hermeneutics-understanding-ourselves-and-others-2019/]

8. Summer School, 2018 – “The Issue of Naturalism in Classical German Philosophy” (09.07.-20.07.2018)
Organizers: Michael N. Forster and Markus Gabriel
[https://www.izph.de/8-international-summer-school-in-german-philosophy-2018/]

7. Summer School, 2017 – “Freedom and Free Will in Classical German Philosophy” (10.07.-21.07.2017)
Organizers: Michael N. Forster and Markus Gabriel
[https://www.izph.de/7-international-summer-school-in-german-philosophy-2017/]

6. Summer School, 2016 – “The Hermeneutics of Suspicion. Marx, Nietzsche, Freud” (27.06.-08.07.2016)
Organizers: Michael N. Forster and Markus Gabriel
[https://www.izph.de/6-international-summer-school-in-german-philosophy-2016/]

5. Summer School, 2015 – “The ‘Idealism’ in German Idealism” (20.07.-31.07.2015)
Organizers: Michael N. Forster and Markus Gabriel
[https://www.izph.de/en/5th-international-summer-school-in-german-philosophy-2015/]

4. Summer School, 2014 – “Hegel’s Philosophy of Spirit” (21.07.-03.08.2014)
Organizers: Michael N. Forster and Markus Gabriel
[https://www.hegelpd.it/hegel/fourth-annual-international-summer-school-in-german-philosophy-2014-hegels-philosophy-of-spirit/]

3. Summer School, 2012 – “The Ontological Turn in Contemporary Philosophy” (02.07.-13.07.2012)
Organizer: Markus Gabriel
[https://www.spep.org/papers/third-annual-international-summer-school-in-german-philosophy/]

2. Summer School, 2011 – “The Philosophical Relevance of Hegel’s Subjective Logic” (04.07.-15.07.2011)
Organizer: Markus Gabriel

1. Summer School, 2010 – “Transcendental Ontology: Issues in Post-Kantian Philosophy” (14.06.-25.06.2010)
Organizer: Markus Gabriel

Videos:
Selected talks from the 6th Summer School can be found here.
Selected talks from the 5th Summer School can be found here.

Contact at IZPH:
Alex Englander (alexeng@uni-bonn.de)

Institution:
International Center for Philosophy NRW

InterChair Colloquium

The InterChair Colloquium is an open forum for philosophy that seeks to transcend the boundaries of academic chairs and seminar rooms. It offers participants the opportunity to present a self-chosen topic—whether their own research work or simply a particular interest—in an accessible and informal setting, fostering collaborative discussion.

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More About the InterChair

Organizers:
Interested individuals can reach out via email at interchair@uni-bonn.de.

Past Programs:

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