Destinazione del sapere e libertà della ricerca. Il conflitto delle facoltà di Kant: analisi e prospettive
A cura di Giulia Bernard, Barbara Santini, Marzia Soavi
The Purpose of Knowledge and the Freedom of Research. Kant’s The Conflict of Faculties: Analysis and Perspectives. The issue will focus on the theme of “Purpose of knowledge and freedom of research”, engaging with Immanuel Kant’s The Conflict of the Faculties (1798) through a critical reappropriation of its legacy. The relevance of this text, which has decisively shaped our understanding of disciplines, science and universities, deserves to be discussed nowadays for the significant role it can play in contemporary critical reflection on the status of philosophy. By making the legacy and relevance of The Conflict of the Faculties a focal point of discussion, this issue aims, on the one hand, to bring out the multidisciplinary vocation that underpins Kant’s reflection on the determination and purpose of knowledge. On the other hand, it seeks to explore the text as a productive criterion of orientation for contemporary thinking on the freedom of research.
To reconstruct Kant’s reflection and critically examine its relevance, it is crucial to place it within the broader context of reflection on the role of critical thinking about ethics, science, medicine, theology, and law, within which The Conflict of Faculties problematically situates the meta-philosophical question of the status of philosophy. Engaging with The Conflict of Faculties, from an in-depth examination of intratextual issues to an investigation of the relationship between philosophy and the other sciences, offers a pivotal space for discussing how the meta-philosophical questions raised by Kant have been historically translated and reinterpreted in our contemporary world
The volume aims to investigate, among others, the following topics, based on their exploration in The Conflict of the Faculties:
– the confrontation between transcendental philosophy and the political dimension of knowledge;
– the relation between science and wisdom;
– the institutionalization of knowledge;
– the issue of Bildung in the academic context and in the public sphere;
– the relationship between disciplines – that is, between the higher faculties (Theology, Law, Medicine) and the lower ones (Philosophy);
– the relationship between public and private use of reason;
– the notions of “conflict” and “critique” as conceptual resources for rethinking the relationship between reason and political power;
– the question of autonomy within the university and of the university itself.
Deadline: July 31st 2025
Length: 40.000 characters (including spaces and notes)
Languages: English, Italian, German, Spanish, or French
Submission: All manuscripts will undergo a double-blind peer review. Each contribution must be accompanied by a short abstract in English, an English version of the title and up to five keywords.
Submissions should be sent to: giulia.bernard@unipd.it ; barbara.santini@unipd.it ; marzia.soavi@unipd.it