*International Conference: *
*Synthesis and Construction in Classical German Philosophy / *
*Synthesis und Konstruktion in der klassischen deutschen Philosophie*
November 11th and 12th, 2022
LMU Munich
(*online and in person*)
In the Doctrine of Method of the Critique of Pure Reason Kant claims that
“all rational cognition is either cognition from concepts or cognition from
the construction of concepts”, specifying that “the former is called
philosophical, the latter mathematical” (A837 / B865). This suggests that
the Critique, which according to Kant proceeds synthetically (4:274–5),
does not operate by means of construction. In other words, the synthetic
method employed in philosophy should be distinguished from the method of
construction, which is rather a feature of mathematical cognition.
Yet some authors have argued that the method of construction plays a key
role in the Critique of Pure Reason, by claiming either that objectivity is
grounded on logical constructions of the mind (Van Cleve 1999, Rockmore
2016) or that key tenets of Kant’s argument, such as the schematism, cannot
be understood independently of the procedure of construction (Ferrarin
1995). Moreover, in his works on natural philosophy Kant seems to conceive
of his method as a sort of philosophical construction (Plaass 1964; Förster
2000). Even those who are reluctant to ascribe a constructive method to
Kant’s natural philosophy still recognize that it leads to a construction
of nature (Friedman 2013). Accordingly, the limits between the synthetic
and constructive methods are not as clear-cut as it may seem.
The relationship between these procedures is further complicated in the
reception of Kant's philosophy, where authors such as Fichte and Schelling
explicitly regard their attempts to elaborate philosophical systems both as
synthetic and as involving “philosophical constructions”. Is this method
compatible with Kant’s? Does this bring philosophy closer to mathematics?
What are the differences between the synthetic and constructive methods?
Are there constructivist aspects of transcendental philosophy? The
conference aims to discuss these and related issues.
Please see below for the list of speakers. *All times are in CET.*
*November 11th (Friday)*
13:00-13:45 *Karin de Boer* (KU Leuven):
*Hand in Glove: The Analytic and Synthetic Strands of the Method Employed
in the Critique of Pure Reason*
13:45-14:30 *François Ottmann* (Université de Toulouse):
*Ist die Kritik der reinen Vernunft konstruktiv? Transzendentales Denken
als Modellbildung*
14:30-15:15 *Stephen Howard* (KU Leuven):
*Does Kant in the Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science ‘construct’
anything?*
Coffee break
15:35-16:20 *Pavel Reichl* (KU Leuven):
*Constructing philosophy’s past: Kant, Grohmann, and the Critical method in
the historiography of philosophy*
16:20-17:05 *Luis Fellipe Garcia* (LMU / KU Leuven):
*Between Synthesis and Construction: Schelling’s philosophical engagement
with chemistry*
17:05-17:50 *Dalia Nassar* (University of Sydney):
*Schelling’s construction of the organism*
Coffee break
18:10-19:00 *Daniel Breazeale* (University of Kentucky):
*online**Construction in Intuition: A Method of the
Jena Wissenschaftslehre*
*November 12th (Saturday)*
13:00-13:45 *Henny Blomme* (KU Leuven):
*Is the infinite given magnitude of space a myth?*
13:45-14:30 *Farhad Alavi* (University of Edinburgh):
*onlineKant and the a priori synthesis of reality*
Coffee break
14:45-15:30 *Caterina Marinelli* (LMU / Università degli Studi di
Roma Tor Vergata):
*The **limits of knowledge: Salomon Maimon’s different meanings of
synthesis*
15:30-16:15 *Jelscha Schmid* (Universität Basel):
*Fichtes Konzeption des philosophischen Experiments in der Grundlage*
Coffee break
16:30-17:15 *Ives Radrizzani* (LMU):
*Jacobi und der Vorwurf des Konstruktivismus gegen Fichte*
17:15-18:00 *Ludovica Neri* (LMU / Università di Bologna):
*Synthese oder Konstruktion? Zum Verhältnis zwischen idealer und
außeridealer Welt in Schellings später Naturphilosophie*
Coffee break
18:20-19:10 *Günter Zöller* (LMU):
*onlineRe-Construction. Kant and Fichte on Philosophy and
Fiction.*
The workshop will take place in a hybrid format.
*All talks* will take will be delivered simultaneously *online and in
person*.
For those joining online, please register at:
https://lmu-munich.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0qd-Ggrz0qGNJJbREEvpGnykxfAqSd4wxj
For those joining in person, the event takes place at LMU (Theresienstraße
39, Room B 046).
Organization: Luis Fellipe Garcia (LMU Munich / KU Leuven)
More information:
https://www.philosophie.uni-muenchen.de/lehreinheiten/philosophie_2/aktuelles/garcia_tagung1122/index.html
*Bibliography mentioned in the description of the conference:
