The Concept of Will in Classical German Philosophy

LMU Munich, November 24th and 25th, 2017

Organized by Dr. Manja Kisner and Dr. Jörg Noller

During the period of Classical German Philosophy, the concept of the will undergoes important transformations. While Kant identifies the will with pure practical reason, Fichte introduces, in the wake of Reinhold, an originally biological concept of drive into his ethical theory, thereby expanding on the Kantian notion of the will. Schelling and Schopenhauer take a step further and comprehend the will either as a primal being (Schelling) or as a blindly striving, non-rational force (Schopenhauer). Thus, the history of the will is marked by a complex set of tensions between rational and non-rational aspects of practical volition.

The aim of this conference is to look into this development and to inquire into the relation between the will and the related concepts such as “practical reason”, “drive”, “incentive”, “choice”, “lower and higher appetitive faculty”, “decision”, “intelligible deed”, and “action”. Contributions will be on philosophers such as Kant, Reinhold, Fichte, Schelling, Hegel, Schopenhauer, as well as lesser known figures of the Aetas Kantiana.