CFA: Amsterdam Kant Conference 2026
Amsterdam Kant Conference 2026: Moral Epistemology & Metaphysics
22nd and 23rd October 2026, University of Amsterdam
Confirmed speakers:
Andrew Chignell (Princeton University)
Patrick Kain (Purdue University)
Jessica Tizzard (Universität Tübingen)
Alix Cohen (University of Notre Dame) - conditionally
In light of the ongoing research project ‘Moral Truth: Exploring the Concept of Practical Cognition in Kant’s Ethics’, the University of Amsterdam will host a conference on Kant’s moral epistemology & metaphysics. We invite submissions for presentations related to this theme.
Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
Presentations are 25 minutes, with 20 minutes of Q&A. Abstracts of up to 500 words (excluding references) can be submitted to [email protected]. Please include your name & affiliation in the body of the e-mail, with no personal details in the enclosed abstract (PDF). The deadline for submissions is March 1st, and the result will be communicated by March 31st.
The conference is made possible by the Dutch Research Council, the University of Amsterdam’s Philosophy Department, the Philosophy and Public Affairs group, and the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis. It is organized by Thomas Nys and Tijn Smits. Questions can be sent to [email protected].
22nd and 23rd October 2026, University of Amsterdam
Confirmed speakers:
Andrew Chignell (Princeton University)
Patrick Kain (Purdue University)
Jessica Tizzard (Universität Tübingen)
Alix Cohen (University of Notre Dame) - conditionally
In light of the ongoing research project ‘Moral Truth: Exploring the Concept of Practical Cognition in Kant’s Ethics’, the University of Amsterdam will host a conference on Kant’s moral epistemology & metaphysics. We invite submissions for presentations related to this theme.
Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
- The meaning and nature of practical cognition
- Moral grounds for opinion, belief, and knowledge
- The role of emotions in moral philosophy
- Kant’s arguments for the postulates
- Kant’s conception of free will
- The relation between theoretical and practical reason
- The nature of values in moral philosophy
- The role of critique, metaphysics, and science in the moral domain
Presentations are 25 minutes, with 20 minutes of Q&A. Abstracts of up to 500 words (excluding references) can be submitted to [email protected]. Please include your name & affiliation in the body of the e-mail, with no personal details in the enclosed abstract (PDF). The deadline for submissions is March 1st, and the result will be communicated by March 31st.
The conference is made possible by the Dutch Research Council, the University of Amsterdam’s Philosophy Department, the Philosophy and Public Affairs group, and the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis. It is organized by Thomas Nys and Tijn Smits. Questions can be sent to [email protected].
Past Event: 'Right and Morality in Kant's Practical Philosophy' Panel at the OZSW 2025
Right and Morality in Kant's Practical Philosophy, OZSW 2025 Annual Conference (Delft, 19-20 May)
"A certain priority of ethics over right" - Javier Fuentes (Bonn)
"Right and Maxims" - Fiorella Tomassini (Groningen)
"Kant's Justification for Innate Right" - Vinicius Carvalho (Groningen)
"Mathematical Exactitude in the Doctrine of Right: Kant’s Construction of Right in Analogy with Mathematics and Physics" - Tijn Smits (Amsterdam)
"A certain priority of ethics over right" - Javier Fuentes (Bonn)
"Right and Maxims" - Fiorella Tomassini (Groningen)
"Kant's Justification for Innate Right" - Vinicius Carvalho (Groningen)
"Mathematical Exactitude in the Doctrine of Right: Kant’s Construction of Right in Analogy with Mathematics and Physics" - Tijn Smits (Amsterdam)
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Past Event: Kant and Private Property
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Date: May 9, 2025.
Time: 9 am – 5 pm (US EST)
Location: Polak building 3-20
The event is co-organized by Fiorella Tomassini (Groningen) and Nicholas Vrousalis (Erasmus University Rotterdam).
This workshop will explore recent scholarship on Kant’s theory of property, including his justification of property rights and its relationship to his theory of the state.
9.00 – 10.00 Ralf Bader (Fribourg)
Rightful freedom and the postulate of private right
Chair: Katharina Bauer
10.15 – 11.15 Rafeeq Hasan (Amherst)
tbc
Chair: Vinicius Carvalho
11.30 – 12.30 Elisabeth Widmer (LSE)
Kant’s Economically-Classist State
Chair: Garrath Williams
Lunch
13.30 – 14.30 Fiorella Tomassini (Groningen)
Right and maxims of action
Chair: Luke Davies
14.45 – 15.45 Nicholas Vrousalis (EUR)
Private Property and Communism in Kant’s Rechtslehre
Chair: Leon van Rijsbergen
16.00 – 17.00 Howard Williams (Cardiff)
tbc
For more information, contact info [at] inaf [dot] info
Time: 9 am – 5 pm (US EST)
Location: Polak building 3-20
The event is co-organized by Fiorella Tomassini (Groningen) and Nicholas Vrousalis (Erasmus University Rotterdam).
This workshop will explore recent scholarship on Kant’s theory of property, including his justification of property rights and its relationship to his theory of the state.
9.00 – 10.00 Ralf Bader (Fribourg)
Rightful freedom and the postulate of private right
Chair: Katharina Bauer
10.15 – 11.15 Rafeeq Hasan (Amherst)
tbc
Chair: Vinicius Carvalho
11.30 – 12.30 Elisabeth Widmer (LSE)
Kant’s Economically-Classist State
Chair: Garrath Williams
Lunch
13.30 – 14.30 Fiorella Tomassini (Groningen)
Right and maxims of action
Chair: Luke Davies
14.45 – 15.45 Nicholas Vrousalis (EUR)
Private Property and Communism in Kant’s Rechtslehre
Chair: Leon van Rijsbergen
16.00 – 17.00 Howard Williams (Cardiff)
tbc
For more information, contact info [at] inaf [dot] info
Past Event: Kantian Constitutivism
Conference Announcement "Kantian Constitutivism"
University of Groningen, 23 -25 June 2023
We are pleased to invite you to the conference "Kantian Constitutivism”, to be held at the University of Groningen from June 23rd to June 25th, 2023. The conference aims to bring together researchers working on constitutivism in Kantian metaethics and Kant interpretation.
Constitutivist approaches abound in present-day normative philosophy. An approach can be described as constitutivist if it argues that some entity is subject to a certain norm because that norm is entailed by its very nature—in other words, that to be that sort of entity (at least partly) is to be subject to that norm. Constitutivist approaches in metaethics, broadly construed, aim to account for practical normativity (e.g. the content and authority of moral or prudential norms) by referring to the nature and constitutive principles of fundamental agential or rational capacities.
Although it is a matter of much dispute, Kant is often seen as a constitutivist. Indeed, many prominent constitutivist approaches to practical normativity are to some degree Kant-inspired, and many prominent Kantian ethicists are metaethical constitutivists.
The aim of this conference is to discuss constitutivist approaches in Kantian metaethics and Kant interpretation. Does Kant defend a form of constitutivism? Can the appeal to constitutive norms of reasoning and acting justify a Kantian account of moral principles and moral obligation? Which norms can plausibly be argued to be constitutive of which faculties or activities? How, and how successfully, can Kantian constitutivism respond to the objections raised against it? These are among the questions addressed at this conference.
Speakers:
Carla Bagnoli (University of Modena/University of Oslo)
Vinicius Carvalho (University of Groningen)
Pauline Kleingeld (University of Groningen)
Sasha Mudd (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile / University of Southampton)
Andrews Reath (University of California, Riverside)
Leon van Rijsbergen (University of Groningen)
Tobias Rosefeldt (Humboldt University of Berlin)
Janis Schaab (Human Abilities Research Centre, Berlin)
Karl Schäfer (University of Texas at Austin)
Tamar Schapiro (MIT)
Oliver Sensen (Tulane University)
Jens Timmermann (University of St Andrews)
The event is organized by the research group "Kant, Kantianism, and Morality" (University of Groningen) and supported by the Dutch Research Council (NWO).
Organizers:
Vinicius Carvalho (University of Groningen)
Pauline Kleingeld (University of Groningen)
Leon van Rijsbergen (University of Groningen)
Janis Schaab (Human Abilities Research Centre, Berlin)
Attendance is free but registration is required by 12 June. To register please click here.
This is planned as an in-person event; unfortunately it is not possible to join remotely.
University of Groningen, 23 -25 June 2023
We are pleased to invite you to the conference "Kantian Constitutivism”, to be held at the University of Groningen from June 23rd to June 25th, 2023. The conference aims to bring together researchers working on constitutivism in Kantian metaethics and Kant interpretation.
Constitutivist approaches abound in present-day normative philosophy. An approach can be described as constitutivist if it argues that some entity is subject to a certain norm because that norm is entailed by its very nature—in other words, that to be that sort of entity (at least partly) is to be subject to that norm. Constitutivist approaches in metaethics, broadly construed, aim to account for practical normativity (e.g. the content and authority of moral or prudential norms) by referring to the nature and constitutive principles of fundamental agential or rational capacities.
Although it is a matter of much dispute, Kant is often seen as a constitutivist. Indeed, many prominent constitutivist approaches to practical normativity are to some degree Kant-inspired, and many prominent Kantian ethicists are metaethical constitutivists.
The aim of this conference is to discuss constitutivist approaches in Kantian metaethics and Kant interpretation. Does Kant defend a form of constitutivism? Can the appeal to constitutive norms of reasoning and acting justify a Kantian account of moral principles and moral obligation? Which norms can plausibly be argued to be constitutive of which faculties or activities? How, and how successfully, can Kantian constitutivism respond to the objections raised against it? These are among the questions addressed at this conference.
Speakers:
Carla Bagnoli (University of Modena/University of Oslo)
Vinicius Carvalho (University of Groningen)
Pauline Kleingeld (University of Groningen)
Sasha Mudd (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile / University of Southampton)
Andrews Reath (University of California, Riverside)
Leon van Rijsbergen (University of Groningen)
Tobias Rosefeldt (Humboldt University of Berlin)
Janis Schaab (Human Abilities Research Centre, Berlin)
Karl Schäfer (University of Texas at Austin)
Tamar Schapiro (MIT)
Oliver Sensen (Tulane University)
Jens Timmermann (University of St Andrews)
The event is organized by the research group "Kant, Kantianism, and Morality" (University of Groningen) and supported by the Dutch Research Council (NWO).
Organizers:
Vinicius Carvalho (University of Groningen)
Pauline Kleingeld (University of Groningen)
Leon van Rijsbergen (University of Groningen)
Janis Schaab (Human Abilities Research Centre, Berlin)
Attendance is free but registration is required by 12 June. To register please click here.
This is planned as an in-person event; unfortunately it is not possible to join remotely.
Past Event: Kant's Lectures on Political Philosophy (Naturrecht Feyerabend)
Conference Announcement "Kant's Lectures on Political Philosophy (Naturrecht Feyerabend)”
University of Groningen, 14 -16 October 2022
We are pleased to invite you to the conference "Kant's Lectures on Political Philosophy (Naturrecht Feyerabend)" to be held at the University of Groningen from October 14th to October 16th, 2022. The aim of this conference is to bring together researchers interested in Kant’s political philosophy of the 1780s and/or its relation to other aspects of his work. The Feyerabend lectures are the only transcript of Kant’s course on natural law, stemming from the summer of 1784 as he was writing the Groundwork. These lectures have been neglected until very recently despite their importance as Kant’s only in-depth discussion of political philosophy from the decade of the three Critiques.
The talks of the conference will be collected in a forthcoming book, Kant's Lectures on Political Philosophy: A Critical Guide, edited by Fred Rauscher (Cambridge UP, 2023). The event is organized by the research group "Kant, Kantianism, and Morality" (University of Groningen) and supported by the Dutch Research Council (NWO).
Speakers:
Lucy Allais (Johns Hopkins University and University of the Witwatersrand)
Luigi Caranti, University of Catania)
Mike Gregory (University of Groningen)
Paul Guyer (Brown University)
Sarah Holtman (University of Minnesota)
Monique Hulshof (State University of Campinas)
Pauline Kleingeld (University of Groningen)
Larry Krasnoff (College of Charleston)
Susan Meld Shell (Boston College)
Jordan Pascoe (Manhattan College)
Frederick Rauscher (Michigan State University)
Fiorella Tomassini (University of Groningen)
Kenneth Westphal (Academia Europaea)
Howard Williams (Cardiff University)
Organizers:
Mike Gregory (University of Groningen)
Pauline Kleingeld (University of Groningen)
Fiorella Tomassini (University of Groningen)
Attendance is free but registration is required. To register please go to https://forms.gle/W6XNyJqPm2fYCQ5w8. This is planned as an in-person event; unfortunately it is not possible to join remotely.
University of Groningen, 14 -16 October 2022
We are pleased to invite you to the conference "Kant's Lectures on Political Philosophy (Naturrecht Feyerabend)" to be held at the University of Groningen from October 14th to October 16th, 2022. The aim of this conference is to bring together researchers interested in Kant’s political philosophy of the 1780s and/or its relation to other aspects of his work. The Feyerabend lectures are the only transcript of Kant’s course on natural law, stemming from the summer of 1784 as he was writing the Groundwork. These lectures have been neglected until very recently despite their importance as Kant’s only in-depth discussion of political philosophy from the decade of the three Critiques.
The talks of the conference will be collected in a forthcoming book, Kant's Lectures on Political Philosophy: A Critical Guide, edited by Fred Rauscher (Cambridge UP, 2023). The event is organized by the research group "Kant, Kantianism, and Morality" (University of Groningen) and supported by the Dutch Research Council (NWO).
Speakers:
Lucy Allais (Johns Hopkins University and University of the Witwatersrand)
Luigi Caranti, University of Catania)
Mike Gregory (University of Groningen)
Paul Guyer (Brown University)
Sarah Holtman (University of Minnesota)
Monique Hulshof (State University of Campinas)
Pauline Kleingeld (University of Groningen)
Larry Krasnoff (College of Charleston)
Susan Meld Shell (Boston College)
Jordan Pascoe (Manhattan College)
Frederick Rauscher (Michigan State University)
Fiorella Tomassini (University of Groningen)
Kenneth Westphal (Academia Europaea)
Howard Williams (Cardiff University)
Organizers:
Mike Gregory (University of Groningen)
Pauline Kleingeld (University of Groningen)
Fiorella Tomassini (University of Groningen)
Attendance is free but registration is required. To register please go to https://forms.gle/W6XNyJqPm2fYCQ5w8. This is planned as an in-person event; unfortunately it is not possible to join remotely.