Kant 300: Reflections on the International Kant Congress in Kaliningrad

Abstract

From April 22 to April 25, 2024, the Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University (Kaliningrad) hosted the International Kant Congress (hereafter referred to as the Congress), attended by over five hundred philosophers and scholars (art critics, educators, cultural experts, and others) from twenty-three countries. The theme of the congress was encapsulated by Kant’s well-known expression: “The World Concept of Philosophy”, encompassing diverse orientations that formed the basis for the main discussions. This quote primarily urges us to revisit Kant’s inter­pretation of philosophy as a rational means of harmonizing all spheres of human activity, while also highlighting its interdisciplinary, synthesizing nature. Parti­cipants of the congress were united by a characteristic feature aligning with the theme and spirit of the conference: an ideological focus on cooperation, a drive for compromise, and the search for formulas of equal free interaction among modern people. The congress showcased the complex, branched system of contemporary Kant studies and identified the most significant trends in the ac­tualization of Kant’s philosophy. A central theme in the fundamental works was the effort to identify a crucial aspect of Kant’s critical philosophy and substanti­ate it as a systematizing principle, forming the answer to the question “What is man?” The leitmotif of all applied reports was the application of Kant’s philo­sophy as a tool to determine the prospects of humans and humanity in today’s multi-religious, polyethnic, multicultural world. Together, fundamental and ap­plied research not only create an overall picture of contemporary Kant studies but also indicate the directions of development in modern world philosophy