Reason and Engage (2018-2019)

Gertrudis Van de Vijver: On Kant's 'To Perpetual Peace'

Date:

16 Oct 2018 - 18:00

Place:

Bozar, Terarken 1 Rue Ravensteinstraat 23, Brussels

Language:

English

Part of Project:

Reason and Engage (2018-2019): Just Peace

Inaugural lecture of the fourth edition of Redelijk Eigenzinnig/Reason and Engage with a lecture by Prof. dr. Gertrudis Van de Vijver.

Although it has been more than 200 years since Immanuel Kant wrote To Perpetual Peace, the essay still plays a prominent role in discussions about war and peace.
In this inaugural lecture, Prof. dr. Gertrudis Van de Vijver (UGent) will explain Kant’s ideas about peace and war from the three epistemological positions: preformationism, metamorphosis and epigenesis. Kant distinguishes these positions in an attempt to chart the autonomy of the living organization. Asking himself which social structures can ensure the autonomy of the individual most effectively, Kant thinks about this issue in a consistent political way. From this perspective, Kant draws the outline of the most important conditions to achieve a stable world peace. For although Kant considers that man has a warlike nature, world peace is not impossible, according to him.
In her lecture, Prof. dr. Van de Vijver will explain the historical and epistemological context of Kant's essay. Together with Gie Goris (MO*) she will also translate Kant's ideas into the current political context.

PROGRAM

18:00: Welcome
18:10: Introduction by Prof. Dr. Karl Verstrynge (Program director of Reason and Engage)
18:20: Lecture by Prof. Dr. Gertrudis Van de Vijver (UGent)
19:30: Q & A by Gie Goris (MO*)

Entrance is free, but registration is required.

Redelijk Eigenzinnig / Reason and Engage (VUB) is an interdisciplinary course for students and a series of lectures and activities open to all.
The fourth edition of Redelijk Eigenzinnig/Reason and Engage focuses on war, conflict, peace and resistance

Prof. dr. Prof. Gertrudis Van de Vijver is Full Professor at the University of Ghent where she teaches 'Thorough study of texts from modern and contemporary philosophy' and 'Contemporary Continental Philosophy'. At the same university she received her doctorate in 1988 for her dissertation on 'Targeting in cybernetics, connectionism and cognitivism. Between two epistemological options: naturalism and constructivism’. Her research focuses primarily on the epistemological implications of complexity, self-organization and teleology problems in life sciences, psychology and cognition. For this she developed a transcendental approach to the philosophy of biology, centered on the idea of co-constitution. She also conducts research on the aspects and implications of transcendental philosophy, and the connections between psychoanalytic theory, epistemology and language philosophy. Prof. Gertrudis Van de Vijver also wrote: Kant and the intuitions of self-organization (2006), The constraint is the possibility: a dynamical perspective on Kant's theory of objectivity (2011) and in collaboration with Professor dr. Emiliano Acosta While Reading Kant's Perpetual Peace. Philosophy of War and Peace (2017).

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