New Perspectives on Neo-Kantianism and the Sciences

The great importance of Neo-Kantianism for German university philosophy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries is undisputed. Equally undisputed is the considerable influence this direction had on the formation of philosophy of science in general: Without Neo-Kantianism, the development of a German-Speaking philosophy of science up to logical empiricism (Vienna Circle, Berlin Group) is inconceivable. Moreover, the emigration of most representatives of this science-oriented tradition in the 1930s had a considerable influence on the further development of Anglo-Saxon analytical philosophy. In recent times, not least for this reason, a strong interest in Neo-Kantianism has developed worldwide. This interest is not only due to its mediating role between the older Kantian tradition and analytical philosophy, but also takes into account its genuine philosophical achievements in the exchange with the sciences.

The project brings together more than 20 international experts of Neo-Kantianism as authors of a volume that reveals the fruitful trade-off relations between the extremely dynamic development of the sciences in the period from about 1865 to the first world war on the one hand and the theories of Neo-Kantianism on the other from the point of view of an ‘Integrated History and Philosophy of Science’. An important specific aim is to clarify the question of whether and to what extent a certain modernization process takes place within Neo-Kantianism, but also within the participating sciences themselves. The latter are not restricted to mathematics and physics, which are at the center of earlier investigations, but include also areas like biology, chemistry and technology as well as psychology and anthropology. The ‘fact of science’ is represented in this volume in all its breadth and diversity as Neo-Kantianism perceived it.
 
Publication and funding: The volume will be published by Routledge (London) in 2024. The project was funded by the Fritz Thyssen Stiftung.