The Enlightened Subject: Sameness and Self from Condillac to Reinhold

This follow-up project is closely linked to an earlier research project under the direction of Prof. Udo Thiel, finished in February 2016 (FWF: P 25284-G15), which was focused on the historical analysis and critical evaluation of theories of self-consciousness and personal identity during the second half of the Eighteenth Century. That research was in our opinion very successful. Nevertheless, it was made evident that some essential parts of our work must be perfected and that further research is required in order to complete the investigation on this topic. In the new project we aim first and foremost to investigate and incorporate the Kantian notion of self-consciousness (in both technical senses of an empirical and a transcendental apperception) into our more general historical analysis of the philosophy of the Eighteenth Century. In this sense we will develop a philosophical and historical examination of the Transcendental Deduction of the Categories and of the Paralogisms of Pure Reason in the first and second edition of Kants Critique of Pure Reason (1781 and 1787). In earlier research it had become evident that Kants philosophy of mind and the Post-Kantian debates on this topic cannot be seen as separate from earlier thought. A fundamental goal of the new project is, therefore, to develop a broad, but at the same time innovative, investigation of the philosophical sources of the Kantian notion of the apperception. In this sense we will consider an impressive series of texts by thinkers who have had (or may have had) an influence on Kants theory of mind. On this topic we will organize an international workshop during the second year of the project. A further fundamental aim of this follow-up project is to enlarge our field of investigation by considering the notion of self-consciousness not only from a strictly theoretical, but also from a general practical, point of view: in the philosophy of the second half of the Eighteenth Century in general, and in Kants philosophy in particular. We are confident that this supplemental work will lead to a renewed critical evaluation of Eighteenth Century philosophy of mind in general. The publications we aim to accomplish at the end of the project are in several ways very ambitious. In order to accomplish all these important tasks, the project leader (Prof. Udo Thiel) applies for funding for the position of one post-doctoral researcher for the duration of two years and of one pre- doctoral researcher for the duration of three years.

Our research from 2017 to 2020 consisted of three main tasks. I. To examine the philosophical and historical sources of Kant's notion of apperception, self-consciousness, and the imagination in several philosophers prior to Kant. II. To study the development of Kant's notion of apperception and the project of a transcendental deduction of the categories in the 1760s and 1770s. III. To investigate the central role of the notion of apperception in Kant's theory of objectivity in the Critique of Pure Reason. The research of the project-leader, Prof. Udo Thiel, has shown that one needs to distinguish between several important and inter-related developments all of which influenced Kant's transcendental philosophy in various ways. These include the development of the new concept of Selbstgefühl (Feeling of self), the rise of materialist conceptions of the mind in the context of the discipline of empirical psychology, and the Scottish philosophy of common sense. Further, Thiel has examined the development of Kant's own philosophy relating to the notion of consciousness in the 1760s. As post-doctoral researcher, Dr. Giuseppe Motta, too, examined the sources and development of Kant's philosophy, but his focus was on a systemic reconstruction of Kant's text and his arguments in the relevant sections of the Transcendental Deduction of the Categories in the Critique of Pure Reason. Both Prof. Thiel and Dr. Motta have published their results in several scholarly articles. In addition, results of the three years of research are or will be present in three major edited collections: I. Immanuel Kant: Die Einheit des Bewusstseins, Berlin/Boston, 2017. II. Konzepte der Einbildungskraft in der Philosophie, den Wissenschaften und den Künsten des 18. Jahrhunderts Berlin/Boston, 2019. III. Kant's Transcendental Deduction and the Theory of Apperception. New Interpretations, Berlin/Boston, forthcoming. As part of our work for the project we organized and held several international scholarly events at the University of Graz. I. The continuation of our lecture series Kant in Graz, with internationally renowned Kant scholars as speakers. II. International workshops and conferences on the philosophy of Kant and its sources. III. The Third International Doctoral-Workshop of the Kant Society (11 to 13 October 2018). We would like to emphasize that it has been an extremely rewarding and successful period of research. Throughout the project, co-operation between the participants (Udo Thiel as project leader, Giuseppe Motta as postdoctoral researcher, Martin Hammer as pre-doctoral assistant, and Timo Teberikler-Kostmann and Laura Dequal as student assistants) has been very productive and successful. Further, due to our activities relating to the two FWF-funded projects from 2013 to 2020, it is safe to say that, during this period, the University of Graz has become known as an internationally renowned centre for research in Kant and the Enlightenment in general.