New Perspectives on Neo-Kantianism and the Sciences

This volume considers the exchange between the Neo-Kantian tradition in German philosophy and the sciences from the last third of the nineteenth century to the Great war and partly beyond. During this period, various scientific disciplines underwent modernisation processes characterised by an increasing empirical inclination and a decline in the influence of metaphysics, the pluralisation of theories, and the historical and pragmatic revitalisation of scientific claims against philosophy. The various contributions look at the ways in which a certain ‘Kantian orthodoxy’ was influenced by these new developments and whether (and how) itself had some impact on the development of the sciences. The volume is not limited to the 'exact sciences' of mathematics and physics, which are particularly important for the Kantian tradition, but also takes into account less recognised disciplines such as biology, chemistry, technology and psychology. It is complemented by contributions that contrast Neo-Kantianism with other 'scientific philosophies' of the period in question.

Helmut Pulte is Chair of Philosophy and History of Science at Ruhr-University Bochum and Co-editor in chief of the Journal for General Philosophy of Science. He authored (inter alia) Axiomatik und Empirie (2005) and co-edited Hermann von Helmholtz, Gesammelte Philosophische und Populärwissenschaftliche Schriften (3 vols., 2017) as well as The Reception of Isaac Newton in Europe (3 vols., 2019).

Jan Baedke is Junior Professor at the Institute for Philosophy I, Ruhr-University Bochum. He is author of Above the Gene, Beyond Biology: Toward a Philosophy of Epigenetics (2018) and PI of the German Research Foundation (DFG) funded research group ‘ROTO’ (‘The Return of the Organism in the Biosciences: Theoretical, Historical, and Social Dimensions’).

Daniel Koenig is a Research assistant in History of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz. He defended his PhD thesis at the Mathematics Department of the University of Siegen. His research is on Ernst Cassirer’s philosophy of mathematics and his philosophy of culture in general. He co-edited a volume Mathematik in der Tradition des Neukantianismus (2019).

Gregor Nickel is Professor for functional analysis and philosophy of mathematics at Siegen University. He obtained his PhD in pure mathematics in Tübingen. His publications include mathematical research papers and philosophical papers on Nicolas of Cusa. He edited a volume of Kant’s contributions to the philosophy of mathematics and volumes on interactions between mathematics and society.