Workshop: Utopia in German Idealism
In his commentary on Hegel, Subject-Object: Erläuterungen zu Hegel (1951), Ernst Bloch criticises the closed structure of Hegel’s system as the ‘spell of anamnesis’ that makes it impossible to think something really new. At the same time, he describes the structure of Hegel’s system as the simultaneity of the presence and the absence of the whole, the totum: a structure he calls a ‘utopian presence’. Whilst Hegel (and Bloch) criticise any abstract understanding of Utopia that opposes it to the present world in an external way, according to this interpretation, a utopian structure can be found at the very heart of Hegel’s system. Together with Bloch’s reference to Schelling’s late positive philosophy – as focusing on a drive striving beyond any abstract-identical, un-historical understanding of presence – and together with references to obvious utopian aspects in Kant’s and Fichte’s practical-moral philosophy, German Idealism plays a central systematic role in Bloch’s concept of (concrete) Utopia. Similarly, this constellation allows one to discern Utopia as a systematic – theoretical and practical – structure present in German Idealism itself. Although Bloch explicitly refers to these connections, the role of German Idealism as a central historical and systematic source for his concept of Utopia is still widely neglected in research on Bloch, and Utopia and its constitutive role are still a marginalised topic in research on German Idealism. At a time of crisis such as this – characterised by its uncertainty and openness –addressing this question is particularly relevant.
This workshop aims to respond to this by dwelling on this constellation and discussing its systematic and critical relevance from different perspectives – be it with regard to Bloch’s dialogue with German Idealism, or to German Idealism itself (particularly in the work of Kant, Fichte, Hegel, and Schelling, but also in that of other figures belonging to this tradition such as Hölderlin).
Workshop organisers: Gregor Schäfer (ILCS/Basle); Johan Siebers (ILCS/Middlesex) and Antimo Lucarelli (ILCS).
Programme [PDF]
10.00 Welcome
Gregor Schäfer (Ernst Bloch Centre at the ILCS/Basle):
The Question of Utopia in German Idealism
10.30 Coffee
11.00
Michael Kryluk (Oslo):
A Platonic Rousseau: Kant’s Idea of the Perfect Republic
Vasco Carvalho (Lisbon):
A Historical Sign of our Final Destination? On Kant’s Concept of Perfection Applied in his Utopian Thought
11.40
Thomas Bailey (London):
What is Kant’s ‘Ideal of a Rightful Association’?
Nikolaos Anapliotis (Manchester):
Politics of the Sublime: Kant and Hölderlin on Revolution
12.20 Lunch (own arrangements)
13.40
Angela Conzo (Naples):
Philhellenic Utopia in German Idealism: A Poetic Analysis of Hölderlin’s Idealist Philosophy
Wagner de Avila Quevedo (Rio de Janeiro/Erfurt):
Die Utopie des Offenen: Anmerkungen zu Hölderlins Hyperion
14.20
Shterna Friedmann (Harvard, MA):
Genealogy and the Transitional State: Fichte on Utopia
Mario Farina (Venice):
For a Critical Utopia: Hegel and the Philosophy of History
15.00 Short Break
15.15
Bernardo Ferro (Coimbra):
Hegel, Realism, and Utopia
David Jacobs (Potsdam):
Hegel’s Blind Spot. Unleashing Legal Utopia
15.55
Nico Roman Weber (Frankfurt a.M.):
Hope amid Sorrow: On Hegel and the Vulnerable Eschaton
Ernesto Ruiz-Eldredge Molina (Poitiers/Frankfurt a.M.):
Idealization as Concrete Utopia? Dreams and Knowledge from Madness
16.35 Tea
17.05
Hypatia Pétriz (CSIC/Barcelona):
The Concept of ‘Hunger’ in Ernst Bloch’s The Principle of Hope and its Roots in the Writings of Jakob Böhme
Isolda Mac Liam (Sussex):
Possibility Gets a Slap in the Face: Removing the ‘Stepchild among the Categories’ from the Custody of Hegel with Adorno and Bloch
17.45
Adrian Paukstat (Augsburg):
‘Jetztzeit’: On the Possibility of the Novum and the Problem of Teleology in Bloch and Benjamin
Ninetta Strano Alogna (Paris):
Bloch’s Dual Logic: Analytical and Emanatist
18.25 Drinks
19.00 Concluding Discussion
19.30 Dinner (optional/own expense)
All are welcome to participate in this one-day workshop, which will be held in person at the University of London Senate House.
Places are limited so advance online registration is essential.
Fees: Standard £30.00 | Friends of Germanic Studies at the ILCS £25.00 | Students £20
Registration fees include refreshments as stated on the programme.
Contact Information
Jane Lewin
Institute of Languages, Cultures and Societies
School of Advanced Study | University of London
Contact Email
jane.lewin@sas.ac.uk
URL