From September 24 to 28, the National Library of Latvia (NLL) and the University of Latvia (UL) will host the international forum “Reason in Riga”, where philosophers and scholars from different European countries will meet to honour the 300th anniversary of the German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724–1804). At the forum, in addition to scientific papers, there will be discussions, the opening of collections dedicated to Kant, a tour to places in Riga linked to Kant and philosophy, and other activities. Participation in the forum is free of charge, however, please register here: https://reg.lnb.lv/register
In 2024, academic institutions around the world commemorate Kant – from the Kant societies of Spanish-speaking countries to the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, from the Latvian Academy of Sciences and the University of Latvia to the international Kant-Society in Bonn. Scholars from Latvia, Estonia, Germany and other countries will meet in the forum “Reason in Riga” hosted by the NLL and the UL to share the latest studies and shed light on Kant’s relevance nowadays. Special attention will be paid to Kant’s connection with Latvia and the evidence of Latvia’s historical place on the intellectual map of Europe in the history of Latvian book publishing.
The international forum will be introduced by a programme for students of higher education institutions. It will be followed by lectures, discussions, tours to get to know selections of the collection in the Isaiah Berlin Reading Room and the “Retumu pasaule” reading room of the NLL, the presentation of digital collections, and other activities over several days. At the end of the forum, there will be an opportunity, together with Kant’s scholars, to visit places of the 18th century philosophy and book publishing in Riga with a special emphasis on those places where Kant’s books were published.
The programme of the forum “Reason in Riga” is available HERE. The working languages of the forum will be Latvian, German and English. A simultaneous translation into Latvian will be provided for reports in German. Reports 27 September in Latvian will be translated into German.
Immanuel Kant’s anniversary has become an inspiring point of reference around the world to assess the fate of the Enlightenment ideas in the 21st century, the concepts of morals, reasoning, criticism and mind that Kant formulated in his works, and their significance in our attitude towards ourselves and the world. Kant has provided an opportunity for each new generation of philosophers to better understand themselves and their thinking experience. Although his name is well known in the wider society, it is not always clearly understood as it is difficult to distance ourselves from our everyday view that is partly formed based on the ideas of Kant and his readers and also from the clichés about Kant generated over time.
The forum “Reason in Riga” will allow us to review stereotypes and outline the meaning of Kant’s ideas in today’s world.
Throughout 2024, the NLL together with the UL and other partners have held lectures and discussions, scholars have refocused on Kant’s connection with Latvia and returned to sources in archives and rare book repositories.
Two events (in German) have been recorded and are available here:
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The forum “Reason in Riga” is one of the events organized within the series of events “500 Years of Latvian Books” funded by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia. The series of events “Kant 300” is supported by the Baltic-German University Liaison Office, the Goethe Institute in Riga, the University of Potsdam, the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, the Kant Society in Mainz, the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Latvia, and the German Centre Domus Rigensis. The research papers were developed within the fundamental and applied research project “Book and Society in Latvia: European Dimension and Cultural Transformations” (LZP-2023/1-0263) implemented by the NLL in cooperation with the UL. The Baltic-German University Liaison Office project “International conference dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of Immanuel Kant” is financially supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) from the funds allocated by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Additional information:
Pauls Daija
Head of Research
National Library of Latvia
Telephone: +371 26 735 250
E-mail: Pauls.Daija@lnb.lv
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