Workshop: Kant's Supreme Principle of Reason
6 -7 July 2026
Organisation: DFG Reasonable Ideas / Mario Schärli
Interest in Kant's Supreme Principle of Reason, according to which the existence of a conditioned object entails the existence of an unconditioned series of mutually subordinate conditions, is on the rise. At the same time, disagreement on the most fundamental of issues looms large. It is not clear whether Kant accepts a version of the principle, nor is there agreement on its status within Kant's diagnosis of the failure of traditional, rationalist metaphysics.
Questions such as these will be examined by invited speakers Christopher Benzenberg (Notre Dame), Katharina Kraus (University of Vienna), Karl Schafer (UT Austin) and Eric Watkins (UCSD), together with project members Maya Krishnan (UChicago), Tobias Rosefeldt and Mario Schärli.
Registration: Two keynote lectures (July 6 and 7, 6.15-7.45 pm) will be open to the public. Registration here.
Programme:
Monday, 6 July 2026
14:00 | Welcome
14:15 – 15:45 | Two Arguments for the Supreme Principle of Pure Reason
Speaker: Eric Watkins (University of California San Diego)
Chair: Joe Stratmann (University of Tennessee, Knoxville)
Room: 1085
15:45 – 16:15 | Coffee break
16:15 – 17:45 | What, if Anything, Is Wrong with Kant's Supreme Principle of Reason
Speaker: Tobias Rosefeldt (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)
Chair: W. Clark Wolf (St. John's College, Annapolis)
Room: 1085
17:45 – 18:15 | Break
18:15 – 19:45 | The Supreme Principle of Reason in Kant: Metaphysical Foundation or Practical Presupposition?
Speaker: Katharina Kraus (University of Vienna)
Chair: Andrew Chignell (Princeton University)
Room: 1070
19:45 | End of day
Tuesday, 7 July 2026
10:30 – 12:00 | The Dialectic's New Unity: SP-Unificationism and its Alternatives
Speaker: Maya Krishnan (University of Chicago)
Chair: Thomas Land (University of Victoria)
Room: 1085
12:00 – 14:00 | Lunch break
14:00 – 15:30 | Belief Without Bounds: The Messianic Reading of Kant's Supreme Principle
Speaker: Christopher Benzenberg (University of Notre Dame)
Chair: Christoph von Villiez (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)
Room: 1085
15:30 – 16:00 | Coffee break
16:00 – 17:30 | Reason's Interest in the Unconditioned
Speaker: Mario Schärli (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)
Chair: Austin Wang (Johns Hopkins University)
Room: 1085
17:30 – 18:15 | Coffee break
18:15 – 19:45 | Kant's Supreme Principle between Sufficient and Insufficient Reason
Speaker: Karl Schafer (University of Texas at Austin)
Chair: Tobias Rosefeldt (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)
Room: 1070
19:45 | End of conference
For any questions about the programme or keynote registration, feel free to reach out to Mario Schärli at mario.schaerli@hu-berlin.de.