Kant's Philosophy Today | Aesthetics and Contemporary Art

Kant's Philosophy Today

The philosopher Immanuel Kant was born 300 years ago. His ideas remain important reference points for philosophers and theorists in various fields. Why has this interest persisted? Can Kant really help us to think through some of today’s most pressing issues?

This series of moderated discussions will introduce Kant’s philosophy to a general audience and will debate whether and how it remains relevant. In three sessions, panels of experts will discuss Kant’s theory of knowledge, ethics, and aesthetics, connecting the ideas to contemporary problems.

Aesthetics and Contemporary Art

Kant is considered one of the founders of aesthetics, the study of art. However, his central concepts, like beauty and disinterested contemplation, seem far removed from today’s conceptual and politicised art. Two experts will discuss whether and how Kant’s aesthetics can help us to engage with contemporary art.

Diarmuid Costello is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Warwick. His research focuses on aesthetics, philosophy of art, and art history and theory. His books include On Photography: A Philosophical Inquiry (Routledge, 2018) and a re-evaluation of Kant’s theory of art, Aesthetics after Modernism (Oxford University Press, 2024). He is currently working on philosophical approaches to contemporary art.


Fiona Hughes is Senior Lecturer in philosophy at the University of Essex. Her research interests include the relationship between Kants epistemology and aesthetics, Merleau-Ponty’s development of Husserl`s phenomenology, Nietzsche’s critique of the foundations of value, and the relationship between art and philosophy. She is the author of Kant’s Aesthetic Epistemology: Form and World (Edinburgh University Press, 2007) and Kant’s Critique of Aesthetic Judgement: A Reader’s Guide (Continuum, 2009).


Stephen Howard is a senior postdoctoral fellow in philosophy at KU Leuven, Belgium, and, from October 2024, a fellow at FRIAS, Universität Freiburg, Germany. He specialises in early modern and modern European philosophy, taking a historical approach to issues in metaphysics, epistemology and philosophy of science. He has recently developed an interest in the philosophy of climate change. His publications includeKant’s Late Philosophy of Nature: The Opus postumum(Cambridge University Press, 2023).

Curated and chaired by Stephen Howard (FRIAS, University of Freiburg)

A collaborative event series organised by the Goethe-Institut London and the Institute of Philosophy at the School of Advanced Study, University of London.