Alexander von Humboldt Professorship 2017

James Conant

As co-director of the Leipzig Research Forschungskolleg Analytic German Idealism (FAGI), James Conant is set to introduce new themes and perspectives into philosophy and turn the planned “Analytic German Philosophy Research Quadrangle”, involving the universities of Leipzig, Potsdam, Chicago and Pittsburgh, into a crystallisation point for German-American cooperation in philosophy.

  • Nominating University: Leipzig University

Philosophy

American and German philosophers belong to different schools, known as the analytical and the continental movements. This fact hampers communication and cooperation. The American philosopher, James Conant, is at home in both worlds and is seen as a bridge-builder between the two approaches. He is one of the most respected experts on Kant and Wittgenstein and equally renowned for his work on the history of analytical philosophy, Nietzsche interpretation and philosophical scepticism. He has also made significant contributions to knowledge on the philosophy of logic, aesthetics and the philosophy of film.

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James Conant at the Research Center for Analytic German Idealism at the University of Leipzig

Brief bio

Prof. Dr. James Conant, born in Kyoto, Japan, in 1958, is Chester D. Tripp Professor of Humanities, Professor of Philosophy and Full Professor in the College at the University of Chicago, USA. After taking a B.A. and then a Ph.D. at Harvard University, USA, in 1990, he became a Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh, USA. In 1999, he moved to the University of Chicago. He has taught, amongst others, in France, Germany, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Ireland and Italy. Conant has received numerous awards and honours including the Humboldt Foundation’s Anneliese Maier Research Award and the Neubauer Collegium Award for the University of Chicago’s “ldealism Project”. He is a member of numerous international scientific bodies and editorial boards, such as the Senior Editorial Board of the bilingual German English journal Wittgenstein-Studien. In July 2017 he took up his position as a Humboldt Professor at Leipzig University.
(no longer receiving sponsorship)

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