KANTINSA · Kant in South America

Kant in South America

A consortium of 4 EU Universities and 4 Southern American (SA) academic institutions analyzed critically the development of Kant scholarship in Southern America in the last 15 years, following the booming of Kant studies in that continent and the exponential increase of their quality. Established SA Kant scholars were enrolled in the project. They have significantly enlarged the competence of EU colleagues and, in turn, profit from their feedback. Early-stage researchers from both ends also took part in the exchange. The consortium was built on a web of pre-existing relations of most participants at the personal and institutional levels. The project was important for society for at least two main reasons: 1) participants have deepened their knowledge of Kant's philosophy through mutual exchange of ideas and experiences. This enhanced our understanding of key issues in epistemology, moral theory, and political theory. Given the complexities of our societies, a better grasp of a great philosopher's take on these issues has a positive impact on societal problems ranging from the place that science and philosophy should have in advanced democracies, the way in which certain moral dilemmas are debated by public opinion, and the assessment of our liberal democratic societies, in terms of achievements and unmet challenges. 2) the creation of a large network of research between the EU and South America directly improved the competitiveness of EU research in our field. Moreover, indirectly, the same network made the first moves towards establishing permanent institutional collaboration that affords opportunities for training and education whose benefits extend well beyond the circle of participants. The project successfully pursued the following three main objectives: a) Making the results of Southern American Kantian research better known among the participants of the projects and available to a wider academic public in European institutions. b) Strengthening the already existent but not fully developed cooperation among Southern American and European Kant scholars, which was limited to personal contacts with rare institutional ties at the time of the project's beginning. c) Producing new original research (in the forms of publishable papers and monographs), facilitated by secondments and prepared by teams of staff members grouped according to their subarea of specialization within Kant studies (theoretical, moral, and political).

Data: CORDIS, © European Union