Immanuel Kant Unresolved Issues
24 November 2023 to 17 March 2024
The 22nd of April 2024 marks the 300th anniversary of the birth of the philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724–1804). To this day, Kant’s ground-breaking contribution to the Enlightenment, his thoughts on ethics, emancipation, epistemology and international law have lost none of their significance as points of reference. The exhibition sets out to introduce his work to a general audience, and especially to young visitors, who do not necessarily have any solid grounding in philosophy.
„Have the courage to use your own reason!“ – Immanuel Kant
The four famous Kantian questions: ‘What can I know?’, ‘What ought I to do?’, ‘What can I hope for?’, ‘What is man?’ structure the exhibition in terms of content. Within this framework, thematic “traces” are laid and methodological approaches are opened up, which are intended to bring the audience closer to Kant’s complex universe of thought:
A wall-filling biography in the style of a graphic novel that runs around the entire exhibition presents formative – partly unknown, partly amusing – aspects of the life and work of Immanuel Kant. Paintings, graphics and personal items from the philosopher's environment fit into this biographical narrative and give it a historical dimension.
The East Prussian residential and university town of Königsberg was the center of Immanuel Kant's life. It was almost completely destroyed in 1944/45. With the help of virtual reality, the flourishing Königsberg of the 18th century is digitally reconstructed: several VR stations enable an imaginary journey into the world of Immanuel Kant. Short game scenes enable central aspects of Kant's thought and the Enlightenment to be experienced virtually.
First editions and original texts of Kant's main works Critique of Pure Reason, Critique of Practical Reason and Critique of Judgment are made accessible through targeted commentaries. At various points in the exhibition, problematic aspects of Kant's reception are critically reflected in collaboration with the research project “How to deal with racism, sexism and anti-Semitism in works of classical German philosophy?”
Several “thinking stations” enable playful access to central philosophical questions (in the sense of “doing philosophy”).
Selected artistic positions open up new horizons of questioning in Kantian philosophy and reveal further possible associations. Works by Richard Artschwager, Joseph Beuys, Andrea Büttner, Björn Dahlem, Fischli & Weiss, Phillipp Goldbach, Francisco Goya, Rebecca Horn, Anselm Kiefer, Paul Klee, Roy Lichtenstein, Christoph M. Loos, Victor Vasarely and Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz are shown.
#KantFragen
Virtual reality world of Immanuel Kant
Based on maps, chronicles, descriptions of the city and nature, a complete virtual reconstruction of the city of Königsberg was created in virtual reality. Teams of VR operators and 3D designers created a virtual twin of Königsberg in a year and a half and with expert advice from historians. The reconstruction includes 5378 houses, 557 municipal/municipal buildings, 3369 outbuildings or stable buildings, 444 industrial and port buildings as well as 2205 gardens and 680 parks. Don't miss this opportunity and explore the city of Königsberg at the VR stations in the exhibition.
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Contact & Partners
An exhibition in cooperation with the East Prussian State Museum with German-Baltic Department, Lüneburg
Cooperation partner “Critical Interventions in the Kant Exhibition”: DFG Reinhart-Koselleck Project “How to deal with racism, sexism and anti-Semitism in works of classical German philosophy?”, Institute for Philosophy at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena
The lecture series “Kant and the Present” in collaboration with the Digital Kant Center NRW and the University of Bonn forms a content-related bridge to the 14th International Kant Congress, which will be held from September 8th to 13th, 2024 by the Institute for Philosophy at the University of Bonn and the Kant Society e. V. (Germany).
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DFG-Forschungsprojekt
„Wie umgehen mit …?“
der Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
