Between Biology and Ethics - The Concept of Drive in Classical German Philosophy

• Applicant: Dr. Manja Kisner
• Subject Area: History of Philosophy
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 491002145

The concept of drive plays an important interdisciplinary role in the modern history of ideas. At the turn of the 20th century, the theory of drives became a distinguishing mark of Freud’s psychoanalysis, but the concept has a tradition that dates back to the 17th and 18th centuries. In the wake of the 17th-century controversy about the mechanical or non-mechanical essence of living beings, 18th-century physicians and physiologists began to search for the non-mechanical forces constitutive of organic nature. But during the 18th century, the concept of drive also became of great importance to classical German philosophy. Taking into account the historical origins of the concept, the proposed project aims to undertake the first systematic study of the concept of drive in classical German philosophy, focusing on the connections and transformations that are central to the development from Kant to Hegel. Even though the concept of drive does not belong to one of the central concepts of Kant’s and post-Kantian philosophy, its philosophical significance is greater than it might seem at first glance. Within these theories, the concept of drive functions as an intermediary notion that bridges the gap between nature and freedom. In this way, this concept is able to link the normative claims of ethics with the findings of biology and anthropology. A historical and systematic study of the concept of drive allows us, so my main thesis, to interpret the developments within classical German philosophy from a new perspective that brings to the fore the tension between normative and naturalistic conceptions of nature and human life. Against this background, a wide-ranging discussion about the risks and opportunities that arise from the close association of ethics with biology can be initiated, which goes far beyond the purely historical interest.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Netherlands