Elisabeth Theresia Widmer | London School of Economics and Political Science (original) (raw)

Papers by Elisabeth Theresia Widmer

British Journal of the History of Philosophy (forthcoming), 2025

Unlike Johann Benjamin Erhard’s views on art, right, revolution, and structural misrecognition, h... more Unlike Johann Benjamin Erhard’s views on art, right, revolution, and structural misrecognition, his discussion of economic injustice, here understood as the lawful economic oppression of one’s end-setting human nature, has garnered little attention. To begin filling this gap, I focus on central passages from his 1795 book On the Right of the People to a Revolution wherein Erhard discusses two cases of economic injustice. By reconstructing these claims within his Kantian perfectionist framework, I pursue two goals. First, I seek to demonstrate that his fundamental ‘duty to oneself’ lays out a comprehensive framework for duties grounding moral obligations to remedy economic practices. My second aim is to utilize this framework to explain how he defends a natural law position that views the legal system as both a remedy for and an ideological tool of economic oppression. I argue that this two-fold perspective is a strength of Erhard’s theory as it allows for the detection of oppressive economic structures without letting go of a principle of external freedom from where coercive juridical laws can be derived.

Kantian Review (forthcoming), 2024

Hermann Cohen, the founding father of Marburg neo-Kantianism, is known for criticizing capitalism... more Hermann Cohen, the founding father of Marburg neo-Kantianism, is known for criticizing capitalism from a Kantian ethical perspective. Thus far, the role of the notion of humanity has been viewed as grounding the-what I shall call-'purposive-labour reading'. This interpretation suggests that Cohen aimed at a reorganization of work so that our humanity, which requires us to be treated as ends, remains intact. With the aim to better understand his usage of humanity, I contextualize the discussion of socialism and capitalism within Cohens' overall framework and situate his ideas in the context of his contemporary interlocutors. Revisiting Cohen's remarks on socialism and capitalism against the backdrop of his neo-Kantian account of ethical cognition reveals that his discussion of labour serves as an exemplar, showcasing how ethical rationality manifests in the liberal socialists' demands. I argue that his primary aim was not to prepare the ground for a prescriptive labour theory -- though this is likely to follow -- but to argue for an alternative framework to historical materialism, allowing us to perceive and interpret social practices in an ethical light.

Continental Philosophy Review (Forthcoming), 2024

Cassirer’s view on ethical objectivity is puzzling. In his scarce comments on Kantian ethics, the... more Cassirer’s view on ethical objectivity is puzzling. In his scarce comments on Kantian ethics, the “pure will” is defined as a “function of consciousness,” which he takes to be a necessary condition of the possibility of objective ethical normativity embedded in empirical reality. In the current literature, we find two distinct interpretations of Cassirer’s account of ethical objectivity. The ‘meta-philosophical’ interpretation takes objectivity as a telos that humanity gradually approaches, thereby emphasizing the historically relative truth standards to which the teleologically-evolving symbolic forms respond. The ‘Kantian’ interpretation takes objectivity as a concept inherent to the conduct of the moral law, highlighting the evaluative and prescriptive aspects of Cassirer’s philosophical method. By interpreting Cassirer’s ethics in light of Hermann Cohen’s mature ethical theory, I argue that ethical deliberation in Cassirer entails a notion of universality that is a priori and reliant on a substantiated concept that is subject to change. The proposed ‘contingent conception of universality’ thesis accounts for both: the evaluative and teleological features of Cassirer’s ethical theory, grounding an a priori account of ethical objectivity conceptualized relative to contingent truth standards that gradually improve.

Cambridge Handbook of Continental Philosophy (Forthcoming), 2024

Book chapter for the Handbook of Continental Philosophy (CUP), edited by Karen NG and Sacha Golob... more Book chapter for the Handbook of Continental Philosophy (CUP), edited by Karen NG and Sacha Golob' despite their reservations towards Kantian rational idealism, were intrigued by the neo-Kantian tradition. Genealogy is a philosophical method aimed at uncovering the historical origins of normative beliefs that reinforce or stabilize problematic power relations. This method proceeds descriptively but is not value-neutral: With its intended aim of making the reader reassess their values, it seeks to correct the readers' belief or value system. 'Classical genealogists'-henceforth referring to Marx, Nietzsche, and Foucault-rest on four pivotal assumptions. 1 Firstly, agents are considered to take contingent beliefs as objectively true, unwittingly bolstering practices that uphold prevailing power dynamics. The goal of the genealogical method is to challenge and erode these power structures by unveiling the historical origins of these beliefs. Secondly, at the heart of their critique lies a radical rejection of idealism, encompassing notions like "universality," "objectivity," "absolutism," or "apriority." While these notions are taken as logical and ahistorical terms in Kant and post-Kantian traditions, genealogists harbor skepticism about their potential ideological role. Thirdly, classical genealogists abstain from devising normative principles. Their intent is to foster an awareness of the contingency of morals. Lastly, classical genealogists typically align themselves with a form of materialism. By focusing on the material manifestation of norms, they uncover ideological components rooted in contingent factors that reinforce and contribute to problematic power relations. Prima facie, Kantian transcendental idealism appears incompatible with the philosophical method of genealogical critique. Nonetheless, Nietzsche and Foucault both held an appreciation for the neo-Kantians. Nietzsche read Lange's main book, The History of Materialism, which he described as "a real treasure-house," shortly after its publication in 1865, during the early stages of his career. In a letter to Hermann Mushacke, he writes: The most meaningful philosophical work that has appeared in the past ten years is undoubtedly Lange's History of Materialism, about which I could write a ream of panegyrics. Kant, Schopenahuer, and this book of Lange's-I do not need anything else. (Cited after Hill 2003, 6-7) Nietzsche's enthusiasm for Lange is also reflected in the Genealogy of the Morals and Beyond Good and Evil in which he advocates a philosophy as "psychophysiology"-a thought clearly tracing back to Lange as we will see further below. However, Nietzsche was not the sole genealogist to engage with the works of the Marburg neo-Kantians. In the article "Une histoire restée muette," published in 1966 in La Quinzaine littéraire, Foucault conducted a review of Cassirer's Philosophy of the Symbolic Forms. Despite Foucault's programmatic inclination to critique modern practices established in the name of rationality,

Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie, 2023

This paper argues that the 'scientific dispute' between Hermann Cohen and Rudolf Stammler is symp... more This paper argues that the 'scientific dispute' between Hermann Cohen and Rudolf Stammler is symptomatic of a philosophical movement of left-wing Kant interpretations at the turn of the twentieth century. By outlining influential predecessors that shaped Cohen's and Stammler's thinking, I show that their Kantian justifications of socialism differ regarding their conception of law, history, and the political implications that follow from their practical philosophies. Against scholars who suggest that the Marburg School's view on socialism was a coherent school of thought, I introduce the concept of 'left-Kantianism' as an open term that includes a wide variety of novel socialist approaches to Kant at the time.

This paper argues for a 'contextualist' approach to teaching antisemitism in philosophy class. Th... more This paper argues for a 'contextualist' approach to teaching antisemitism in philosophy class. The traditional 'systematic' approach emphasizes recognizing and dismantling antisemitic aspects in canonical philosophical texts. The introduced contextualist approach broadens the perspective, treating philosophy as a continuous debate embedded in cultural realities. It focuses on historical controversies rather than isolated arguments, includes the voice and the perspectives of the oppressed, and so has the potential to broaden traditional philosophical canons. In the second half of the paper, we provide a case study of the contextualist approach, applying it to the 'Berlin antisemitism controversy' of 1879/80. We argue that the contextualist approach is particularly valuable when dealing with antisemitism as it teaches students to analyze arguments within the socio-political landscape and to identify antisemitic elements. The students thereby acquire the skills to discern antisemitic argumentation in other contexts as well. We suggest that this approach could be used to teach other debates in the history of philosophy, especially those tackling race, sex, and gender issues.

Journal of Transcendental Philosophy, 2022

In recent literature, it has been suggested that Lange’s social and political philosophy is separ... more In recent literature, it has been suggested that Lange’s social and political philosophy is separate from his neo-Kantian program. Prima facie, this interpretation makes sense given that Lange argues for an account of social norms that builds on Darwin and Smith rather than on Kant. Still, this paper argues that elements of psychophysiological transcendentalism can be found in Lange’s social and political philosophy. A detailed examination of the second edition of the History of Materialism, Schiller’s Poems, and the second edition of The Worker’s Question reveals that Lange sought to develop a systematic foundation of psychophysiological transcendentalism that is presupposed in his social and political philosophy. This allows for a more detailed understanding of Lange’s practical philosophy and assures him a position in the tradition of neo-Kantian socialism.

Idealistic Studies, 2021

This paper challenges the hitherto common distinction between Hermann Cohen’s early phase of Völk... more This paper challenges the hitherto common distinction between Hermann Cohen’s early phase of Völkerpsychologie and his later phase as a critical idealist. Recently, it has been claimed that Cohen’s turn was not a rapid conversion but a development that was already inherent to his early view. This paper argues that even in Cohen’s mature critical idealism, a thin basis of Völkerpsychologie continues to exist. Cohen’s critical programme is presented as having a twofold aim: On the one hand, it strives to give an account of pure, formal, and logical laws that regulate critical thinking; on the other hand, it offers a reading of Kant’s dualism between matter and form that allows critical thinking to be seen as inevitably embedded in causal laws of psychology, history, and physiology. Concerning the latter, the paper argues that Cohen remained in the tradition of Völkerpsychologie in his mature ethical thought.

Kant um 1900, Hallesche Beiträge zur Aufklärungsforschung, De Gruyter, 2022

(1828-1875) galt in der zweiten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts als einer der einflussreichsten Philo... more (1828-1875) galt in der zweiten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts als einer der einflussreichsten Philosophen seiner Zeit. Umso erstaunlicher ist es, dass bis heute eine detaillierte Ausarbeitung seiner ästhetischen Ethik, die er in Abgrenzung zur kantischen Ethik konzipierte, ein Desideratum darstellt. Neben seinem berühmten Werk Geschichte des Materialismus und Kritik seiner Bedeutung in der Gegenwart (1866) entwickelte Lange-abgesehen von der bekannten psychophysischen Fundierung der kantischen Transzendentalphilosophie-eine Theorie beruhend auf dem "Standpunkt des Ideals". 1 Diese Standpunkt-Theorie umfasste nicht nur die empirisch fundierte Moralstatistik. Damit verteidigte Lange auch eine idealistisch fundierte Ethik, die der Ästhetik untergeordnet war, und die einen systematisch relevanten Beitrag zur philosophischen Fundierung seiner Philosophie lieferte. Lange vertrat damit eine Position, die einen bemerkenswerten Einfluss auf den ‚klassischen' Neukantianismus hatte. 2 Somit entwickelte beispielsweise der Vertreter der Südwestdeutschen Schule des Neukantianismus,

Book Reviews by Elisabeth Theresia Widmer

, 5 and the recently published Special Issue on "Cassirer's Children" in the Journal of Transcend... more , 5 and the recently published Special Issue on "Cassirer's Children" in the Journal of Transcendental Philosophy 6-to name only a few-are invaluable sources that have (re-)introduced Cassirer's philosophy of symbolic forms to the philosophical community after a long period of neglection. However, works that connect various interpretations and promote an interdisciplinary discussion on how to understand the rich methodological aspects of Cassirer's system are still rare. The volume The Method of Culture. Ernst Cassirer's Philosophy of Symbolic Forms, edited by Anne Pollok and Luigi Filieri, provides well-researched contributions to fill this desideratum. The volume answers to the "renaissance" of Cassirer scholarship (p. 13) by combining various articles tackling fundamental questions regarding Cassirer's philosophy or "method" of culture. The crucial problem in Cassirer's philosophy is the following. On the one hand, Cassirer's

Books by Elisabeth Theresia Widmer

Königshausen und Neumann, 2024

In dieser philosophiehistorischen Arbeit verteidige ich die These, dass sich am Ende des 19. Jahr... more In dieser philosophiehistorischen Arbeit verteidige ich die These, dass sich am Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts im Marburger Neukantianismus eine dem Kapitalismus gegenüber kritisch eingestellte philosophische Strömung entwickelte, die ich ‚Linkskantianismus‘ nenne. In Anlehnung und Abgrenzung an den Linkshegelianismus zeichne ich historisch und systematisch die argumentativen Grundlinien bei Friedrich Albert Lange, Hermann Cohen und am Rande auch von Paul Natorp und Rudolf Stammler nach, um die Anfänge und einzelne Entwicklungen ein Stück weit nachzuverfolgen.

De Gruyter, 2023

Widmer sheds light on a neglected aspect of the Western philosophical tradition. She shows that, ... more Widmer sheds light on a neglected aspect of the Western philosophical tradition. She shows that, following an era of Hegelianism, the members of the neo-Kantian Marburg School, such as Friedrich Albert Lange, Hermann Cohen, Rudolf Stammler, Paul Natorp, and Ernst Cassirer defended socialism or left-wing ideals on Kantian principles.