Kant’s 1793 essay “Theory and Practice” articulated, and gave further impetus to, a debate about the relationship between theory and practice. This debate centred on the following question: Can the a priori norms and principles of practical reason determine, and be translated into, concrete political practice; or is there a wide gulf between theory and practice, a gulf that can be bridged only by custom, tradition, and accumulated experience? This workshop will examine the accounts of the relationship between theory and practice offered by philosophers such as Fichte, Gentz, Möser, and Rehberg. In examining these accounts, we will consider whether they can illuminate, and be illuminated by, contemporary debates in political theory (e.g., the debate about ‘ideal’ and ‘non-ideal’ theory). See the full programme below. 

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