FOR 2909: Menschliche Fähigkeiten

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What are human abilities? How can we know about them? And what is their contribution to human agency? The Kolleg-Forschungsgruppe conducts research into these foundational questions in the areas of metaphysics, epistemology, and the philosophy of action, always linking contemporary and historical philosophical perspectives. During our first funding period, general questions about the nature and function of human abilities were our focus. In the second funding period, we will examine questions concerning the limits of human abilities. It is obvious that our abilities are limited, both at the individual level (think of limited cognitive abilities) and at the collective level (think of our joint attempts to stop a pandemic). But how are we to understand such limits, and how are we to think about overcoming them? We will pursue these questions along three dimensions. Methodologically, we will examine the powerful tradition of understanding our limits against the background of ideal, unlimited abilities – God’s abilities throughout much of the history of philosophy, or the abilities of ideal rational agents in much of contemporary epistemology and decision theory. Explanatory questions concern the identification of external factors that set limits to our abilities – our corporeal nature in some historical accounts, or more recently contingent social factors. Once identified, such factors lend themselves to the idea of changing them. But how exactly do different external factors limit our abilities, and how are we to understand limited abilities where no such factors can be identified? Finally, normative questions concern how to deal with the limits of our abilities, especially in view of uncertainty about where they are and how they are constituted. Under what conditions should we strive to overcome an uncertain limit, as it is often proclaimed in contemporary debates about human enhancement; and when is it best to accept our limits and learn to live with them, as the ancient Stoics already advised? Such questions are of both philosophical and sociopolitical importance.The Kolleg-Forschungsgruppe brings together philosophers from different subdisciplines, ranging from metaphysics to the philosophy of education, while taking into account the historical dimension of contemporary debates, and thus aims to foster intradisciplinary discourse within philosophy. In addition, it cooperates with psychologists, legal scholars, and educational researchers to ensure interdisciplinary perspectives. Being located at two Berlin universities and collaborating with Max-Planck Institutes, the Kolleg-Forschungsgruppe is firmly anchored in Berlin’s vibrant scientific scene.