International Conference of Philosophy for Children 2017
"Enlightenment today" Sapere aude! - Have the courage to use your own intellect!
from 19 - 22 October 2017 in Graz/Austria
What is enlightenment? "Enlightenment", according to Kant, "is the emergence of man from his self-inflicted immaturity." And he goes on to say: "Immaturity is the inability to use one's intellect without the guidance of another." The question of enlightenment not only arose in Kant's time, but is also highly topical today. Is the enlightened, responsible and autonomous subject in danger? Where are the most inhibitions on the path to independent thinking? Are radicalisation, emotions and irrationality at the forefront? What can a debate on enlightenment be used for today?
The International Congress on Philosophy for Children is dedicated to the topic of "Enlightenment today". What do we associate with enlightenment today? What phenomena does it describe? Should we still be interested in a historicised Enlightenment? Or is it a kind of educational project?
Maturity, reason, human rights, critical faculties, civil courage, the categorical imperative - these are terms that spring to mind when we think of "enlightenment". How do we refer to the Enlightenment today? What norms and values are associated with it?

The complexity of the modern world, the multitude and diversity of offers of all kinds, scientific progress, the emergence of numerous expert cultures and the complexity of circumstances present us with major challenges. What about education and enlightenment?
This year's congress is planned as an intercultural forum to enable philosophical discussions of current phenomena, as well as to build a bridge to other scientific disciplines. An important aim of this event is to initiate an exchange of different approaches and thus make further knowledge bases explicit for both educational concepts and educational policy initiatives.
The topics of the congress will focus on the following areas: