Introduction: Kant and the Berlin Academy

Kant’s engagement with the Berlin Academy has primarily been studied on two accounts. First, his prize essay submitted for the Academy’s competition on the comparison between mathematical and metaphysical truths, for which he was awarded the accessit, has drawn considerable attention. This essay anticipates aspects of his critical philosophy, particularly themes later developed in the Doctrine of Method within the Critique of Pure Reason, regarding the nature of philosophical and mathematical reasoning. As such, the 1763 essay stands out as one of Kant’s most thoroughly studied pre-critical works.^[1] Second, scholars have also focused on Kant’s 1793/95 manuscripts addressing the Academy’s prize question on the progress of metaphysics. These writings represent one of his final reflections on the possibility of metaphysics and offer insights into the trajectory of his critical philosophy within the historical development of metaphysics.^[2]

Even on these occasions, the focus has typically remained on Kant himself, rather than on his relationship with the Berlin Academy, either as an institution or in connection with its individual members. This is unfortunate, as it is well known that Kant held many Academy members in high regard, such as Maupertuis, Euler, Sulzer, and Lambert. More broadly, Kant’s connection with the Berlin Academy was extensive, multiple, and dates to the earliest years of his philosophical career. Beyond the two well-known prize competitions of 1763 and 1795, numerous Kantian texts are tied to the Academy’s activities. His Physical Monadology of 1756, for example, was written a few years after the Academy’s 1747 prize competition on monads and clearly aimed to contribute to the discussions that emerged from that contest. His Considerations on Optimism, announced during the 1759 winter semester, appeared not long after the 1755 competition on Pope and optimism, and it is evident that this question partly motivated Kant’s publication. Later, On the Ultimate Ground of the Differentiation of Directions in Space took as its point of departure Euler’s Reflections on Time and Space, published in the Histoire de l’Académie royale des sciences et des belles-lettres.^[3] These are just a few examples illustrating Kant’s sustained interest in the Berlin Academy, whether through its prize questions or the many mémoires of the class of speculative philosophy. It is also worth noting that Kant was elected as an external member of the Academy in 1786 and maintained correspondence with prominent academicians such as Sulzer, Formey, and Lambert.

Few studies have thoroughly examined Kant’s work in connection with the Berlin Academy. Historical accounts of the Academy do mention Kant, most notably in the works of Bartholmèss (1851, 278–336) and Harnack (1900, 444–457). Bartholmèss, in particular, strongly believed in the value of examining the influence of Berlin academicians on Kant’s philosophy. One chapter of his work is specifically dedicated to the Academy’s objections to Kant’s philosophy toward the end of the 18th century (352–377). More recently, Holz’s monograph (Holz 1981) explores Kant’s relationship with the Berlin Academy, highlighting several important aspects, including the significance of the Academy’s prize questions for Kant’s intellectual development.^[4] However, the study overlooks some crucial issues, for instance, a more comprehensive comparison between Kant’s writings and the mémoires or other prize essays produced during the same period.

This special issue aims to address a gap in the current scholarship by focusing primarily on the responses to Kant’s philosophy among Berlin academicians. From the late 1780s onward, Kant’s philosophy became a central topic in the Academy’s discussions. Numerous mémoires were written in reaction to his works, particularly the Critique of Pure Reason. The first academician to engage critically with Kant was Christian Gottlieb Selle, whose paper, “On the Reality and Ideality of the Objects of Our Knowledge,” challenged Kant’s transcendental idealism in favor of a more empiricist perspective prevalent at the Berlin Academy (Selle [1787], 1792).^[5] Following Selle, several other academicians, including Johann Christoph Schwab, Jean Bernard Mérian, and Louis-Frédéric Ancillon, contributed works addressing Kant’s philosophy. Additionally, two prize competitions were launched with Kantian philosophy in mind: the aforementioned question on the progress of metaphysics and the 1801 competition on the origin of knowledge, won by Lazarus Bendavid and Joseph-Marie de Gérando, respectively.^[6]

In his paper, François Duchesneau explores Kant’s manuscripts related to the question on the progress of metaphysics in light of Nicolas Beguelin’s doctrine of monads, developed in the late 1770s. Beguelin’s analogical use of teleology within the context of organic bodies appears to resonate with certain aspects of Kant’s philosophy. For his part, Christian Leduc examines Johann Christoph Schwab’s interpretation of Kant’s critical philosophy. Schwab’s early analyses of the Critique of Pure Reason were largely positive despite notable disagreements, but his stance shifted over time, especially in his prize essay on the progress of metaphysics, where he associates Kant with skepticism. While the controversy between Kant and Eberhard is well known, Arnaud Pelletier’s contribution highlights the value of examining Eberhard’s texts written after Kant’s On a Discovery (1790) and which have been largely overlooked in the scholarship. Pelletier’s analysis focuses specifically on the issue of geometrical truths and the role of intuition. Lastly, Tinca Prunea-Bretonnet turns to two other academicians, Mérian and Ancillon, who argued that Kant sought to undermine metaphysics. Both scholars, however, proposed ways to preserve metaphysical principles by reinterpreting the philosophies of Leibniz and Wolff in particular.