In this lecture, Lea Ypi (lse.ac.uk) will explain the connection between Kant's moral theory and freedom in modern society.
Should we think of freedom as the absence of external obstacles, allowing us to make choices based on preferences, i.e. "negative freedom"? Or does freedom require that we actively orientate ourselves in society on the basis of articulated values?
Ypi defends an "engaging" conception of freedom, which emphasises the ability to act in accordance with one's own values and principles. She argues that this conception can be used to criticize what she thinks are constraints on human freedom in modern capitalist societies.
About the speaker
Lea Ypi is a professor of political philosophy at the London School of Economics and has in recent years distinguished herself as a highly influential theorist.
Her main research interests and expertise lies within the field of modern political philosophy, German idealism (i.e. Immanuel Kant and Karl Marx), critical theory and European history.
Ypi has written several books which have received wide recognition, including:
- Global Justice and Avant-Garde Political Agency (academic.oup.com)
- The Meaning of Partisanship (academic.oup.com)
- The Architectonic of Reason (academic.oup.com)
Her latest book “Free: A Child and a Country at the End of History” (penguin.co.uk), written as a memoir, takes the reader through her own upbringing in communist Albania and offers a first-hand account of the country’s turbulent political transition into capitalism and liberalism.
The connection between her own upbringing and theoretical perspectives are illustrated in a recent portrait interview in the New Yorker magazine (newyorker.com).
The event is open to all.
