Philosophical Discourse: Adorno, Foucault, Derrida
Name of applicant
Kristian Olesen Toft
Title
PhD Fellow
Institution
University of Copenhagen
Amount
DKK 900,000
Year
2024
Type of grant
Internationalisation Fellowships
What?
The project investigates the status and role of philosophy as one contemporary discourse among others. Drawing on unpublished and recently published manuscripts by some of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century, the project investigates the specificity of philosophical discourse and whether there still remains a task for philosophy today.
Why?
The 'end of philosophy' was pronounced repeatedly throughout the twentieth century, and the status and role of philosophy, in the university and society in general, remains as unclear as ever. Yet, faced with apparently never-ending crises which neither scientists nor politicians seem equipped to solve, the radical manner of self-questioning inherent to philosophy is needed today more than ever.
How?
By drawing on unpublished and recently published manuscripts by philosophers Theodor W. Adorno, Michel Foucault, and Jacques Derrida, who approach philosophical discourse at the level of its terminology, history and rhetoric, respectively, the project offers a systematic, philosophical account of the specificity of philosophical discourse with an eye to the present.