Maria Kronfeldner

Maria Kronfeldner works in philosophical anthropology, the philosophy of the sciences (life sciences, social sciences, humanities) and metaphysics (related to these sciences), integrating these three fields with approaches in epistemology, science studies, and social philosophy. She is Professor at CEU since 2014. From 2010-2014 she was Junior Professor at Bielefeld University. Earlier she held several fellowships, among them at the Max Planck Institute for History of Science in Berlin, at the Fishbein Center for History of Science and Medicine of the University of Chicago, at the Center for Philosophy of Science at University of Pittsburgh, and at the Sydney Centre for the Foundations of Science at the University of Sydney. She earned her PhD at the University of Regensburg in 2006. For her early work on creativity, she has been awarded the Karl Popper Essay Prize of the British Society for the Philosophy of Science and The Philosophical Quarterly International Essay Prize. She is currently working mainly on human life (human nature, human kinds) and the negations of it (dehumanization, inhumanity).

Research keywords (more contemporary ones mentioned first):  Inhumanity, dehumanization, humanity, human nature, human kinds, crisis of knowledge about the human, complicity in sciences, science and society, science and values, scientific responsibility, academic freedom/scientific freedom, essentialism, causation, explanation, classification, nature-nurture discussions, genetic causation, genetic determinism, cultural inheritance, cultural evolution, culture, creativity, evolutionary thinking more generally. 

Profile: During her graduate time, she focused on philosophy of mind, pragmatism, and environmental ethics. Combining her interest in philosophy of mind with her artistic activities (theatre, video, photography, wood works, fabric works), she started research on philosophy of creativity. Since novelty is not only occurring in human minds, but also in nature, her research on the concept of creativity led her to the history and philosophy of the life sciences. She has analysed Darwinian approaches to creativity and cultural evolution as well as the history of the concept of culture and cultural inheritance, and studied how to rebut genetic determinism as well as how nature and nurture interact. She worked on the concept of human nature between science, philosophy and politics. Her book What's Left of Human Nature: A Post-essentialist, Pluralist and Interactive Account of a Contested Concept (2018, MIT Press) brings together several branches of her research, such as essentialism, causation, explanation, normalcy, reductionism, complexity, integration and unity of sciences, as well as science and values. The research on the book led to a new long-term project under the label The Epistemology of the In/Human, initially funded by CEU's Research Excellence Scheme. The project is a continuation of the project "Topics in the Human and Social Sciences" (ToPHSS), funded by the CEU Humanities initiative. The 2021 Routledge Handbook of Dehumanization is part of that project. As a key researcher of the Excellence Cluster Project Knowledge in Crisis, Kronfeldner contributes work on the crisis of knowledge about the human. 

Current service for the community: Kronfeldner is currently Steering Committee Member (Präsidium) of the Österreichische Gesellschaft für Philosophie (OEGP), member of the advisory board of the Karl Popper Foundation, and member of the Leiden-based Research AFITE Network on Academic Freedom, and the PPE Society's working group on the ethical limits of academic inquiry (ELAI). At CEU she is member of the Social Mind Center, directs CEU's Philosophy Research and Publish Lab, co-directs the Vienna Science Studies Lab, and co-hosts a video-channel with Conversations in Socially Engaged Philosophy. 

In the past, Kronfeldner was a member of the research network of the OSUN-funded Global Observatory on Academic Freedom (2022-), co-organized  the APSE-CEU-IVC lecture series (till Jan 2023), served as an advisory board member of the OSUN-funded Global Observatory on Academic Freedom (2021-2022), as steering committee member of the European Philosophy of Science Association (EPSA, 2017-2021),  a council member of the International Society for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology (ISHPSSB, 2013-17), and initiated and directed the German Network for Philosophy of the Life Sciences from 2011-2014. She has also served in recent years on a variety of program committees for international conferences. From 2020-2024, she was MA Program Director in the Philosophy Department, and from 2022-2024, she was chair of CEU's Equal Opportunity Committee, from 2024 onwards continuing as a member of it, focusing on economic inequality and education. 

Mentoring and engagement for an inclusive philosophy: Kronfeldner is a first-generation academic, mentoring junior members of her community via the CIVICA university alliance, the European Philosophy of Sience Association (EPSA), the East European Network for Philosophy of Science (EENPS), the Society for Women in Philosophy (SWIP), and Arbeiterkind e.V. But junior members are welcome to contact her for mentoring requests also independent of these initiatives. Maria is faculty member of the CEU chapter of the student-led Minorities and Philosophy (MAP) project, and committed to the Barcelona principles for a globally inclusive philosophy. 

OFFICE HOURS: December break office hour - Dec 19, 10-12 (MOVED ONLINE! WRITE TO MEET ME). Regular winter term office hours (Wk1-12): Tue 11:40-15:40. 

Latest book: "The Routledge Handbook of Dehumanization" (2021), featuring articles from leading experts on dehumanization, from a diversity of social science and humanities disciplines. See

• The volume's PhilPapers-Page. The ToC and some preprints are there. 
• The publisher's site. 

Latest monograph: "What's Left of Human Nature: A post-essentialist, pluralist and interactive account of a contested concept" (2018, MIT Press). See: 

• The synopsis, the cover,  a preview, and a ebook-version (for CEU members).
• A podcast-interview on the "New Books in Philosophy" series and a video-interview as part of  Human Nature Forum Channel. 
• A special issue on the book in the Journal "Philosophy and Society" (edited by A. Knežević). 
• Reviews: British Journal for the Philosophy of Science (reviewed by S. Downes); International Studies in Philosophy of Science (reviewed by Andrew Buskell), Notre Dame Review of Books (reviewed by P. Honenberger); Philosophy of Science (reviewed by J. Odenbaugh); Social Epistemology Review (reviewed by R.  Sassower); Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophy (reviewed by M. Hampe). 
   

Selected recent papers, talks, media appearance and other news (for older news from AY 2015-16, 2016-17, and 2017-18 scroll down to File attachements and see the Archive):

• Coming up: PSA Symposium on scientific Freedom and market failures, with C. Callender, H. Douglas and N. Oreskes, New Orleans, November 2024. 
• Talk on scientific freedom and vulnerable truths at the East European Network Philosophy of Science (EENPS) meeting in Kraków, Sep 2024. 
• Philosophy Performance Exhibition: "Picture a Book: What's Left of Human Nature" as part of the Long Night of Research, 24 May 2024. 
• Paper published: "Being human is a kaleidoskopic affair", describing the multidimensional pluralism of the human in my work) (open access).  
• Paper in press: "The mirage of a paradox of dehumanization: How to affirm the reality of dehumanization", forthcoming with the Journal of Social Philosophy. (open access author's final version). 
• Paper forthc: on epistemic responsibility. (Draft of paper on request; just drop me a message). 
• Paper published: "Die begriffliche Ausweitung der Kampfzone: Der Begriff der Aggression zwischen Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft." (open access) 
• Panel discussion on Migration and Research, part of the Anti-Racism Week, 23 Nov 2023, Universität Wien. 
• Paper on academic freedom published: "On how to distinguish critique from an infringement of academic freedom", to appear in a Special Issue on Reimagining Academic Freedom, Journal Philosophy and Theory of Higher Education. (Short presentation related to it at CEU & LFUI Philosophy Symposium, Oct 21, 2022, Department of Philosophy, Universität Innsbruck).  
• Talk on genes and us, at the Mendel 200 Symposium "Mendel's legacy in science and society", Oct 13-14, 2022, Konrad Lorenz Institute Klosterneuburg. (Video)
• Short input on values and academic freedom, panel discussion member at Conference on "Academic freedom in times of illiberal assaults on democracy", Sep 19-20, 2022, CEU Vienna. 
• Book symposium on monograph "What's left of human nature" (Jun 22, 2022, IFDT Belgrade).  
• Member of panel on women in arts and sciences (in German). As part of the event "Geschlecht.Genie.Gewalt", organized by the Elfride Jelinek Forschungsverbund (Jun 2, Vienna). 
• Book review on the humanities: "The humanities within and outside the academic world"  (Review of W.B. Drees' "What are the humanities for?"). (read only)
• Talk on academic freedom as part of the reading group "Is the philosophy of science a socially engaged discipline?", Insitute for Philosophy and Social  Theory, University of Belgrade (May 19, 2022, online). 
• Input on academic freedom for Magna Charta Observatory webinar: Academic Freedom, roots and realities (May 11, 2022, online) (Video)
• Talk on academic freedom: Academic Freedom and the Argument from Truth, as part of the APSE-CEU-IVC Lecture Series (Nov 11, 2021, online). 
• Talk: The Paradox of Dehumanization Resolved, as part of the Virtual International Symposium in Phenomenology, Social Philosophy, and Philosophy of Mind, on "Dehumanization: New Philosophical Perspectives"  (Oct 7, 2021, online).
• Short input on Academic Freedom, as part of the university-wide seminar on epistemologies of academic freedom (Oct 04, 2021, online). See video of the seminar. 
• Talk: Images of the Human from the Social Sciences, as part of a Turing Center Lecture Series (Sep 27, 2021, online). 
• Talk: Über Dehumanisierung und Essentialismus: Wie der Mitmensch zum Gegenmensch wird. Abteilung Philosophie, Universität Bielefeld (Jul 07, 2021, online).  
• Paper: Academic Freedom and Creativity, 2021, European Journal for Philosophy of Science (2021). See: fulltext (open access).
   
• Paper: Digging the Channels of Inheritance, 2021, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. See: published version fulltext.
• Paper: Psychological Essentialism and Dehumanization, 2021, published, as part of the Routledge Handbook of Dehumanization, edited by Maria Kronfeldner.
• Short piece On Hiding Faces (2021), as part of the project Hiding Faces, American Philosophical Association Blog (Jan 2021). 
• Interview and Discussion (Digital Salon) on Face matters: Why do we care so much about faces?  (2020), as part of the project Hiding Faces. 
   
• Paper The Paradox of Dehumanization Resolved (draft), presented at CEU's Philosophy Departmental Colloquium, 28 Apr 2020. 
• Paper Wie der Mitmensch zum Gegenmenschen wird (on the limits of empathy and how to extend them, in German), presented at the Conference of the Club of Vienna "Empathie als evolutionary Leistung und ihre Bedeutung für die Bewältigung globaler Krisen", Nov 18, 2019,  Vienna (see Video below).
• Paper Going Public: Expertise and Professional Responsibility in Philosophy (draft, with Alexander Reutlinger), presented at Workshop "Die gesellschaftliche Rolle der Philosophie", Erlangen, 01-02 Nov, 2018; to be presented at IVC Conference "The Vienna Circle: Its History and Importance Today", Vienna, 22-24 Oct, 2020. 
• Paper Two Reasons Why the Purist Approach to Science Fails (under revision) presented at the Conference of the German Society for Analytic Philosophy (GAP), Cologne, 17-20 Sep, 2018.
• Best practice guidelines on Controversial Academic Invitations: Some Best Practises (draft, currently discussed with major German speaking societies in the field).
• Invited Response on Ausgrenzung oder Diskurs? Fragen des Umgangs mit extremen Positionen (Exclusion or discussion? How to react to extremist positions), published at Information Philosophie.
• Interview on Can We Get Rid of Dehumanization? In the Hungarian weekly Élet és Irodalom (vol. LXIII/30), Jul 26, 2019. Interviewer: László Köszeghy. 
• Keynote at ELTE's "Human Enigma" Group Conference on Dehumanization, 07-08 Jan 2019, Budapest. 
• Blog post on CEU "A University Goes Into Exile", American Philosophical Association (APA) Blog, 03 Jan 2019.  
• Keynote "Explanatory Looping Effects", at the European Network for Philosophy of the Social Sciences (ENPOSS) Meeting 2018, 30 Aug - 01 Sep, 2018. (Relates to one chapter of the new book "What's Left of Human Nature" (see above). 
• Paper "Divide and Conquer: The Authority of Nature and Why We Disagree about Human Nature" now published. 

Recent conferences and workshops organized: 

• CEU Undergraduate Essay Competition (co-organized with László Koszeghy and Zsófia Jeney). 
• Conference session (online) on Thick concepts, co-organized with Catherine Herfeld (Zürich), as part of the 2020 ENPOSS meeting.
• Workshop (cancelled due to the pandemic) on Dehumanization and Narrative Empathy in Literary Theory and Philosophy, co-organized with Andrea Timár (Senior Core Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies at CEU), Budapest. 
• Workshop Who's afraid of Values? Value-fact entanglements in scientific research (Budapest, 09 Jul, 2018) 
• Workshop Science Studies in Budapest 2 (Budapest, 05 Jun, 2018)
• Symposium: "Human nature and dehumanization," as part of the conference "Norm und Natur", Kongress of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Philosophie (Berlin, 24-27 Sep 17)
• Workshop on Dehumanization (Budapest, 31 Jan, 2017)
• Conference "Dehumanization: New Approaches to the Politics of Human Nature" (Budapest, 6-8 Apr, 2016).

Videos and Podcasts

• Video interview on my approach to "human nature" in "What’s Left of Human Nature", for the Human Nature Forum Channel, by M. Parson.
• Talk on genes and us, at the Mendel 200 Symposium "Mendel's legacy in science and society", Oct 13-14, 2022, Konrad Lorenz Institute Klosterneuburg. (Link to Video)
• Input on academic freedom for Magna Charta Observatory webinar: Academic Freedom, roots and realities (May 11, 2022, online) (Link to Video)
• Conversation on Dehumanization with Alexander Reutlinger, as part of the Conversations on Socially Engaged Philosophy. (Link to video).
• Talk and panel discussion: Das Eigene und das Fremde: Ein Einblick in die Multi-Disziplinarität der CEU. Wiener Vorlesungen - Positionen einer Stadt, May 14, 2020.  
• Presentation: Wie der Mitmensch zum Gegenmensch wird. Club of Vienna Conference "Empathie als evolutionary Leistung und ihre Bedeutung für die Bewältigung globaler Krisen" (Link to audio-file). 
• Podcast: How we are Human, a discussion of 2017 ToPHSS course lecturer and participants, directed and compiled by Magdalena Smieszek. (Link to audio-file).
• Presentation: Limits of Explaining Creativity, as part of the 2017 Creative Cognition Summer University Course, CEU. (Link to audio-file)
• Presentation: Leaps into the dark: Freedom as spontaneity, as part of the university-wide faculty seminar on "Open Societies and Free Minds: Hannah Arendt and the Idea of Open Society", Mar 18, 2016. (Link to video).
• Keynote lecture "The right to ignore: An epistemic defense of the nature/culture divide" at the Meeting of the Nordic Network for Philosophy of Science, Helsinki, Apr 23-24, 2015. (Link to video). (The final paper related to the talk is forthc, as part of the "Routledge Handbook of Evolution and Philosophy", ed. by R. Joyce).
• Discussion with Marshall Sahlins on "The Western Illusion of Human Nature", Chicago, Jan 2014. (Link to video)
• Radio Interview (BR) on memes: Is this real life?, Munich, Apr 2013.
• TV Discussion Scobel (3SAT): Evolution und Fortschritt, (on cultural evolution), Mainz, Oct 2009.

Mentorship and engagement for an inclusive philosophy

• Mentor for Arbeiterkind e.V.
• Mentor for EPSA, EENPS, and SWIP
• CIVICA PhD mentor. 
• Faculty member of the CEU's Chapter in the student project Minorities and Philosophy (MAP).
• Supporter of the Barcelona Principles for a Globally Inclusive Philosophy. 
• Initiator of CEU's Philosophy Department's Good Practice Scheme.