CfA: The Philosophy of Right and Wrong

Hegel on Crime, Transgression, and Injustice

Judgments of wrong are ubiquitous in moral, political, and legal discourse. Yet, we rarely talk about what is wrong, its place in the world, and its relationship to what is right. This conference brings together scholars to explore the notion of wrong (Unrecht) in and through GWF Hegel’s mature philosophy.

Since his early writings, Hegel was occupied with the question how to reconcile the normative order with deviations from that order. It is a question that pervades the Philosophy of Right, where his political theory finds its final formu­la­tion. When it first appears, the notion of wrong reveals the deficiency of a system based on abstract rights; after that, it remains an undercurrent of the argument. Arguably, the problem of righting wrongs does not just inform, famously, Hegel’s theory of punishment but also his examinations of morality, the capitalist market, courts, poverty, citizenship, and international politics, among other things.

From 11 to 13 September 2025, the Independent Research Group ‘Criminal Law Theory’ at MPI-Freiburg welcomes scholars from ju­ris­pru­dence, philosophy, political theory, and adjacent fields to a collaborative and interdisciplinary conference on ‘The Philosophy of Right and wrong’.

The overarching ambition of the conference is to put exegetical research into touch with current debates in legal theory, especially criminal law scholarship, and adjacent fields, such as moral philosophy, meta-ethics, and political theory. For a list of themes to be explored, and further background on the conference, please refer to the detailed Call for Abstracts (pdf file).

Speakers are welcome to tackle other questions than the ones listed in the detailed CfA, as long as they connect to the overarching theme. While the focus of the conference is on Hegel’s mature political philosophy, scholars are encouraged to draw on earlier writings if doing so is conducive to accentuating, contrasting, or criticising the argument of the Philosophy of Right.

Presentations will be held in English and should be no longer than 30 minutes. Travel and accommodation costs for speakers will be covered. We plan to publish the conference proceedings after the event, with further details to be announced in due course.

The call for abstracts is open till 28 February 2025. Abstracts should be submitted to strafrechtstheorie@csl.mpg.de.

For more information, please visit https://csl.mpg.de/en/hegel.