My name is Dina Emundts. Since 2016, I have been a professor of history of philosophy at the Freie Universität, Berlin. Prior to that, I was a professor in Konstanz, and before that, I completed my Habilitation at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. My primary research focus is Classical German Philosophy, although I also enjoy working on the early modern period, phenomenology, and 19th-century philosophy. My work covers epistemology, metaphysics, Naturphilosophie, and aesthetics, as well as topics such as experiences of time, gratitude, humility, conscience, forgiveness, and everyday life.

Below, I briefly outline my plans for the summer of 2026 at the Human Abilities Centre:

All of the topics listed are related to questions of education, self-determination, self-image and talent.

I intend to address Kant's assertion that one must cultivate one's talents. For Kant, this is a moral duty. This thesis raises a number of philosophical questions that should be explored: To what extent does the cultivation of individual talents serve the common good? Could it even contradict it? What conception of education underlies this idea? What conception of the 'self' underlies it? These questions were discussed and answered in different ways by Kant, Fichte, Schelling and Hegel. However, the plan is to add pedagogical, anthropological and literary examples.

I would also like to address the question of what the 'self' means philosophically in different educational concepts more directly and systematically. I start with Kant, whose conception of self-determination is still often the reference point today. Furthermore, I would like to address the topic of boundaries more explicitly. I will use some examples to discuss whether the training or exercise of skills can be limited or prohibited.