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Christian Wolff and Positive Academic Freedom
Abstract
In this article I argue that it is possible to find a positive account of academic freedom or of "freedom to philosophise" within Enlightenment thought. I focus on the case of Christian Wolff and his discussion of libertas philosophandi. I start by contextualising Wolff's life and philosophy and discussing the negative aspect of his freedom to philosophise. I then present a case for an additional positive version understood as epistemic autonomy. Finally, I explain Wolffian epistemic autonomy within the context of his wider theory of cognition.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/kw.2025.39.23-41
Date of publication: 2025-08-13 14:59:45
Date of submission: 2025-05-24 19:36:02
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