The last work published by Kant himself is a study of the relationship of philosophy to other academic disciplines. The very title of the work, Streit der Fakultäten (Dispute between the Faculties), published in 1797, makes it clear that the various disciplines are related critically, even polemically, to each other. As academic disciplines they share common obligations of knowledge, enlightenment and education; in their relationship with each other, however, they have the duty to contest the means and aims of knowledge. There can only be living science where this dispute about knowledge is conducted with the means of knowledge. In this volume, representatives of the faculties addressed by Kant give their assessment of Kant's relevance for their disciplines. As the Dispute between the Faculties was and is of importance for the foundation of the University of Berlin, Kant's contribution to university reform is also considered.

Volker Gerhardt is Professor of Philosophy at the Humboldt Universität Berlin and Vice President of the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften.