Kraus, Katharina

With its values of freedom, equality, reason, and human dignity, philosophy of the Enlightenment has decisively shaped the present world and our contemporary societies. In my philosophical research and teaching, I seek to develop new interpretations and justifications of these values on the basis of their historical sources and in light of the challenges of our present day. My most important source of ideas is Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) and his reception in the 19th and 20th centuries. At the same time, it is very important to me to give recognition to marginalised voices in the history of philosophy and to understand the dialectic of the Enlightenment with its contradictions and paradoxes.

• History of philosophy of European Enlightenment (17th and 18th centuries) and modernity (19th and 20th centuries)
• Immanuel Kant's (1724–1804) transcendental philosophy and its reception in German idealism
• Women philosophers in the German-speaking tradition (19th and 20th centuries)
• Philosophy of life and phenomenology
• Philosophy of mind
• Epistemology and philosophy of science

• 2002-2008 Studies of physics, mathematics, and philosophy at Heidelberg University and the University of Ottawa/Université d’Ottawa (Canada)
• 2008 Diploma in physics, Heidelberg University
• 2009-2010 MPhil (Master) in History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge (UK)
• 2010-2013 PhD in Philosophy, University of Cambridge (UK)
• 2013-2014 Postdoctoral Fellow of the Martin Buber Society of Fellows, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel)
• 2014-2016 Assistant Professor (untenured) at the Chair of Epistemology and Philosophy of Science, University College Freiburg, Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg
• 2017-2022 Assistant Professor of Philosophy (tenure track), University of Notre Dame (USA)
• 2022 Associate Professor of Philosophy (tenured), University of Notre Dame (USA)
• 2021-2023 Feodor Lynen Research Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Université Paris 8, Paris (France)
• 2023-2025 Miller Associate Professor of Philosophy (tenured), William H. Miller III Department of Philosophy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (USA)
• since December 2025 Professor of Philosophy of the Enlightenment and Modernity, University of Vienna