I. I have been working on my PhD dissertation, tentatively titled The Concept of the ‘Transcendental Subject’ in Kant’s Philosophy: A Systematic and Historical Investigation, since 2022 at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Chair of Classical German Philosophy.

I propose an ontological and realist interpretation of Kant’s concept of the ‘transcendental subject’, a term commonly used in Kant scholarship. The proposed interpretation aims to address a common misinterpretation in Kant studies that portrays the transcendental subject as a cognitive agent, a carrier of the a priori forms of sensibility and the understanding, responsible for making universal and necessary knowledge possible. I refer to this misinterpretation as the ‘epistemological’ reading.

However, I argue that Kant’s use of the term ‘transcendental subject’ suggests understanding it not as an epistemic agent but rather as a ‘transcendental object’ on the side of the self — one that possesses characteristics of both an appearance and a thing in itself.

For this purpose, I first examine the origin of this concept in Kant’s pre-critical philosophy, and then analyze its systematic role in the Critique of Pure Reason alongside its counterpart, the ‘transcendental object’, which is applied to objects of outer sense.

II. My diploma thesis, which I defended at Belarusian State University in 2017, is titled Power as the Basis for the Becoming of the Subject in Nietzsche’s and Foucault’s Philosophy. 

This study aimed to reconstruct the concept of power as the basis for the formation of the subject in the philosophical conceptions of Nietzsche and Foucault. The three main theses I presented in my thesis are as follows:

1) Both Nietzsche and Foucault advocate a metaphysics of power rather than a metaphysics of substance. According to their conceptions, power is a totality and it cannot be reduced to the mere realization of an individual’s will. In general, both thinkers understand power as a relationship between forces.

2)  In Nietzsche’s and Foucault’s philosophical conceptions, the subject (the self) is embedded in a world of becoming. The subject is not a fixed, persistent substance but rather is itself in a state of becoming. Since the subject is constituted by an interaction of forces, none of its qualities are permanently given once and for all.

3) According to Nietzsche and Foucault, the development of the self can occur in two ways: either reactively or actively. In other words, it occurs either through external influence or by turning force inward.

III. My work The Moral Status of Irony was prepared at the Belarusian State University in 2015 during the course on ethics, presented at the university conference, and published in the conference proceedings.

The moral status of irony can be examined in several ways. 

First, the ironic stance aligns with the pluralism and relativism that are prevalent in contemporary culture because irony is a mechanism that debunks dogmatic and uncritical views. 

Second, irony functions as a unique tool for navigating the normative-axiological landscape. In a pluralistic and relativistic situation, irony enables the subject of morals to transcend visible diversity and attain personal authenticity in moral life. 

Third, irony can be considered a virtue expressed through an open attitude toward others, facilitating the process of communication. 

Furthermore, unlike sarcasm, cynicism, and sometimes humor, irony reflects a high level of moral and intellectual development because it requires the sensitive discernment of hidden connotations and bringing them out in a specific way. This specificity arises from the multilayered and unusually flexible nature of irony. 

The practice of irony is exemplified in my research by prominent theorists and practitioners such as Socrates, Friedrich Schlegel, Søren Kierkegaard, and Richard Rorty.

Minor projects: 

– Kant’s Early Version of the Deduction of the Categories (based on the manuscripts of the Duisburger Nachlass, 1775). 2024 – to the present.

– The Theoretical Foundations of the Idea of University in Kant’s Philosophy. 2020.

– The Role of Natural Sciences in Shaping Nietzsche’s Thought. 2017.

– Friedrich Nietzsche and the Enlightenment. 2016–2017.

– Critique of Metaphysics in Kant’s and Nietzsche’s Philosophical Works. 2015.