Katharina Kraus

Katharina Kraus is the Miller Associate Professor of Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University, affiliated with the German Program in Modern Languages and Literatures. Previously, she taught at the University of Notre Dame (2017–2023), the University College Freiburg (2011–2017), and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Martin Buber Society (2014–2016). She holds a Diplom in Physics (2008, Heidelberg University), a MPhil in History and Philosophy of Science (2010, Cambridge), and a PhD in Philosophy (2014, Cambridge).

• Education: Diplom in Physics (Heidelberg), MPhil (Cambridge), PhD (Cambridge)
• Expertise: Kant, German philosophy, philosophy of mind, and women philosophers
• Key Projects: The Life of the Mind (mental development theory), and studies on Lou Salomé and Edith Stein

Her research integrates Kantian philosophy with contemporary debates in epistemology and ethics. She explores themes like self-consciousness, perspectivalism, and the first-person perspective. Her monograph Kant on Self-Knowledge and Self-Formation (2020) and upcoming Kant’s Ideas of Reason (2025) are central to her work. Recent activities include organizing the Kant 300 tercentennial events at JHU and the Immanuel Kant Essay Competition award ceremony at the German Embassy (2024).

Awards:

• Recipient of the Kant Dissertation Prize (2018)
• Involved in the Immanuel Kant Essay Competition Award (2024)

Teaching & Outreach: Currently teaches courses on the first-person perspective, Kantian consciousness, and women philosophers in the German tradition. She co-founded the History of Philosophy Forum at Notre Dame and collaborates with interdisciplinary initiatives linking philosophy to science and literature.