Kantian anthropology and the feminine task of moralit

Abstract

Despite Kant’s unfriendly descriptions about women in works such as Anthropology from a pragmatic point of view and Observations on the feeling of the beautiful and sublime, the characteristics attributed to them with regard to their “character” and dispositions could serve much more noblepurposes than the mere caprice of a “weak” sex which has no autonomy and is nearly amoral. One of these noble purposes would be related to the natural end of mankind towards its progress and perfection, especially with regard to the highest level of its “moralization”, yet far from being achieved.The characteristics of such womanlike functions are obviously connected with the preservation of human species but also with the development of culture and civilization of mankind in general; these very characteristics would be those of an anthropological (empirical) discipline from a pragmaticpoint of view. In this sense, as well as philosophy and any other deep and hard study are appropriate for men, for they are rationally closer to moral understanding in a formal way, what is appropriate for women is the anthropological observation aimed to the application of what constitutes the practical part of pure ethics: the pragmatic anthropology, so as it is defined by Kant, is a feminine task par excellence