The proto racial theory of the young Kant

Authors

  • Leonardo Rennó Ribeiro Santos Universidade Estadual de Campinas

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5007/1677-2954.2023.e85424

Keywords:

Kant, Physical geography, Anthropology, Racial theory, Racism

Abstract

The article evaluates Kant's efforts to compose a theory of human races during the early stages of his academic course on physical geography. While the physical geography manual (Ms Holstein) shows a concatenated set of racially oriented anthropological observations, Herder's notes on these lectures (V-PG/Herder) evidence an execution of a vigorous racial research program that is linked to the philosophical guidance for scientific investigation defended in the essay The Only Possible Argument (BDG). Read together, these texts reveal a Kantian proto theory of races, philosophically grounded and, not least, committed to the racist mentality of the time.

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Published

2023-11-29

Issue

Vol. 22 No. 1 (2023): Global Pandemic Justice

Section

Articles - Continuous Flow

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