Kantian Cosmopolitanism and the Racial Hierarchy
Open Access
- Author:
- Shorter, Jameliah Inga
- Graduate Program:
- Philosophy
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- October 12, 2015
- Committee Members:
- Robert Lambert Bernasconi, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Kathryn Teresa Gines, Committee Member
Sarah Clark Miller, Committee Member
Daniel Leonhard Purdy, Special Member - Keywords:
- race
Kant
Cosmopolitanism
Anlagen
slavery - Abstract:
- My dissertation offers an account of Kant's concept of race in the context of his cosmopolitan theory. This account is framed as a critical response to two widely accepted claims: the claim that Kant's work can be separated into distinct periods before and after he allegedly abandoned his thinking about race, and the claim that Kant's views on race are marginal, having no systematic implications for the rest of his philosophy. I contend that the concept of race is an integral part of what Kant sets out to accomplish in the 1790s. His understanding of the cosmopolitan society is built on the theory of inequality, and that theory has its start in the concept of race along two concepts. The first is the idea that the human race must be stratified on the basis of racialized characteristics which are related to Anlagen. Second, based on these natural inabilities, certain groups within the species are justified in their inferior status. I show that Kant integrates these two ways of looking at race into a theory of inequality that has a decisive impact on his cosmopolitanism. In turn, my critical approach to the marginalization of Kant's concept of race in recent scholarship is thematic: I examine Kant's texts on race, teleology, and cosmopolitanism as a part of a single coherent narrative about the purpose of race.