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Practical necessity and the fulfilment of the plan of nature in Kant's idea for a universal history
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James, David Neil (2019) Practical necessity and the fulfilment of the plan of nature in Kant's idea for a universal history. Journal of the Philosophy of History, 13 (1). pp. 42-65. doi:10.1163/18722636-12341361 ISSN 1872-261X.
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Official URL: http://doi.org/10.1163/18722636-12341361
Abstract
I explore the role of practical necessity in Kant’s essay Idea for a Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Aim. This form of necessity arises on the basis of social and interstate antagonism and Kant appeals to it with the aim of avoiding the introduction of a standpoint that is external to the agents whose attitudes and actions are being described. In connection with the role that Kant accords to practical necessity in the establishment of the legal and political conditions required to fulfil the ‘plan of nature’ in the course of history, I argue that in this essay he fails to identify a mechanism that would explain a fundamental moral change in that which motivates human beings once these conditions have been established. This in turn invites questions concerning the kind of universal history that Kant proposes. In particular, I argue that the choice of historical material that it demands could, in certain circumstances, be regarded as counterpurposive in relation to the aim of nature of which Kant speaks in the same essay.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||
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Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) D History General and Old World > D History (General) |
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Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Philosophy | ||||||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | History -- Philosophy, Kant, Immanuel, 1724-1804 -- Idee zu einer allgemeinen Geschichte in weltbürgerlicher Absicht | ||||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Journal of the Philosophy of History | ||||||||
Publisher: | Brill | ||||||||
ISSN: | 1872-261X | ||||||||
Official Date: | 5 March 2019 | ||||||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | 13 | ||||||||
Number: | 1 | ||||||||
Page Range: | pp. 42-65 | ||||||||
DOI: | 10.1163/18722636-12341361 | ||||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 7 February 2017 | ||||||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 31 March 2019 |
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