Kant's Idea for a Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Aim

The essays in this volume discuss the questions at the core of Kant's pioneering work on the philosophy of history.

Amélie Oksenberg Rorty (Edited by), James Schmidt (Edited by)

9781107405127, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 19 July 2012

270 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.4 kg

"... Idea presents us with a historical account of both the history and the continued prospects for the development of a truly moral society... explores the conditions for the possibility of morality becoming something we actually live by rather than merely being capable of..."
--Stefan Bird-Pollan, Harvard University, Concurring Opinons

Lively debates about narratives of historical progress, the conditions for international justice, and the implications of globalisation have prompted a renewed interest in Kant's Idea for a Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Aim. The essays in this volume, written by distinguished contributors, discuss the questions that are at the core of Kant's investigations. Does the study of history convey any philosophical insight? Can it provide political guidance? How are we to understand the destructive and bloody upheavals that constitute so much of human experience? What connections, if any, can be traced between politics, economics, and morality? What is the relation between the rule of law in the nation state and the advancement of a cosmopolitan political order? These questions and others are examined and discussed in a book that will be of interest to philosophers, social and political theorists, and intellectual and cultural historians.

Introduction: history as philosophy Amélie Rorty and James Schmidt
Idea for a Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Aim Immanuel Kant
1. Teleology and history in Kant Henry E. Allison
2. The purposive development of human capacities Karl Ameriks
3. Reason as a species characteristic Manfred Kuehn
4. Good out of evil: Kant and the idea of unsocial sociability Jerome Schneewind
5. The unsociable sociability of human nature Allen Wood
6. The crooked timber of mankind Paul Guyer
7. A habitat for humanity Barbara Herman
8. Cosmopolitanism and the final end of history Pauline Kleingeld
9. The hidden plan of nature Eckart Förster
10. Providence as progress: Kant's variations on a tale of origins Genevieve Lloyd
11. Norms, facts, and the philosophy of history Terry Pinkard
12. Philosophy helps history Rüdiger Bittner
Bibliography
Index of names and works.

Subject Areas: History of ideas [JFCX], History of Western philosophy [HPC], Philosophy [HP]