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Kant’s Cosmopolitanism and the Idea of Race
Some scholars argue that Kant is a universal egalitarian, which can be seen in his cosmopolitan philosophy. In the essay “Toward Perpetual Peace” (1795), Kant supposedly offers provisions that displace the racist views that he previously held in the essays on race of the 1780s. Yet in this talk, Professor Jameliah Inga Shorter-Bourhanou (College of the Holy Cross) focuses on Kant’s discussion of enslavement and colonialism in the essay to show that Kant’s cosmopolitan philosophy is not universally egalitarian and, in fact, relies on racial inequality.
Cara Berg Powers ’05, Visiting Lecturer in Community, Youth and Education Studies at Clark University, will provide commentary.
This event continues the Roots of Everything, a lecture series sponsored by Early Modernists Unite (EMU)—a faculty collaborative bringing together scholars of medieval and early modern Europe and America—in conjunction with the Higgins School of Humanities. The series highlights various aspects of modern existence originating in the early modern world by connecting past and present knowledge.
Admission is free and open to the public.
Event Links
Website: https://go.evvnt.com/1624052-0
