Which Kant? Approaching Kant on Race and Racism

Abstract

How to approach Kant's practical philosophy in the face of his documented opinions on race? In what sense was Kant a racist and how does it matter to contemporary scholars, who are inspired by his political philosophy? Can and should Kant’s philosophy be saved from his racism? Finally, which Kant should we consider in our judgement: early Kant, late Kant, historical Kant or his transcendental theory? In this paper, Ewa Wyrębska-Đermanović aims at proposing her way to approach the above listed questions. Firstly, Ewa presents the angles from which the contemporary Kantian discussion approaches the evidence of Kant’s racist opinions and claims to be found in his writings. She then presents a scheme into which we can organise the selected approaches to Kant’s racism, with reference to methods, strategies and the resulting outcomes of these investigations. In the process Ewa also considers the significance of the concept of intellectual integrity as well as the undermining theory of racial justice, which play a role in the current approaches. Her arguments shall defend the thesis that there must be well-defined limits to incorporating Kant’s philosophy into contemporary ethical and political issues.