Reason, Power, and Coloniality Kant’s Philosophy in the Light of Early Modern Thought

The nature of the relation between reason and power, between scientific truth and political rhetoric has been an ongoing issue in the history of philosophy since its earliest day in Ancient Greece. On the basis of the 2024 book Bloomsbury Collections - Rethinking European Modernity: Reason, Power, and Coloniality in Early Modern Thought, this paper first presents key elements of the former’s analysis of the performance of reason in early modernity and addresses the question to which extent this performance is related to (or even compromised through) the performance of power. In an intercultural perspective and taking Nietzsche’s diagnosis seriously that power is no longer an irrational counterinstance to reason but itself anchored in the essence of reason, the Eurocentric idea of the one European modernity must be deconstructed. It will be shown that a proper understanding of modernity can be achieved only if it is conceived as non-monolithic, multiple, and intercultural discourse. The paper will then reconsider Kantian thought against the background of three paradigmatic changes which can be identified as constitutive for the emergence of modernity – three changes which can be conceptualised as "de-limitations" (Entgrenzungen): In cosmology, the old idea of the limited cosmos is replaced by the idea of the infinite universe; the emphasis on humanity’s creative power overcomes the teleological paradigm of philosophical anthropology; through the discoveries in the new world the classical geographical-political worldview is dissolved. Whereas the motifs of the limitless universe, creative freedom, and global cosmopolitanism can be regarded without doubt as radical breakthrough and advancement (or at least paradigmatic change) in terms of rationality, they have been accompanied by the darker aspects of the unleashing of technological power to dominate nature, the centralisation of the state and its bureaucracy, and colonial expansion. What can be regarded as advancement is simultaneously intertwined with tendencies leading modern "European" reason into a power syndrome. This account of the relation between power and reason in early modern thought will be taken as starting point for the analysis of the manner in which this relation is treated by Kant. It raises the question inasmuch Kant’s philosophy is "critical" also with regard to the role of power relations in philosophy and science, considering in particular the role of the "doctrine of race" in Kant. The overall aim of the paper is twofold. First, it takes a closer look on the traditions of thought which form the conceptual horizon for Kant’s works with regard to three discursive realms: theory of rationality, ethical-political thought, and coloniality. Second, the paper addresses the question whether Kant’s philosophy brought about a conceptual change to the traditions which form its discursive environment. Thus, the paper aims to contribute to the debate whether "European reason" is tantamount to European power.