Kant and racism

Konstantin Kolenda

pp. 362-368

in: Lewis White Beck (ed), Proceedings of the Third international Kant congress, Berlin, Springer, 1972

Abstract

There are two strands in Kant's moral theory. In one of them, he speculates about the ultimate source of morality; in the other, he offers a phenomenological account of moral experience. The speculative account centers around the meaning and the origin of the categorical imperative, a notion which remains controversial to this day. In the phenomenological account, Kant tries to characterize the circumstances which give rise to the use of moral language. This aspect of Kant's theory, I believe, has not been given adequate attention, possibly because it was over-shadowed by the fascination with the notion of the categorical imperative. This is unfortunate. What Kant has to say about the nature of moral experience may be more important than his speculation about the ultimate source of morality.

Cited authors

Kant Immanuel